Back To Normal? Well, Almost

Has that year ended? Maybe, maybe not. The human spirit wanders, regardless—refusing to be chained. Perhaps foolishly, perhaps even with a grim foreknowledge of dire risk. Almost a year into being restrained, in a way we were never supposed to be, India is attempting to break free in an almost cavalier manner. Is it time? Is it safe? Are you vaccinated? It doesn’t seem to matter in these schizophrenic times. One part of the mind is free. Flights are sometimes full, sometimes only half-full. So are inter-city buses and trains. Local temple festivals in Kerala don’t seem to have heard of social distancing, even while protocol rules in a formal way. In Bangalore, police squads line the streets to fine you if you haven’t worn a mask while driving. But just outside the city, only old-style robbers wear masks, presumably. Protocol kicks in only for formal events. Only 50 people for weddings. Even lesser for cricket? Well, almost! Have you ever seen Chepauk reverberate with silence when a Test match is on? Even that happened when England and India padded up against each other last month. If you needed proof, it was there online.

“Ideally, the two matches would have been a sellout,” admits TNCA secretary R.S. Ramasaamy. He measures it, like all of us do, against other potential zones of risk. “Cinema halls have been permitted full occupancy—up from fifty per cent—so why not cricket stadiums? It’s at least open air,” says Ravikumar, a cricket fan. The authorities look, instead, at the prospect of a crowd of 50,000 jostling to get into stadiums, its food stalls, toilets.... “One cannot enforce social distancing strictly, you reduce the risk only by red­ucing the number of heads at any event,” explains a health official.

This is the half-minded way in which India is going ‘Uncovided’. The arrival of the vaccine and a presumed herd immunity among urban populations have upped the confidence of the general public that the Covid threat is behind us. Is it really? We can ask that later. For now, many schools are open and the kids are bustling about. Infra projects are no longer devoid of labour, the flights are bringing them back wholesale. “This complacency can only help the virus rebound with greater vigour, especially the new variants. The new normal still has to follow the mantras,” cautions Tamil Nadu health secretary Dr J. Radhakr­ishnan.

The new normal is indeed a cautious normal. The elderly still eschew social events. “We do not see as many of them at local temples or at Sunday masses,” says a police officer. Playing safe is still the motto in 2021—especially so in hospitals, where they admit in-patients only in a transit ward before they test negative for Covid. “Only emergency cases call for direct admission, but during that period the patient will be tested for Covid,” says a doctor of a private hospital. What about the farmers’ agitation, you ask? Or the thousands gawking at Bangalore’s air show? Has herd immunity arrived unknowingly? Half of India seems to be betting on that.

G.C. Shekhar in Chennai

SPORTS

Ways To Open Fields

The crowd’s frenetic clapping and the orchestrated roars (and effusive boos) you have heard on the telecasts in the past one year are, mostly, not real. As COVID-19 bit into sports schedules across the world, eeriness descended on mammoth sports arenas. The early casualties were Wimbledon 2020, and the Tokyo Olympics, postponed to July this year. Others were delayed—the French Open took place in September, and the England vs West Indies Test series, pushed to July, took place in spectator-less stadia. A similar silence descended on the Bundesliga, which took to the field amidst the pandemic, in May, and the stuttering starts to the Serie A and the English Premier League (both in September). Though both the latter leagues have allowed some spectators back in, their fate depends on the waxing and waning of the pandemic. The brave athletes who ventured out to play during the early stages of ‘unlockdown’ had to run the gauntlet of strict bio-bubbles—stories of their confined state at the Australian Open and the IPL (postponed to October, and held in the UAE) are legion. Though harried organisers strove to artificially amplify the ambience for lonely players and TV audiences--cardboard audiences in Europe, sex dolls in Korean stadia and recorded stadium buzz for IPL guzzlers—a lurking fear is all-pervasive. No wonder, authorities in Tokyo have banned all foreign visitors from the Olympics. In the past few weeks, the process to steadily get to a more controlled return to outdoor activities involving spectators is underway in all sports. It comes as a relief to athletes who can break out from mentally challenging bio-secure environments. Yet a whimsical virus still controls world sports. Cricket played a leading role in ensuring that fans return to live events. After the ODI series against South Africa was called off in March last year, fans returned to the Chepauk, in Chennai, during the second India vs England Test in February. They turned up in big numbers at the third and fourth Tests in Ahmedabad (picture above) too.

The success of hosting the Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the India vs England series without a single Covid-positive report has given BCCI the confidence to host IPL 2021 at home, from April 9 to May 30. The IPL will, however, be played minus fans, at least initially. The success of hosting a Covid-free IPL at home will also give ICC the message that India is ready to host the World T20 in October-November. Remember, scheduled in Australia for October-November, it was cancelled.

