Spending time at home during the lockdown period can be quite a daunting task for people like Ramachandran Nair who usually follows a hectic schedule everyday, juggling between work at the office, social commitments as well as making time to pursue hobbies that give him some respite from the ordeal of meeting targets and deadlines.

At home for the past few weeks, Nair has used his creative instincts to the full, experimenting with ideas that can materialise into documentary or educational films, since his interest lies there. He has also got his family members – wife and daughter – to take up tasks that add some value to their daily duties as well as sharpen their minds. This includes household chores as well as fitness, reading/writing and handicrafts, all of which is intended to throw boredom out of the window.

A few days ago, the Nair family got together to create an artistic mural on their living room floor. Since getting suitable paints and other material was out of the question, with such stores being closed, they decided to raid the kitchen for ingredients that could let their creativity take wing.

“I call this ‘Stay home, stay safe – afternoon fun’,” said Nair, explaining that the mural on his living room floor was made of Basmati rice, yellow lentils, green gram, red gram, mustard seeds, spit wheat, chilli powder and a few more ingredients.

“It was family fun, done by wife, daughter and myself with a strong message of staying home during the time of the current pandemic. It was also an opportunity for unveiling our creativity and we spent some good time together,” he said, adding that his wife and daughter had a tough time later separating the ingredients and putting them back in their respective containers.

The Nairs are now contemplating more creative ways to spend time at home after all the routine chores are taken care of each day.