Holding up the fortress of solitude

NASA astronaut Anne McClain realised how the abrupt confinement that came with the lockdown of most countries across the world to contain the Coronavirus outbreak would prove challenging for the world On March 23 McClainmdashwho has spent 204 days on the International Space Station between 2018 and 2019mdashbegan sharing good examples of successful selfisolation on Twitter In a Twitter thread she talks about the expert skills astronauts implement when working and living in confinement to ensure that they stay happy productive and successfulTaking a cue from her we put together a panel of four experts whose occupation takes isolation to a whole new level So as the pandemic has you feeling cabin fever they have advice that will help you escape boredomDedicated private time is most importantRajeshwari Kori the only female officer onboard a warship was provided a private room with an attached bathroom on INS JyotiRajeshwari Kori Retired Navy officerAfter completing her schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya in Mumbai and pursuing Bachelor of Commerce degree Cdr Rajeshwari Kori Retd joined the Indian Navy in 1995 The following year Kori requested the authorities to post her onboard a warship A warship is the backbone of the navy While female officers are trained with male course mates they think of us as the weaker link We are called glamour dolls who only come into the limelight during VIP events and are deemed incapable of working on a warship But my parents had educated me and I wasnt going to miss out on this opportunitySo in 1997 Kori got an offer to serve as a logistics officer onboard INS Jyotimdasha major force multiplier in sustaining the navys blue water operations Kori the first Indian woman to have sailed on board a warship says she reported with a complement of 25 officers and 130 sailors all male For one whole year I sailed to Visakhapatnam and abroad countries like Singapore Philippines etc My duties mainly involved looking into the allowances of the crew members ration uniforms and accessories While we used to make pitstops my home was a compact room on the ship itself that came with an attached bathroomKoris day would begin at 5 am till all her duties were finished by 3 pm We would then organise some sports to kill time But around 830 pm I would retire to my room How much longer can you sit with men I understood the sensitivity that it was their area of play and did not intrude In my room there was no TV or VCR to watch films So I would read novelsKori knew this was going to be a challenging experience so she had already applied for an HRD management course I had carried my books onboard so I would use the night hours to study It kept my sanity It is a habit that has stayed with meAfter a successful afloat tenure she retired from the navy in 2008 But even today in the lockdown in my Powai home I retire as early as 930 pm to read I absolutely love this time of the day I feel it is very important for everyone to have this private time for selfcare and selflearningEstablish routine but remember to have some funOn some pleasant days in Antarctica Shridhar Jawak would take a walk near the research station BharatiShridhar JawakPolar scientistBetween 2011 and 2016 Punebased Shridhar Jawak conducted three major field expeditions to Antarctica With a crew of 20 researchers in tow Jawak not just contended with dangerous crevasses but also with the hard truths of life We were assigned to crosscheck observations that you receive from the satellite All three trips to Antarctica were during the austral summer between October and February when there is 24hour sunlight The sun never goes down So you can imagine how youd become an insomniac at least in the initial daysOf the five months that he lived at the research station called Bharati field work was possible for merely 20 days On the remaining days we were confined to the station and our rooms This is when differences with teammates begin to surface But you must remember to keep calm as they are going to be your only family during the missionJawak now 31 highlights leadership as well as followership You must know when to step back and follow anothers lead and begin a routine together You cannot always lead the troupe you need to understand everyone is equalUnpredictability is the only constant in Antarctica So if you sleep at night in pleasant weather the next day you wake up to a blizzard Life there is mostly unpredictable So you need to set a routine This provides structure and ends monotony You need to wake up at a particular hour do your duties and go back to sleep without feeling unproductiveDuring such assignments you also begin to value time Jawak adds Even if you miss your family back home you can only call them once every month through a satellite phone that goes off after six minutes There are days when you are lonely but you keep the momentum going by watching movies doing mimicry celebrating birthdays and anniversaries of crew members and just laughing it all awayJawak who is currently a remote sensing officer in the Arctic says he lives in the most isolated part of Norway called Svalbard The population here is barely 2500 When the lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of Coronavirus everyone was almost fine with confinement