White Sky: Memoir amid Lockdown

London, March 2020. Covid-19 brings the world to a sudden stop.




We join Leena as she experiences lockdown in her suburb. Once Budapest felt exotic, now Herne Hill station, the first step on her trips there, triggers wistful thoughts of a time when traveling was part of her life and pastimes like visiting a café were taken for granted. These days holidays are out of the question and all the cafés are shut.




Closer to home there is a nature reserve, where she enjoys walking. And her garden, but there is an ogre lurking in the one next door.




When faced with months of near isolation, and your present is bleak and your future uncertain, where can you look but back? Today, whilst out on her walk, Leena spoke to two people - a woman she used to chat to at the bus stop but hasn't seen in weeks, and a neighbour out with her dog. And suddenly, out of nowhere, a memory from a happier time springs to mind. She hasn't thought of it in years but there it is, crisp and clear as if it were yesterday. Small things can brighten your day, and that's not a bad thing at all.