Here’s everything the pandemic can get you for free
Enter free books, football matches, online fitness lessons and cooking classes — at a time when the world is locked down. As the Covid-19 crisis restricts us inside our houses, here’s what we can access virtually free to keep ourselves going.
THE BOOKWORMS
For book lovers, the internet has suddenly transformed into a treasure trove of free ebooks, courtesy various platforms such as journal-and-book database JStor, digital library Scribd, textbook library Cambridge, and Storyweaver which has something for kids.
Nerdist, the digital gallery of anything comics related, has a list of 100 comics published by creators in response to the pandemic. “Reading has always been a great way to escape reality, or cope with it. It’s even greater that more platforms and publishers are throwing open titles to the public. It could help us meet characters who can keep us company during social isolation, and might take us back to reading for pleasure rather than accomplishment,” says Chetana Divya Vasudev, assistant editor at a publishing house based in Bengaluru.
LOVE OF FOOTBALL
The pandemic has also affected football fanatics all over the world. Several matches have been cancelled in the last few weeks. But FIFA came up with a solution to keep the football-and-beer tradition going — it’s streaming iconic football games online. Naveen Peter, a sports enthusiast and writer based in Mumbai says, “It came as a surprise while I was browsing, to see the official account of FIFA premiering some of the best matches from World Cups (men and women). I watched the official movie of the 2018 men’s World Cup,
Spain vs Netherlands match from the 2014 World Cup and the final of the 2019 women’s World Cup. A much-needed break from the monotony.”
A GOOD QUARANTINE?
Mumbai-based mental health professional, Kavita Mungi, says planning a routine that includes fitness, healthy food, drawing etc could help in a quarantine. “Yoga, body weight training, playing board games, cooking are some things you can enjoy at home,” says Mungi. For health freaks, gyms are live-streaming sessions online for free. For the more artistically inclined, there are drawing classes, cake decoration and quilting lessons online.