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The Hindu
The Hindu
National
Rajulapudi Srinivas

Lockdown times: Bonding with loved ones over video calls

Staying connected: Family members chatting with their loved ones through a video call in Vijayawada on Friday. (Source: K.V.S. Giri)

Families and friends across the globe are using the internet to stay in touch with families and reconnect with old friends.

Even the elderly are becoming tech-savvy in order to know how to make and receive video calls so that they can stay in touch with their grandchildren.

Many homemakers who passed out of school decades ago are now reconnecting with long-lost classmates.

“We studied together from Class I till Class X. Later, we got separated and my friend Suhasini got married. She is staying in Bangaluru. With the help of other schoolmates, I got her phone number and we are chatting regularly,” says P. Vaishnavi of Elurupadu village in West Godavari district.

Old memories

Suhasini shared her family photos and I too posted my details and we recalled our schooldays and our classmates, by names, says Vaishnavi.

“My father was a retired railway employee. He worked in Rajamahendravaran, Guntur, Bhimavaram, Vijayawada and other stations. We used to stay in railway quarters and have many friends during schooldays. Almost all my friends settled well,” says S. Sai Krishna of Vijayawada.

“When we were staying in railway quarters at Rajamahendravaran, Raja, Nani and Siri were my best friends. I contacted them on social media sites during the lockdown and they are very happy,” Sai Krishna told The Hindu.

Ch. Anjaiah, a retired APTransco employee of Kothagudem-Bhadradri district in the neighbouring Telangana State, was staying with his son at Eluru.

“Several of my colleagues were retired and staying at different places. I contacted many of them and recalled how we spent duty hours and in the field. We shared the photos of the quarters where we stayed together.”

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