Shruti Haasan, her parents and sister are living in separate houses following the outbreak; actress using the break to cook, conduct online concerts
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 24, 2020)

Shruti Haasan, who returned from London around 10 days ago and has been under self-quarantine ever since, says that it hasn’t been as difficult for her as others. “I am used to being by myself,” she says, adding that she had recently started taking out time to do things that she enjoys, like cooking, baking and making organic soaps. “The difficult part is not having the option to go out and the looming fear of what all of this means for us.”

The musician-actress goes on to stress on the importance of social distancing in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. “People have started taking it seriously in the last few days. Thankfully, by the time I returned, the shoots were also getting cancelled. My entire family has self-isolated. Mum (actress Sarika) is in Mumbai as well but in another apartment, Dad (Kamal Haasan) and Akshara (sister) are in Chennai but in separate houses. All of us had different travelling schedules and it didn’t make sense for us to isolate together. That’s the decision I feel people should make,” Shruti asserts.

The actress also feels that some people haven’t understood the meaning of social-distancing. “I read this quote, ‘If you can’t spend time with yourself, it means you are not good company’. Someone I spoke to today mentioned that they had to meet a friend once in a while. Another person, on the social media, was talking about social distancing but with five other people around. It doesn’t work like that. These are educated people who are expected to be more responsible. I have no one at home with me, not even my domestic help. It’s just me and Clara, my cat,” Shruti states.

Her other pet cat, Cora, went missing three weeks ago but the actress is holding out hope for its safe return. “I think she is preparing me for a teenaged child,” Shruti laughs. Meanwhile, she is keeping herself distracted by sharing secret recipes with her social media followers. She informs that she had stocked up on essential food items like rice, dal, oil, potatoes, onions and rajma. “After doing that, I shut my front door. This is the best time to learn new things and thanks to technology, we are able to share it with everyone despite being locked up inside out houses. I recently made a gluten-free lemon pound cake with berry toppings as an option and shared recipes for a smoothie and air-fried vegetables. It’s healthy and doesn’t require much prep. I’ll try and make the next few recipes with items that are readily available at home and also show some tricks of storing fruits and vegetables,” Shruti shares.

She is also utilising the self-isolation to be on track with her fitness routine. Besides working out on her treadmill, she plays the piano and shares her videos of her singing on social media—an online concert, which began with her own composition “Wash Me Away.”

Shruti will next be seen in the Telugu film Krack and in Vijay Sethupathi-starrer Tamil film Laabam. “Both films are on floors and shooting will resume once the situation on Coronavirus is clear. As for Hindi films, it’s not like I have to do it unless it excites me. I just feel happy that I can work in four languages,” the actress signs off.