Hello everyone, my name is Prince G. and I am a local businessman in a small city in India. I had never imagined that my business, as well as my daily routine, would change because of a virus. I would like to tell you a gist of my experience throughout this pandemic.

One fine morning I woke with the shocking news about the lockdown. Now it’s been almost a month and we are facing lots of problems in our daily livelihood. It has been really challenging to feed a family without an income for most of us. Every day I get up in the morning and only see the number of increasing patients of COVID-19. It is really a tough time for the world to deal with due to this pandemic.

People are worried as they believe the lockdown will be extended as the pandemic is showing no signs of improvement. People are rushing here and there to hoard basic necessities so that they don’t have to go out again and again. Some people are taking this very positively and are determined to not leave home while others are just being reckless. I see people disobeying the orders and getting beaten up by the police. Me, being a wholesaler of rice, need to keep my shop open since it’s in a portion of important staple food, people do come to take stuff. However, the police have ordered me to maintain a safe distance from everyone and not allow people to gather near the shop.

I hope this ends really soon and we gain back our momentum.