Nikita Deb (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 1, 2020)

“Singapore has a very controlled environment. I think, the situation is better managed here than in any other place. They’ve taken the situation very seriously since its inception, and people were very alert and the government has worked aggressively in order to keep this in control. I believe Singapore is a much safer zone right now. But I am really worried about the rest of the world,” says actor Rituparna Sengupta, who is currently in Singapore with her husband and two kids.

The actor says that they are not under complete lockdown due to Coronavirus outbreak but have voluntarily been staying at home. “All the public places here are shut, and offices are also working in minimum capacity. Restaurants are open but have arranged seating positions so that people are not too close to each other,” says Sengupta, adding that people in Singapore are following their government’s directives and the government, too, has been very proactive. “Hospitals and doctors have been working relentlessly, and while Singapore is equipped to handle this, and is managing things very well, affected people are coming in from UK and Europe and that is worrisome. They are being treated separately and are being quarantined,” adds Sengupta.

The Praktan (2016) actor says that her children’s school requires them to check the temperature of kids every day and report it. They have been studying online since schools are shut. Sengupta is also utilising this time to brush up on her cooking skills while also taking this opportunity to spend some quality time with her family which she doesn’t get to do often owing to her busy schedule in India. “I have been doing some terrace gardening, reading books which I hadn’t read, listening to music, working on my poetry book and rearranging my house and wardrobes. But most of all, I am praying to God and asking for forgiveness for any wrong that we may have done. We have to take care of Mother Nature which has given us our homes but we have failed to do so. Therefore, I am taking this time to rediscover a lot of things,” she says.