PW invited parents of Indus Altum International School, Belagavi to share insights on how they are helping their children make up for the lost pandemic months

The deadly Covid pandemic has left an indelible impact on our minds and has taught us the important lesson of living life positively. In keeping with this spirit, we first drew up a daily regimen for fitness and critical day to day activities for our son Atharv (class VI). Second, we made a special effort for him to meet with friends and relatives. Engaging in normal conversation with friends and relations was something Atharv missed terribly doing during the pandemic

-Deepa V. Mangalwedhe, wedding planner and founder of Innovation Events, Belagavi

The pandemic years have taught us to value what we have, and to value every human life. There are certainly lots of emotions built up about lost activities of the past two years. Moreover as parents, we believe it’s been especially difficult for our son Rishi (class I) as he has experienced not only learning loss but missed joyful activities involving social and peer interaction critical for personality development. Though we continue to shop online, we have gradually started taking long-awaited vacations and outings while taking all precautions

-Jyoti Raykar, homemaker

When the government imposed a nationwide lockdown, I straight away turned to online shopping to stockpile essentials in anticipation of scarcity, while my son Kriday (class V) transitioned to online learning. After months of being locked up inside as Covid raged outside including a merciless second wave, we masked up, got ourselves vaccinated, and wasted no time in heading outdoors. We have drawn up a bucket list and intend to tick off all entries on that list.

-Shilpa V. Sainuche, director of VSL Tooling Solutions, Belagavi

The pandemic has helped us realise how blessed we are to be together as a family unlike many others left stranded and far away from their near and dear ones. The sudden chaos and loss of lives brought with it awareness that life is unpredictable and must be valued highest. Therefore as soon as Covid curbs were relaxed, on our son Vihaan’s (class V) suggestion, we started visiting long lost friends and relations. We have also come to believe that ‘a family that prays together stays together’ and have been frequenting places of worship as it dawned upon us that the blessings of the Almighty had protected us during the pandemic.

-Amar Phulari, supply chain manager, Boeing India Pvt. Ltd, Belagavi