It is a way of life here And my Antarctica stint had already trained me into enjoying this loneliness so its all the more easy now The key is to have fun in whatever little way possibleKeep busy and find yourself a new goalAwardwinning photographer Sudhir Shivaram in Little Rann of Kutch Gujarat in 2012Sudhir Shivaram Wildlife photographerSudhir Shivaram grew interested in wildlife photography in 1993 while studying engineering in Hassan Karnataka With almost 25 years of experience in the field Shivaram was named Sanctuary Asias Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2012 Now 48 he spends days alone in the wilderness taking perfect shots of various species My longest assignment so far has been at Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary in Chhattisgarh where I stayed for almost a week I was invited on behalf of the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board to shoot local species They arranged a gypsy and a driver to ferry me inside the reserve On some days I would spend hours waiting for the alarm calls of animals On most other days I would get lucky and spot some exotic species You need to be very patientShivaram agrees that his job gets lonely on most days But I enjoy this The peace in nature is something I have adapted myself to over many years In the initial days of my career we were allowed to venture in the jungles all by ourselves without any basic facilities So I would frequent Biligiriranga Hills in Karnataka Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh and some other remote places in the North East Things have however changed now and the authorities do not allow you to go aloneBefore the lockdown was imposed Shivaram was on an assignment at Kaziranga National Park in Assam On March 16 we took some shots in the buffer area of the park and the next day we were told that the facility had been shut down I flew back home to Karnataka and was in selfquarantine for 10 days I enjoyed the first few days of isolation but after a month of lockdown I realised I was being caged in my own home It was quite unsettlingShivaram gathered himself and started helping his wife with household chores I didnt know what to do in my free time So I took to social media and started holding online photography workshops I did Facebook Live and Instagram Live to keep my passion alive everytime I found it waningShivaram says it is important to find a new goal or hobby in the lockdown There are two kinds of people those who whine and crib about being locked up in their home and then there are those who use this time for their benefit Ive started interacting with lots of people online I motivate them tell them to find a goal just like I didKeep hope alive but dont wish away your daysA forward camp of the Indian army in July 1991 at 16000 feet upper part of glacier and 45 miles up on a 75 mile Siachen Glacier Representation picAFPRaghu Raman Retired Indian Army officerCaptain Raghu Raman Retd spent 11 years as an officer in the Indian Armed Forces followed by another 11 years in the corporate sector before joining the Government as CEO of the National Intelligence Grid NATGRID During his stint in the Army he was posted in the Siachen Glacier facing Pakistani troops Words cannot express the harshness of fighting at the worlds highest battlefield Manning a post at 40 degrees Celsius is not a joke But we are trained to do thisThe only sign of life is the glacier itself In what we call the summers you may be lucky to spot a snow leopard but that is about it Raman now 54 carried a pack of Game of Patience with him to play during his free time in the bunker Apart from officers passing through the post I didnt have any visitors So I would kill time by playing card games alone or watching the same movie for the 80th time You cannot sleep up there somehow sleep does not come easily to you in Siachen So I would also read a lotAfter having canned food for months Raman returned to civilisation and was invited for a meal at his friends home in Ambala That was the first real meal I had in months I started valuing the little things when life returned to normalcyWhen the authorities issued a red alert in Mumbai before Cyclone Nisarga last week Raman who is currently in lockdown at his Mumbai home wondered where the poor would seek shelter There are so many slum pockets where would the residents go I feel all of us rich and poor are facing the harsh reality of daytoday existential survival Some make it others dontRaman highlights the Stockdale Paradox a term coined by author Jim Collins in his book Good to Great It was named after James Stockdale former vice presidential candidate naval officer and Vietnam prisoner of war Stockdale was held captive in Hanoi in 1965 For the next sevenandahalf years he underwent immense torture The only thing that kept him going was hope He always knew that he would return to his family When interviewed by Collins he said that these were the most defining years of his life which in hindsight he would not trade for anything elseRaman feels all of us must believe that we will emerge from this situation This will pass it has to You need to keep the hope alive But at the same time you dont wish away the harsh reality Take each day as it comes learn somethingCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news