The last time I bought sabzi from Gopi was just before the lockdown. Gopi's vegetable stall is at a little distance from my place—closer to my old place—but it's a connection I somehow can't forego, so that's where I've been buying vegetables for years. Some of these are vegetables I actually need. Many are vegetables I don't particularly want, but am coerced into buying by Gopi's forceful promotion of, "bahut accha/kaula/taza hai" (it's very good/tender/fresh). And several are vegetables I have no idea how to cook, but inescapably convinced of their specialness by Gopi, spend several tedious trial and error hours making, while bearing the scorn of my cook for being bamboozled into these purchases.

Such are the relationships, termed weak ties, that most people have missed during the lockdown, the fleeting connections of everyday life, now known as the Old Normal.