Even as Tokyo displays a ‘cast-iron will’ to host the Olympics in July-August, Indian athletes are trying to qualify. Top badminton stars P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth all need qualifying points to make the cut. As for the others, veteran wrestler Sushil Kumar may not make it to a third Olympics, the prodigious Hima Das is unsure of running her favourite 400m, Dutee Chand is in a dilemma and gymnast Deepa Karmakar is miles away from exhibiting her ‘Produnova’ in Tokyo. The dispiriting list continues with table tennis players Sharath Kamal and Man­ika Batra, veteran archer Bombayla Devi and women’s weightlifter Mirabai Chanu. With no action for almost a year, national federations have organised camps, but quality competitive tournaments­, the gold standard, have been lacking. Consequently, athletes are yet to hit top form too. Taking a cue from foreign leagues, the All India Football Federation kicked off the ISL on November 20 at three venues in Goa—India’s first major live sporting action post lockdown. The I-League also started in Calcutta on January 9.

The wrestling, boxing and hockey teams, which have qualified for Tokyo, are in a more relaxed state of mind after being able to travel overseas and play practice matches. The top boxers have just played in an international tournament in Spain and the wrestlers have had mixed success in Rome. The Indian women’s hockey team bec­ame the first national team to travel overseas, to Argentina, in January. And over a year after playing its last international match, the men’s hockey team embarked on a 17-day tour of Europe, where India played against Germany and Great Britain.

Can our sportspersons let their guard down? A parliamentary body has suggested that Tokyo-bound athletes should get the vaccine on priority. Given their hectic schedule, cricketers should, too. Vaccines have emerged as true enablers of sports taking its first dithering steps towards normality.

Soumitra Bose

Education

With Satchel and Shining Morning Face

After several months of closure since March last year due the coronavirus pandemic, schools across the country have started reopening under strict COVID-19 safety protocols. Schools were ­reopened first for students of classes 9 to 12—in Delhi, Odisha and some other states for classes 10 and 12, ahead of board exams this year. In the wake of declining Covid cases, several states then went on to reopen schools for ­students of classes 6 to 8 as well.

Since last November, the Uttar Pradesh government has gradually reopened schools for all classes. Students of classes 1 to 5 in the state started coming back to school from March 1. In Andhra Pradesh, the state government allowed ­reopening of schools for all students from February even though the state had seen several teachers and students testing ­positive for Covid following the reopening of the higher classes in previous months.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) recently advised its affiliated schools to consider starting the next ­academic session (2021-22) from April 1, “to the extent feasible, subject to the instructions of the state governments”.

While the states are gearing up to make up for the academic losses that the ­students suffered due to the pandemic-ind­uced closure of classrooms, a sudden spurt in Covid cases in Maharashtra and Kerala has prompted some of them to shelve their plans to resume all classes—from primary to higher secondary. For ­example, the Odisha government wanted to reopen schools for classes 1 to 8 from February, but following the spurt in cases in Maharashtra and Kerala, it decided to wait and watch.

Though parents are divided in their views on the reopening of schools, the majority of schools, teachers and even students want resumption of classes from the academic session starting April. “Schools should reopen. I am not able to properly understand many of the topics in the online classes. There are several problems with online classes, including internet connectivity ­issues,” says Sneha, a student of class 8 at a private school in Janakpuri, Delhi.

Prajodh Rajan, co-founder and group CEO of EuroKids International, says reopening of schools is crucial at this stage for the ­uninterrupted holistic development of ­children. “It has been close to a year since schools were shut, and children, especially in the early age group, missed crucial years of learning and development, which is not limited to the merely academic, but also ­includes emotional, social and life-skills ­development.”

Prakash Kumar

TEMPLES

No Distance From God

In  a state where there is a temple every few kilometres, the Odisha government had a tough time resisting calls for their reopening. The association of temple priests resorted to beating of cymbals across the state at the same time on a particular day to press their demand. Devotees too did their bit to put pressure on the government to open the doors of the temples, especially the more famous ones like the Jagannath temple in Puri, the Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar, the Biraja temple in Jajpur and the Akhandalamani temple at Aradi, which had remained shut since March last year. With the pressure mounting, the state government finally reopened the Puri temple, the biggest and most frequented of them all, in the last week of December and other temples soon after, but with restrictions.

