INTERVIEW WITH MANAV
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Riya: What is your name and date of birth?
Manav: My name is Manav. My date of birth is 5th of August, 1997.
Riya: Where were you born?
Manav: I was born in Delhi, India.
Riya: Where did you live before the onset of this pandemic?
Manav: I was in Ireland.
Riya: What previous experiences have you had with travel and migration?
Manav: Travel and migration? As I told you before, I was in India when this thing started and my parents – they started forcing me to go back to Ireland. I just spent there for the holidays, just for a month or one-and-a-half month.
They started saying me that, “You’re not going back now.” The situation got really bad.
It’s gonna be hell. It’s gonna be like hell. I just forced my parents that, “I’m going – I have blah blah blah to do.” And I came back here. And after a week or maybe ten days later, eleven, twelve days later the situation changed. Drastically changed.
The numbers began to rise. They started touching the heights of the graph.
The flights were shut. Some of my friends, they were really stuck here and some of the friends – they are stuck in India right now as well.
So they want to come back, [but] they cannot come.
There are saying that the flight tickets – they are really costly at the moment. 80,000 INR just for just one side.
They’re not coming back. They have no job at the moment. Their job was gone at the time of Covid.
They were laid off at that time from their jobs. Even I was a gym instructor at that time. My job was also gone, because the gyms aren’t open at the moment. I was laid off for a month. Later on, I started doing other work.
Riya: How has the pandemic separated you from your family? Do you miss them? Do you want to go back to India?
Manav: Well, you know there’s a time when you see the news. You [have a] sad feeling. Like yeah I should be there with my family. I should have been there all the time.
You know, there’s a fun side of the Covid as well. You can spend a lot of time with your family during the long haul. I miss that time. Everyone was with their family. I’ve seen a lot of people. They were just posting snaps and all with family. Family time was major thing I was missing I would say. Nothing else.
The second major thing was that I was worried.
Riya: Do you know when you’ll be reunited with your family?
Manav: Maybe, I’m planning to go back again for a month. I think I will be back to India in maybe August.
Riya: How do you try to remain connected to home? How often do you call or speak with your family?
Manav: Three times in a day.
Riya: How have you adapted to your new reality and “new normal”?
Manav: That’s nice question I would say. The new reality. This thing got us a really, really nice thing which is called social distancing. And the hygiene. I would say hygiene is the most important factor.
Now people have started to look forward regarding the hygiene perspective. So, they want hygiene factors to be considered at all places, whether it’s toilets, whether it’s home, whether it’s workplace, schools.
And social distancing. Obviously it’s a big thing nowadays.
Hygiene is a thing I would say I have adopted. I was hygienic before as well, but I’m 10% more attentive to these things.
Riya: Are you comfortable in the place that you’re currently living? What notable experiences have you had in Ireland?
Manav: Yeah, I’m comfortable here…I wish my family was here…As compared to 300,000 cases in India, the hundred thousands it’s a big number.
The ratio is – I would say…
I wish they were here.
Riya: What notable changes have been made in Ireland to policy or laws?
Manav: One major thing which has been applied here is regarding the travel. The travel – if we talk about the buses, if we talk about the tram rules…The seating capacity has been declined to, I think, 30 people in one room. So, thirty people can travel on a bus, so we have double decker buses over here. If I talk about just bus, we have double decker buses. The seating capacity of a bus is around 85 or 90 seats in a bus. Including the upper level and lower level. But now it has been declined to 30 or 35. No one can sit here facing each other. That’s the major thing. No one can sit just beside you. That’s the major thing I have noticed here. It’s a good thing. That’s why the numbers are decreasing.
Riya: How have you tried to make Ireland feel more like home?
Manav: The major thing I would say that the change is constant. If you try to bring change.
I would say, I was living in India. I wish I could go to any other country after two or three years.
I’m comfortable everywhere. I’m comfortable everywhere. A major thing which kills me is cold. I cannot deal [with the] cold…
In Ireland, in the summers, the temperature is 26 degrees. That’s the maximum temperature over here. And in winter, it’s around -6 degrees. 0 is constant. I’m comfortable in Ireland right now. Maybe after two years, I’m in Australia, I’m in Canada. I’m not too sure.
I can make my home anywhere.
Riya: To what extent do you believe the governments in Ireland and India responded appropriately and competently to the threat of Covid-19?
Manav: I would say, if I talk about Ireland, I would rate 9 out of 10. Even 9.5 out of 10. The exact time for the lockdown, the measures which were taken for the pandemic – these two major reasons why I would say Ireland is very very recovered at the moment. We are getting out of the situation right now.
Our people in India, they just took this thing very lightly. They said our immune system and all – it’s very good. This won’t affect us at all. And this led to the high numbers which are there right now. The lockdown. If I talk about the lockdown in India.
It was not so proper. They locked the entire country at that time when the numbers was not so high. But now, they opened it too early I would say. Too early. Here the lockdown was over when the decrease in the graph. In India, right now there’s an increase in the graph. And they opened the country…
So I think India needs two more lockdowns to get rid of this thing, that’s the major difference.
Riya: Is there anything that you would like to say to someone who is going through a similar situation?
I would say everything is very fine. Don’t worry. Stay safe. Follow the hygiene measures. Follow the government guidelines and everything is going to be okay. Don’t worry. That’s it.