Beyond the First Wave: Reflections on the COVID-19 Pandemic from Kolkata, India

Reflections on the COVID-19 Pandemic from Kolkata, India

Abstract

The paper is based on a diary written by the author during the early months of the pandemic in March 2020. It explores the various ways in which the pandemic turned various areas of her life upside down including education, political work etc. The paper, written later, is a reflection and an attempt to understand these months in retrospect. Excerpts from the diary provide examples while the reflections attempt to make social and political sense of her experiences. Among other things, the author tries to delve into the political situation of her home state, West Bengal, around these months and locate it in the context of the rise of the global right. It is also a document that gives an opening to understand the inner lives of young, urban people in India during the COVID-19 pandemic.