INTERVIEW WITH YASHIKA
Riya: What is your name and your date of birth?
Yashika: My name’s Yashika and I was born on the 6th of May, 2000.
Riya: Where were you born?
Yashika: I was born in _______.
Riya: Where did you live before the onset of this pandemic?]
Yashika: I was living in Delhi, India.
Riya: What previous experiences have you had with travel and migration?
Yashika: I had small travel experiences. I’d never faced something like this. So, maximum whenever I used to travel, it was just normal and easy.
Riya: You mentioned that you were in London before?
Yashika: I was in Guildford, basically that’s like 1 hour away from London. I was on an exchange program since February. I left India and I was supposed to come back by the end of June, but due to the pandemic everything was disturbed and I had to come back early.
Riya: Where do you currently live and how did you end up in this particular situation?
Yashika: I’m currently back in my home at Delhi. I was stuck basically. As I said, I was in the UK for a semester exchange program and after one month I was living there. We got the news that India was just implementing the lockdown and everything.
So at first, there were orders that they would be closing flights for internationals. And then they mentioned that the nationals won’t be allowed as well. So, I decided to stay there, because I was not sure about the situation for my course and exams and everything.
I was not expecting the situation to get that worse that the lockdown would go for months basically. Then, things were just very confusing. I was under the lockdown in the UK for about a month and a half. Actually, two months I was under the lockdown.
When I decided that I wanted to come back that was by the end of May I thought I would be coming. I wasn’t able to get the flights and everything. So I lost all my hope.
Suddenly then the government announced that they’ll be setting up flights for people stranded in different countries. And we had to register basically. So that helped me come back.
Riya: How did it feel to be separated from your family and home while you were in the UK?
Yashika: It wasn’t a big deal at first, because I was already living away from them for a month. I was used to the feeling of being away from family. But the weirdest part was because of the lockdown in the UK as well, all of the students had moved out. All the exchange students had gone back to their countries, because they were able to go back. Then my flatmates and everyone - they moved out back to their parent’s home as well. So it was kind of lonely initially – afterwards actually.
That hit me in the starting of April when everyone moved out and I was left alone there.
The biggest thing, because of the lockdown I was lonely, because there was no one to talk [to].
I had to whole house [to] myself. And I really didn’t even know anyone in the university, since I was a new student and it had just been a month or so since I was there. The only people I knew – everyone moved out.
The family was not a big issue, everyone was pretty concerned and they remained in touch by video calls, voice calls. I mean the calling frequency actually increased during the lockdown only because of the fact that they were concerned.
Riya: How have you adapted to your new reality and the ‘new normal’ [in Guildford and Delhi]?
Yashika: I mean it’s kind of weird. The worst part is I used to be a person who liked really going out.
You know? Being out most of the time and experiencing different stuff. The first thing I thought when I was going to the UK was that I would travel a lot. That was the first disappointment. Eventually, I got used to being inside.
It was kind of disturbing for me as well, because I had sleep issues while I was there. I had nothing to do. Basically I was just cooking for myself and doing nothing, because there were no studies, there were no exams. I had nothing to keep me distracted.
When I came back as well, I just didn’t feel like going out, because I was just so used to the routine I experienced for two months of not going out, not meeting anyone. Since the time I’ve been back, it’s like automatically my mind and body has adapted to lockdown basically.
So even if I’m supposed to go out and do something, I don’t feel like doing it. I feel like it’s out of the routine or something like that. So, I think everyone – particularly me – I ‘m getting used to the lockdown phase and I don’t think that’s something good for the mental health.
Riya: How was your traveling experience from the UK airport all the way to reaching back home?
Yashika: That was a kinda of tiring process. Initially what happened when the Indian embassy and the London announced there were no flights, they just asked us to register on the particular link they had issued. They mentioned that it is not a guarantee that we would be able to get a flight.
They’ll be first giving priority to the people who are in medical emergencies or whatever.
So, I wasn’t expecting to get shortlisted, but somehow my name came up on the first list. The whole procedure of getting my ticket and everything was kind of exhausting as well. They had a procedure…they emailed me first on the 11th of May. Then they told me that they would be calling me again for the confirmation and then they did. But the worst part was the ticketing procedure. They were asking…there was a whole lot [of] confusion.
