Actor Rasika Dugal says with the ongoing events (Coronavirus lockdown) around, she has been feeling quite hopeless, but she is taking her mind off of things by cooking, reading and taking an online course
Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; March 27, 2020)

Everyone is dealing with this period of self-quarantine in their own manner. While some are enjoying this forced break, others are cooking, reading and catching up with their family members. Rasika Dugal is doing all of this and much more. “There are so many things that I haven’t done for years. I am good at spending time with myself. It comes effortlessly to me. I am reading a lot as it feels so good to hold a book in my hands. I am also watching series and films that I missed out on. I am exercising, too as I have a number of home workouts which I never got around to using. They are doable with a yoga mat, a kettle bell and some furniture,” she says adding she is also cooking, cleaning, reading scripts, gardening, taking an online course, and talking to friends and family, especially ones who live alone.

Dugal is most excited about her online course which is on “religion, conflict and peace”. It requires four to six hours a week and she is glad that she can do it in her own time. “With all that’s been happening in our country these last few months, I have felt a sense of hopelessness like never before. I thought an academic insight into polarisation and religious conflict, through examples in history, might help,” she shares.

Talking about the pandemic and its effects, she says, “These are difficult times. There is a lot of information out there, which can often be conflicting and confusing, too. Moreover, it is saddening that so many lives have been lost. I am also worried about what this will do to our economy and the daily wage labourers. While it’s important to receive all the information and stay updated, it is also important to not panic. For right now, I am following the rules set out by the authorities in order to control the spread of the virus. I am keeping my mind occupied and trying to be there for people around me as much as I can.”

To keep busy, the Delhi Crime actor is enjoying cooking the most and taking care of her house in the absence of her house help. “I have realised that one-dish meals are the answer to dealing with the overload of house work that most of us are facing right now. Cooking two meals a day, doing laundry and dishes and cleaning the house, without any help, can end up taking all your time. Nothing super fancy is cooking in my kitchen, just simple one-dish meals. I made pav bhaji, egg curry and sambar rice which was a lot of fun to cook,” she says.