Huma Qureshi on her 21 to-dos in lockdown, which include meditating, journaling, working out and giving up all junk
Hiren Kotwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 7, 2020)

The three-week national lockdown due to Coronavirus starting March 25, has made people put on their thinking caps to make staying indoors fun. With her peers documenting their brainwave on the social media, Huma S Qureshi recently made a list of 21 things to do till April 14, when the lockdown is scheduled to end. It included meditating, journaling, working out and giving up “sugar, refined starch, alcohol and all junk”.

According to the actress, the list was spurred by the popular belief that it takes 21 days to form a habit. It features things that she had wanted to do but kept putting off. “I used to meditate, but it was on and off. I started the list with the intention of spreading some positivity and love around,” she shares, adding that even “Earth makes us realise that maybe our normal is not good”. She further says, “We have to become more reasonable in how we lead our lives, we have to give back. Maybe in some way, it’s nature’s way of getting back at us. We must rethink our lifestyles.”

The actress feels that staying in and adapting to a new routine can also serve as an opportunity to grow as a person. “There’s no point in complaining. Instead, we can focus on important things that we keep putting off, like cleaning the house, sorting out clothes to donate, spending time with family. The members of our fraternity get so much love from the audience. If in these times, we can keep their morale high, it would be good,” Huma avers.

She goes on to inform that she has been cooking a lot more than she used to. “Since I was busy, I would always have someone cook for me. Now, I cook for the family with a lot of care and love,” she says, adding that a beetroot sabzi that an aunt had introduced her to is one of the things she cooked for the first time recently. “My aunt treats me like her own child. She used to make it with mustard seeds and curry patta. I think of her whenever I make it.”

Last year, Huma shot for Hollywood filmmaker Zack Snyder’s zombie thriller Army Of The Dead in Los Angeles. There’s also talk that she learnt bike-riding for the Tamil film Valimai opposite Ajith. Bring this up and the actress says she’s not up to talk work right now. “I don’t think it’s the right time. Once this (the outbreak) is over and everyone has moved on, we will talk about it at length. I agree that we are entertainers and our job is to entertain people, but right now, what is important is that everyone gets food, medicines, remains healthy and stays with family. As I said, we’re all in this together and we need to come out of it stronger,” she asserts.