COVID DIARY: DAY 66, Eid in Strange Times

Eid is normally a time for family, community and over indulgence in good food. The day should start with a congregational prayer that is attended by everyone (even those that have been MIA all year). Then I normally take all the roast chicken we’ve made and a smorgasbord of desserts we’ve made at home over […]

COVID DIARY: DAY 65, Last Day of Ramadan

The month of Ramadan is coming to an end. It is customary to reflect at the end of things what has been lost and what has been gained. Lost have been the 150 congregational prayers in the masjid, including the 30 nights of the Taraweeh (marathon prayers performed after the night prayer). Lost have been […]

COVID DIARY: DAY 58, Schools Stay Shut

The UK government is pushing hard for schools to begin a phased reopening. They say its because its really important for kids to develop social skills (people aren’t going to work because their kids are at home) . They say they are worried for kids from low income families (working class kids) because school may […]

COVID DIARY: DAY 56, Pyjamas

In the not too distant future people are going to be talking about the time before pyjamas. When people used to wear uncomfortable things like trousers, pencil skirts, blazers and ties for work. Then they would come home and wear slightly more comfortable things like jeans, or evening wear to go out. Luckily the Great […]

COVID DIARY: DAY 55, Shoes

Does anyone remember these things that people used to wear on their feet? They had all sorts of names for them: shoes, boots, moccasins, wellies, trainers, sneakers, heels, platforms, pumps, high tops, mules, cloggs and even crocs. People were strange back then. They’d wear shoes to go to work. They’d come home and put trainers […]

COVID DIARY: DAY 54, The Crazies

Things are getting strange in the UK. We have a Prime Minister who nearly died from Covid-19 that wants people to start going back to work if they can. He believes Reception pupils are the most likely to follow social distancing rules that’s why they are the first to be going back in June. Then […]

COVID DIARY: DAY 50

Is that date right! 😱 We’ve been in lockdown for 50 days! That is so significant that it doesn’t even need a subtitle! There’s a bunch of other significant numbers to consider too. It’s 2 weeks into Ramadan, so we are basically half way through. Today is the 75th Anniversary of VE day. Thanks to […]

COVID DIARY: DAY 47, Mental Health

The rot is starting to settle in. We’re into our eight week of the lockdown. We’ve had the most deaths in Europe (clearly herd immunity was the wrong way to go). Its at this stage that people are going to start displaying mental health issues induced by isolation. Even the most antisocial person needs some […]

COVID DIARY: DAY 46, Borrowed Time

Let’s face it, we’ve been living on borrowed time. Coronavirus was a pandemic waiting to happen. People like Bill Gates have been warning us about something like this for nearly a decade. We need to wise up, because this isn’t the only potential global disaster looming over us. Ever since we mastered mass transportation (trains, […]

COVID DIARY: DAY 41, Insomnia

Insomnia and Ramadan aren’t a good combination, but with the disruption in sleep patterns they do often go hand in hand. I slept about 4hrs before sehri (pre-dawn meal) but struggled to fall back to sleep after the morning prayer. I spent an hour trying to sleep before giving in and went downstairs. Even the […]