Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 5, 2020)

“These are crazy times. No one would have thought that something like this could happen,” says Mona Singh, 38, who has been dividing her Coronavirus lockdown time between parents and husband, as they live close by.

The actor adds, “My parents need me the most right now, as they are vulnerable. So, I stay with them for two to three days, and cook and clean for them. Then I stay with my husband (Shyam Gopalan) for two to three days, and we take turns — he chops and I cook, he sweeps and I mop. We go to buy essentials and binge-watch stuff we couldn’t catch-up on. He loves photography, so I am his muse these days. The highlight of this lockdown is it’s an extended honeymoon (laughs).”

Singh loves cooking but it’s the cleaning that gets to her. “I use minimum dishes as I know dhone toh mujhe hi padenge (laughs). Mere do kilo kam ho gaye hain (I’ve lost 2 kg). We are eating as per need and not snacking unnecessarily, as we know how important each food item is. I feel after this pandemic is behind us, we, as people, will change,” she says.

Apart from work, Singh admits she didn’t have to “adjust” much. In fact, she was shooting for Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha till mid-March, and is glad to spend time at home. But people’s behaviour in markets irks her. “People run inside shops, and have, at times, brushed against me to get to the counter. One day was particularly scary. When cops came to shut a shop I was in, people behaved crazily and ran around. I began crying as I was worried about contracting the virus,” she says.