Two Full Months Now...

Today is May 17, i.e. exactly two months since the shelter-in-place started. Just lining up the little Facebook posts from this week, my Sunday afternoon ritual for the last few weeks.

May 11: Day 56--Day 1 of Week 9

Engrossed in reading the Tesla lawsuit against the Alameda County word for word! #DinnerCanWait

My summary of the lawsuit: They hired a litigation powerhouse, so the complaint looks "sexy" with all kinds of constitutional due process grounds and all. But essentially they are saying Newsom's order makes sense, and Alameda's order is in conflict with Newson's order. So it should be preempted. I think Tesla might win this---may not on merit, but based on common sense political and economic sentiments.


May 12: Day 57--Day 2 of Week 9

Today, May 12, is Women in Mathematics Day, in celebration of Fields Medalist Maryam Mirzakhani's birthday.
https://www.facebook.com/awmmath/
The Association for Women in Mathematics offers free streaming of the documentary "Secrets of the Surface: the Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani," which examines her life and mathematical work . This is only available until May 15th. Fill out the form to receive your link.
https://lnkd.in/gCYc_EV
#WomenInMaths #May12 #May12

[Incidentally, today is also Florence Nightingle's birthday.]

#StayAtHomeIrregularDiaries
May 13: Day 58--Day 3 of week 9

Went to buy pet food today. There were significantly more cars on the road than two weeks back when we last visited the store. Customers were all wearing masks and maintaining social distance. Heard the most encouraging news from the owner of the store---a small 'mom and pop' establishment that we often go to. He said with reduced hours, he has been able to cut some operational cost, but has been able to earn roughly 80% of the revenue even during the SIP. Bless the pet owners and the staunch supporters of the local businesses!

#StayAtHomeIrregularDiaries

May 15: Day 60--Day 5 of Week 9

Morning post:

Signs of the time! Vending machines dispensing personal protective equipment!

Afternoon post:

Unexpected perks of the shelter-in-place. Tesla sent their servicepersons to my doorstep to replace a recalled part. Everything was done on my driveway. No struggle deciding how to manage having to take the car to the service station on a workday. WFH FTW! (Work from home for the win!)

May 16: Day 61--Day 6 of Week 9

Glad to have virtually met the founders and key players of Kolkata Foundation over a zoom call today--right from my backyard. Didnt matter if they were here in the Bay area or in New Jersey or the Washington DC metro area. Detailed Excel spreadsheets can be so motivational when you see the impact of your contribution and appreciate the hard work that goes on the ground to make it happen. https://www.kolkatafoundation.org/

Fifty Days and counting: Semblance of normalcy at last?

This week we crossed the milestone of fifty consecutive days of shelter-in-place. This was also the Lawyers' Wellbeing week.

#StayAtHomeIrregularDiaries
Day 50--Day 2 of week 8

Today (May 5) is the 50th day of shelter-in-place! If I didn't journal, no way I could have remembered that! Today is also Giving Tuesday--a part of the global generosity movement! I hope you have considered opening your hearts and wallets today for a COVID-related cause or some other cause that you care about in general.
One great thing about this pandemic is that it has really brought out the kindness in many people who realized their privilege vis-a-vis the less fortunate. That realization prompted many to spring into charitable action, either by volunteering, or contributing monetarily or otherwise. But at the same time please be cognizant of "compassion fatigue," which is defined as "indifference to charitable appeals on behalf of those who are suffering, experienced as a result of the frequency or number of such appeals." We need to preserve our positive energy and purse for the future too, because the world will continue to need our compassion even after the pandemic is over.

#StayAtHomeIrregularDiaries
Day 53--Day 5 of week 8

May 4-8, 2020 is the lawyer well-being week. Our firm has been sending great TED talks, reading materials and educational videos every day of the week. Liked today's suggested video a lot, so sharing here for others to enjoy.
At the time mark 6:15 min of this 15 minute video, learned something that made me smile ear-to-ear. The word "metta" (https://thebuddhistcentre.com/te…/loving-kindness-meditation) is phonetically so close to my nickname "Mita" and even closer to what my engineering friends call me: "Meta" (inspired by Metadata, phonetically invoking "Mita Datta"). :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6KrOi_Ohhs

Also liked another TED talk shared earlier this week that focused on dopamine--the happiness hormone-that trains your brain to focus on the positive than the negative, and that unlocks the capabilities of better decision-making and creative solution-finding that are already there in your brain.

