One year of the lockdown robbed children of their childhood and violated their very basic right to play, education, mental health and well-being amongst others. If the lockdown seemed overwhelming for us, can you imagine what it must have been like for our children, who were forced to be indoors?
To understand the experiences of children during the year, Prachi Jain, an illustrator and visual design student from NID, Vijayawada had conversations with children from Sagar in Madhya Pradesh. She used the power of her art to visually depict what children shared with her.
Here’s 13-year-old Yashika’s story who loves art and craft, but dislikes being indoors all the time.
Yashika would always spend her time creating art in her home.
Or occasionally, go to her terrace where she would find it difficult to look at the silence and empty streets. Yashika said she missed the hustle and bustle of her town the most.
She would often also get scared of seeing police patrolling in her area and catching people who were moving out without wearing a mask
However, in the entire lockdown, what worried Yashika the most were the deaths caused by poverty and she hopes one day, everything would go back to normal.
This series is part of our micro campaign #LockedChildhood that is capturing stories on What One Year Of Lockdown meant for our children, their rights and child protection.