With devotees thronging the temples in droves, it soon ­became apparent that some of the restrictions—like a recent Covid-negative certificate and no entry for people older than 60—had to be jettisoned in next to no time. Social distancing went for a toss as crowd control became increasingly difficult, though measures like queues and hand sanitisation ­before darshan were enforced for devotees. Given the people’s mood, shutting down temples again was simply not an option. Mercifully, there has been no spurt in Covid cases after the doors of the temples were thrown open—at least not so far. Though devotees feel the temples could have been reopened earlier than they were, a Jagannath temple ­official says it was done at the right time. “Our decision has been vindicated by the experience since then,” he says.

Other parts of the country are also facing similar dilemmas. A big challenge will be the large crowds expected at the Kumbh mela at Haridwar’s Ganga ghat in April, which will see unprecedented measures in place such as a 20-minute limit on baths and mandatory medical fitness certificates for ­pilgrims coming from outside the state.

Sandeep Sahu

RESTAURANTS

Meals Ready

After months of lockdown and restrictions, people are ­eating out again. “The scenario is not entirely the same as it was in pre-Covid times, but there is a significant positive shift in footfall, and restaurateurs are hopeful things will turn out to be in their favour and at a good pace,” says Ankit Mehrotra, CEO and co-founder, Dineout. “We had the perfect start for 2020 with a successful Great Indian Restaurant Festival, and also ­celebrated our eighth anniversary, which only a handful of start-ups have been able to achieve in the Indian ecosystem. The months that followed were unprecedented for the restaurant ­sector, which suffered a severe downfall like never before. But it is now emerging from months of shutdown by fundamentally ­altering its operations and setting new standards.”

In December 2020 alone, Dineout clocked Rs 100 crore worth of transactions. “Overall, the market sentiment is around 50 per cent of what it was a year ago, but as our brands have credibility with customers and they feel comfortable with the processes we follow, we see the footfall vary between 50 per cent and ­almost 100 per cent across our brands,” says A.D. Singh, founder and managing director, Olive group of restaurants.

According to Vishal Anand, director, Moonshine Food Ventures, recovery is slower in Gurgaon than in Delhi because corporate get-togethers constituted a substantial chunk of the restaurant business in Gurgaon and that has completely dried up. “And while the younger generation has started dining out more, those with elders at home are still avoiding it,” he says.

Truly, 2020 was a watershed year that gave new dimensions to the hospitality industry and made it streamline its operations for maximum efficiency. With the Indian Food & Beve­ra­ges space adapting to the new normal, restaurants, bars and hotels are trying new ways to assure safety and win back the trust of the consumer, navigating through rules and regulati­ons to step up their game. Safety masks, gloves and sanitisation in restaurant premises have become a norm. “With our 2021 mission to ­support the revival and growth of dining out in India, we aim to act as a catalyst in technology adoption at restaurants across India, ensuring the safety of diners,” says Mehrotra.

According to the Dineout app, 58 per cent of Indians prefer to go out for dinner rather than ordering in. Madhav Sehgal, general manager, Andaz Delhi, says guests have started visiting F&B outlets that have put in place enhanced ­hygiene protocols, and consumption of immunity-boosting, plant-based and local products has also increased immensely. “All our restaurants offer digital menus, sanitation kit with cutlery and QR payment mode, and are running at 50 per cent capacity due to the distancing norms,” says Sonica Malhotra, joint ­managing director, Radisson Blu, Noida.

Vinesh Gupta, general manager of The Den, Bangalore, says they have re-designed their restaurant layout with diagonal seating instead of close seating in order to offer “safe, secure and stress-free dining to our guests”. Restaurants have also revam­ped menus to focus more on immunity-boosting items. “The new menus boast of immunity-boosting delectables packed with vitamins and antioxidants such as turmeric-lemon naans and drinks like lemongrass shots or turmeric latte,” says Jaasjyot Surri, CEO and co-founder, SJI Hospitality and Foods Private Limited.

Lachmi Deb Roy

MALLS

Watch The Shop

It’s been a tough 12 months for shopping malls—one report by Mumbai-based property consultancy Anarock says out of 54 new malls expected to be launched in 2020 across Indian cities only five had materialised. The scenario at malls already operating was no less grim. Coming out of a pandemic-induced lockdown, it’s been a long, slow road to get the footfall up and running again. Of late, the news seems to be a tad more cheerful—most reports from the big cities suggest that shoppers are back. Though business hasn’t yet reached pre-Covid levels, there’s been improvement and the momentum has held since the Diwali festive season through New Year and up to now.

Part of this is also because of the general winding down of restrictions—in many offices, people are back to work. Of course, the large IT parks in Bangalore and elsewhere are yet to open up. But restaurants and multiplexes are functioning, and events too, under guidelines. “Today we find customers more comfortable following the precautions...they do not argue about why masks should be worn and do not hesitate to use hand sanitisers,” says Gajendra Singh Rathore, senior centre director at Phoenix Marketcity in Bangalore. “They have accepted this as a new normal.”

