Coping with the Covid-19 crisis: Manu S. Pillai

One of the great advantages of being a writer is that isolation can actually be turned into a constructive thing. Indeed, research even in normal contexts is a fairly lonely affair, as is writing, and so the lockdown, by itself, has not brought much by way of a new experience.

[Of childhood, writing and history’s travesties: a conversation with Manu S Pillai]

I have been using the time to try and get work done, though admittedly it is more difficult to now get physical copies of books. But beyond that, since I have big windows, lots of trees outside, and plenty of light in my house, that feeling of being cooped up hasn’t yet set in. The real challenge, in fact, is contemplating what is happening to those who don’t have the privilege of waiting this out. I can manage, but there are so many for whom this is, with each day, becoming an impossible situation.

As a student of history, at one level one views these things with a certain balance. It has jolted the world, but the past is full of similar jolts, so I have not had any over-the-top response to it – one way of the other societies come out of such moments, although the world may change in subtle and unsubtle ways in the process. The only personal concern is about family members who are in other cities. Family is, after all, still the core of our society – which is why even migrant workers were seen walking hundreds of miles to go home to their kin – and being unable to make sure everyone is safely together is a source of some worry.

I am trying to cover ground in terms of work. For almost all of last year I had a breakneck pace, with constant travel – even earlier in 2020 I had a day when I was in one city in the morning, another in the afternoon for a literature festival, and in a third by night. It was all getting a bit much and I had started to wind things down significantly when the lockdown was announced. So at some level I was already in a mental space to withdraw from external activity. But yes, lack of exercise is a frustration. I had got into a very good groove lately, but since gyms are closed now, one has to make do with resistance bands and whatever else is possible at home.

I generally tend to keep calm, and educate myself on the things that are unfolding. So this means a lot of reading and staying abreast of the news. Much of the paranoia stems from lack of information, or half-digested information. But if one makes the effort to find reliable sources of news, and does everything one can as an individual, that is half the battle won. Besides, acting out of panic or anxiety is generally a bad idea. Even in stressful situations, one should try and process things calmly before taking a decision.

Personal social contact I think, i.e. not events and lectures, etc., but the occasional dinner outside or meetings with old friends. Indeed, even the idea of simply taking a walk in a park or breathing the early morning outdoor air seems special now – things we took for granted once. It would be interesting to see if people’s basic attitudes change at the end of this crisis.

Go to a bookstore. Publishing is a small industry and I know several authors whose books were to release now but are suspended because of the crisis. This causes serious difficulties. All industries are disrupted, but since this is the field I work in, I have a certain duty to it, and to my fellow writers.

That I am patient. And that I still have my intense sugar cravings, which I must surmount. In the normal world, one can indulge but in a pandemic, one can get bad habits like this under control – or at least make an effort in that direction! Especially given some of the difficulties so many others are facing, the least those of us who have degrees of privilege can do is to better ourselves and our habits.

If I succeed in covering as much ground work-wise as I hope to, I will be very happy.

I think we ought to try and emerge as kinder people from this crisis. In the recent past the world has been split by religion, class polarisation, extreme political ideologies, and so on, and battle lines are drawn throwing people into fixed camps. But a global crisis like this can teach us to also open our minds a little bit, realise that life is, at the end of the day, a fragile substance, and that in fighting and agitating at the cost of everything else, we may be doing ourselves a massive injustice.

Most of the books I am reading are academic publications for work, but on the side I have managed to get in some leisure reading. This includes two biographies: one by Srinivas Reddy, called Raya: Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara. The other is Ira Mukhoty’s Akbar: The Great Mughal. And then there is comfort reading. For me this is usually anything by PG Wodehouse.

Manu S. Pillai’s most recent book was The Courtesan, the Mahatma & the Italian Brahmin.

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