In the email, they did specify a few numbers and everything. They said that Air India – they would email us with a particular link, on which we were supposed to pay ourselves and everything. But the opposite happened. So we received calls from different numbers stating that they’re from Air India. And they were requesting our credit card or debit card details for the payment directly. And that kind of created a huge confusion between the people who were trying to book tickets. Why? Because it was kind of unsafe as well to give your card details to somebody you don’t even know.
Later on the embassy confirmed and everything. Literally, my ticket was booked one day before my flight. And it was so exhausting. I had to pack and everything. And then at the airport when I reached there – So for the social distancing, London Airport didn’t follow much.
They made us wait for two hours on the line just to enter the airport. They couldn’t provide much information about the procedure inside. In fact, the biggest issue all of us faced was when we went for the check-in procedure, so at that point they suddenly came up to everyone. So usually when you fly, usually there’s a rule you can get a check-in bag and you have another optional laptop bag. So you can carry two bags for your flight. But, with that flight they just suddenly announced as soon as we went inside…two bags for check-in – they will not be permitted. Either they have to throw their bags or they have to adjust it at the moment somehow. And this happened when the flight was supposed to take off in about 1 hour literally.
My flight was around 9:30 pm and we were allowed to enter the airport at 8:30 pm. So, we had no time to adjust our luggage. Some of the people literally threw away their stuff. Only because of the fact that they wanted to go back. But they can’t really take the luggage. They weren’t allowing even to pay for that. Extra check-in bags. They weren’t allowing to pay. They were kind of rude as well to the customers. The Air India staff. There were some government officials. They were kind of rude as well, constantly shouting at the passengers and everything…
I somehow managed to get my luggage in. I found somebody who did not have extra luggage. I asked that person to carry my luggage as their own. A lot of people had delayed because of the whole thing. I feel like if we were there outside for two hours, they could have informed us earlier, so if people wanted they could have adjusted their luggage before. They did not even inform us via email or anything. They just came up at the airport and then announced that we are not allowed to carry that luggage.
Somehow after that we were made to board…Because there was lack of seating space, there was no social distancing followed. Everyone was literally either standing or sitting nearby.
Usually you have to follow like two meters apart. There were no such things followed except at the medical checkout tank.
They made us wait for five or ten minutes and then they made us board. Our flight obviously was delayed. We were supposed to take off at 9:30, but we took off around 10:15 or something…As soon as we boarded, they gave us a whole package in which we had food items, water and a mask. A few masks actually, sanitizers, and a shield – plastic shield.
We were instructed to wear the mask and the shield whole time during the flight since there again were no social distancing followed in the seating procedure…I think it was a fully booked flight. We had to wear the shield and we were instructed that we should also use the washroom as less as possible. And we weren’t provided with the food or anything during the flight. That is why they gave us the packages.
And they just said that if you need water, we’ll have to go to the place itself. I don’t know what it is called, but we had to go ourselves and get the water bottles. And that wasn’t a big issue.
The flight staff – they were fully protected, but it was really congested because the flight was full. Wearing that shield and the mask whole time during the flight – it was kind of suffocating as well…
[In the UK] we were not even wearing masks, because nobody really followed that actually honestly. There was no rule as well. Whenever I used to go out as well for just groceries or something, I wasn’t wearing mask. The grocery store place used to provide us with sanitizers and gloves just to make sure that there’s no contamination…
The Indian airport was pretty good actually. They had all the procedures set for social distancing. They had marked spaces for people to sit. We were divided into groups at the Indian airport. They directed us that we’ll be going [through] four different procedures – section by section. At every place, they have provided the seats for the passengers so that there is no chaos and everyone can rest as well since it was a tiring flight.
We were appointed one officer as well who was all the time with us and making sure that all the people are together. No one’s really left behind or anything. They were cautious with the mask and the shield. They were not allowing anyone to proceed if they did not have a shield or a mask. Even if it was a kid or a baby or something like that. They made sure everyone was protected.