Footfalls at Rathore’s mall have risen to about 75 per cent of the pre-Covid level. “Therefore, business is also back to about 80 per cent. It has taken us 10 months to reach there,” he says and speculates that it will take a few more months for things to further stabilise.

Of course, in Bangalore, the tech sector is a critical element. “That’s the gap which is still there and I’m sure once IT is completely back, the economy, at least in Bangalore, will hit its previous numbers,” says Rathore.

The irony that the IT hub worked round-the-clock while its streets shut down just past midnight has long been a complaint—and the argument in favour of a vibrant nightlife. That got a partial fillip about five years ago when the closing time for bars and pubs and eateries was extended to 1 am.

Now, as things are slowly getting uncovided, the Karnataka government allowed shops and commercial establishments to stay open 24/7 in the city. That was a couple of months ago. The move was apparently aimed at boosting a post-Covid economic recovery. But businesses point out that unless the supporting infrastructure—in this case, public transportation and security—is in place, it won’t be feasible to remain open all-night.

Rathore says his team has had to come up with novel ideas to re-assure customers—initially, they offered a kerbside pickup service so that the shopper could pick up her merchandise without entering the mall, then a virtual shopping platform and a contactless foodcourt. “Today, about 45 per cent of people use only these while others have gone back to conventional ways of ordering.”  

Ajay Sukumaran in Bangalore

HOLIDAYS

Be Our Guest

A nation quarantined—by the lathi in the beginning, by fear as the infection spread, by complete acceptance of a Machiavellian contract with life. Stay at home/work from home: a tradeoff to stay alive. Travel plans shelved, vacations lost, a summer wasted. Then autumn appeared, domestic travel allowed. Chafing under stifling restrictions, some took off like caged animals freed…some took cautious steps outside. But everyone wanted to be someplace else—any destination was more alluring than home. The hotels, holiday homes and homestays found hope again, as did taxis and dhabas. Staff in hazmat suits sprayed sanitisers; every attempt was made to bleach the coronavirus out of an industry hit hardest by the pandemic and lockdown. Hospitality was made hospitable again. Cut-price offers were made. The bookings trickled in, the till tinkled again. But the holiday infrastructure was not fully up on its feet. Short trips/stays were preferred—a compulsion rather than a choice. Novelties in normal times became a norm. Those working fulltime from home set out to the hills, jungles and beaches, renting out private homes or resorts for a month, or two or three… Staycation. As welcoming to fun-loving families as it is to carousing bachelors.

Among the tentative-starters was travel content creator Ankita Kumar of Bangalore. First she explored the backyard—places around her home city. Stayed in quaint cabins in the woods where any contact with strangers is near-impossible. Then she travelled to Sikkim, Darjeeling, Goa, Kerala, Delhi and Uttarakhand. “I would do only road trips initially. Now that I step out of the state, I maintain social distancing, sanitise my hands regularly, wear a mask and avoid touching surfaces as much as possible. A Covid RT-PCR test is a must before every trip. The tests are ­expensive, but a cost I have to bear as travelling is my job.” The biggest handicap is that she has to stay away from ­locals—the main source of her content.

A charming, isolated homestay in Chikmagalur drew Anushree Kini and her family out of their isolation in Bangalore. Emboldened, they went to Goa next. Kini stayed in independent villas. “We avoided big hotels since exposure levels would be higher.” The fear of exposure drove the demand for private vacation homes. “We noticed bookings surge from 35-40 per cent in August to almost 80 per cent by October. During Diwali, it was 100 per cent,” says Ankita Sheth, co-founder of Vista Rooms. Then there were those who were on workation—working remotely from a holiday destination. Many chose to work out of vacation homes for days, weeks and even months on end. “If we compare the December 2019 sales with December 2020, the figures more than doubled,” says Devendra Parulekar, founder of SaffronStays.

The industry quickly cottoned onto the post-lockdown traveller’s preference for quick getaways and staycations at idyllic, secluded, driveable locations. “Our hotels near big cities are popular with guests. Udaipur, Ooty, Coorg, Nashik, Goa, Bekal etc. Hotels in these destinations have done extremely well,” says Gaurav Pokhariyal, senior vice president with Indian Hotels Company Limited. And this summer, hoteliers predict, the free-spirited Indian would travel more, holiday more—now that vaccines are available, people are being vaccinated. Hope comes inoculated.

— Lachmi Deb Roy