#StayAtHomeIrregularDiaries
Day 55--Day 7 of week 8

Today, May 10 (Sunday) is Mother's Day. And finally it felt like an almost normal weekend! In between breakfast, lunch and dinner with family (cooked and arranged lovingly by the junior and senior), I could fit in some social activity with friends. Played tennis early in the morning with another mom, and it felt so good to touch the racquet after two months! And in the afternoon, a bunch of us gathered in Milpitas to show solidarity to fellow-tennis-mom Renisa Satrijo's ice cream shop Sugar Mama Desserts (https://www.facebook.com/sugarmamadesserts1/), which opened this weekend after the county-mandated closure. While we appreciate that running a small business while maintaining all the social distancing protocol is challenging, I was glad to see some signs of life all around the Bay area as I drove on the highway for the first time after March 16. And with Santa Clara County's new COVID cases remaining consistently low, may be we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

And my favorite art news this week was graphic artist Banksy redefined superhero in a sketch that he donated to a hospital in England. 

And did I mention that I recorded my first ever karaoke song at the request of my childhood schoolmates and positively instigated to action by my brother and sister-in-law? This is one part of the lockdown that I don't mind at all---I am way more open to experiment with skills that I gave up on the road to "adulting."

It May End by the End of May

This week has been interesting. On the very first day of the week, the Governor of California announced that the shelter-in-place (SIP---I have finally started using the acronym) is extended at least till May 31, though businesses and facilities will be opened in phases throughout the month of May. That announcement was kind of depressing, as we were looking forward to resuming normalcy mid-May. And to make the week worse, some universally beloved acting and sports legends (Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor, Chuni Goswami) in India passed away within a span of 48 hours in the middle of the week. But on the other hand, my father-in-law has been steadily improving in the hospital slowly remembering things from his past. So I guess the emotions balanced out. The last part of the week has been productive and cheerful (as cheerful as it can be given the current situation). Each passing day in May brings us closer to the end of the SIP. So it cannot be all negative.

#StayAtHomeIrregularDiaries

Day 43--Day 2 of week 7

Ordered masks quite a while back. The Amazon shipment for N95 grade mask was expectedly delayed in view of the high demand. (There's even a trademark lawsuit involving N95 masks!) So went to Etsy (online), thinking local artists will be able to ship quickly and make some money in the process while expressing their creativity. Ironically, both masks got delivered on the same day! Finally! Until yesterday I was thinking it is too late for the masks to arrive, but now that the California shelter-in-place order has been extended till May 31, I guess we will have enough opportunities to utilize the masks.
PS. I just realized during the evening walk with the mask and earbuds (for music) on that having all the facial orifices (ear, nose, mouth) blocked is a pretty weird feeling!

#StayAtHomeIrregularDiaries
Day 46--Day 5 of week 7

This morning I had the chance to attend a webinar organized by the Utah State Bar (we have an office there) on the topic of "Reducing the Gender Bias in the Legal Field." One of the main focuses of the webinar was effective communication for women lawyers, and for that matter, for any lawyer. Our profession demands us to be "communication ninjas," as we have to constantly thoroughly assimilate a lot of information and distill it in a form that is easy to communicate. And we need to do a proper "code switching" depending on the target audience that we are communicating the information to (https://tinyurl.com/y7muaa4d). For example, you will not talk to a layman pro bono client in the same way as you would talk to a sophisticated business client. That "code switching" becomes so much more difficult in the absence of face to face interaction, as we are all forced to deal with in this time of mandatory virtual meetings. On top of that, people's attention span now is 6-8 seconds in the digital age. I myself can see how difficult it has become to concentrate on a long article, when there is a constant deluge of new content coming in, especially during these lockdown days where people's urge to share content as a form of experiencing human interaction is understandably heightened. So effective communication has become even more important in the present situation. To make the long story short, the presenter Natalie Bradshaw was a very effective communicator herself, if I am blogging about her presentation at 11:30 pm on a Friday night after wrapping up a busy work week. Have a restful weekend, everyone!

#StayAtHomeIrregularDiaries
Day 47--Day 6 of week 7

It is May already. The whole month of April just disappeared into the shelter---forever. In his poem 'The Waste Land,' T.S. Eliot famously wrote: “April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.” Let's hope we have buried the dead in April and may this month of May bring rejuvenation to all of us.
During today's hike, we spotted a tree which literally symbolized rejuvenation. New branches emerged from the old chopped-off stump and flourished with emerald leaves bursting with life.
May is national mental health awareness month. As more and more outdoor exercises are being permitted by the Governor, I hope Californians enjoy the privilege responsibly while making nature part of their mental health maintenance routine.