I think the most time taken was the baggage claim. We had to wait a lot for that. And then further, we were taken for a medical screening at the airport. I think this happened two times.
First, when we de-boarded our temperatures were checked. After then after baggage claim, we went out. We were supposed to choose our hotels for quarantine and again our temperature was checked. When we went there, they gave us a list of six or nine hotels. They had all types of hotels, so everyone had an option.
After we informed them which hotels we wanted to choose, they collected our passports, just to make sure that no one’s really getting out of the airport. They collected our passports and then they had DTC buses for the passengers, who were supposed to take us to the hotels. And our passports were handed over to the conductors. And then one by one, everyone was dropped off. And when we were dropped off, we were handed over our passports at the hotel reception where we were given our room keys.
Hotels were precautious as well, because they had a set of sanitization procedures. As soon as we were outside of the hotel, our luggage was sanitized. We were also given a choice if we wanted to just get it on ourselves – the spray. And then we were allowed to check-in.
It was easy, the check-in procedure. I was staying at Le Meridian, so for me the procedure was pretty easy. As soon as I walked in, I just told my name. They handed me over the key and I was not asked for any payment or anything. I was just given the key and moved to my room directly where I was provided with the food and everything.
I went there and it was relaxful. And then a few minutes later I received a call asking my meal preferences. And then they just provided the food.
It was included in our room charges basically. They had three meals a day – breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They had bagged food in plastic packaging. They had fixed timings as well. Breakfast used to come around 10:00 am and the lunch had fixed timing and the dinner too.
If anyone wanted something different from the food they were already providing, they had told us that the room service was also available. That would be obviously charged extra. The hotel was very good actually. They were very prompt in their services and they were very careful as well.
Every hotel staff - whoever was working on the quarantine floor, they were wearing PPE kits and they were fully protected. Whenever they served food, they just used to keep it outside our rooms on a particular table. And they used to ring the bell. That was the thing.
If you wanted something, they were very fast and responsive. Every day we had a medical check-up as well. They used to check our blood pressure, our heartbeats as well, and temperature. These things were checked every day just to keep a record of the people.
If anyone who was ill, they would get to know about it earlier and keep that person more isolated or give that person more attention. But luckily, I got to know that no one on my flight was tested positive. So this thing happened. I was supposed to stay in the hotel for 14 days.
But I think on the 9th day, the government released a new rule that the new people who were coming in India with these flights arranged by them – they’re not supposed to – they can, they can just stay in the hotel for 7 days. And then further, they would be required to go home and quarantine for another 7 days. So, the confirmation was next day in the morning. And since it had already been 10 days since I was in the quarantine, the hotel allowed me to check out after a proper medical check-up. There was a doctor who signed a discharge form for me. And then the hotel staff had arranged government people for security purposes and safety purposes. We were given an out pass with details of the car and the person picking us up.
And that was it. The whole procedure took about 3 to 4 hours, because there were a lot of people who wanted to check out. And there were people who were staying before us as well.
So, they were also supposed to check out.
It was kind of chaos, but the hotel was, again, very cautious in social distancing. As soon as they saw that there are a lot of people in the reception area coming downstairs, everyone was asked to wear a mask again. To manage the number of people in the queue, they did provide everyone with marks just to make sure there is a proper distancing followed. That is a good thing.
The staff was wearing PPE in reception as well. They also provided us the facility – if we wanted to get ourselves tested for Covid we could, but it was a paid test. If we wanted the test we were supposed to stay another additional day, just because they said it could take 24 hours for the result. I got myself tested just to make sure, just because I wanted to go home early.
So, I got myself tested and I tested negative and the next day I just left for my home.
And finally that was a relieving procedure to get back to my home. It was late. It was tiring. Because being in the hotel, every day alone and specially when you come from a different country, you’re really jetlagged in your initial days.
And I was also completing an assignment during the same days, because I had a deadline. It was tiring. I was still used to the UK time and everything.
Riya: Thank you so much Yashika. It really means a lot and I’m really glad you’re back home and safe.
Yashika: Thank you so much. I hope you’re safe there as well.
Riya: Yeah, thank you so much.