Even though his stay in Likir has turned out to be an exciting change from his usual life in Bengaluru and from what he had initially expected of the trip, it comes with its fair share of difficulties as resources dwindled.

Nineteen people tested positive for Coronavirus in Ladakh on Sunday and the current virus tally in the union territory is 42, officials said. The new cases include 18 from Chuchot Yokma village of Leh, the biggest single-day spike in the region, added the officials.

The village was declared a containment area on March 17 after three locals had tested positive for COVID-19.

The officials said a 52-year-old woman, a resident of Kaksar village of Kargil, also tested positive for Coronavirus on Saturday. She had gone on pilgrimage to Iran and was evacuated and underwent quarantine for over a month in Rajasthan before being airlifted to her hometown last week, sources said. Seventeen of the patients were, however, already cured and discharged from hospitals.

Ayan says that he had heard stories from his contacts of Iran and that visiting Iran was a common phenomenon owing to the Persian connection. He, however, added that the people in Likir maintain social distancing and the authorities are stringent about ensuring that government directions are not disregarded.

“A few days ago, the government officials distributed some packets of biscuit, bananas and eggs among the villagers. You should have seen the kids here. Running around and shouting in happiness while munching on the biscuits. I had never seen anyone get animated over biscuits,” Ayan says.

The bananas, however, were the least favourite of the lot. “My landlord’s kids handed over their share of the bananas to me and ran away with the biscuits. He adds that the eggs were safely put away for a special dinner.

“The family decided on having egg noodles that night and dinner was served early,” he says with a smile.

“The lockdown is a difficult phase, but here I have also noticed how social distancing has helped bring families together,” says Ayan. “Earlier, parents would put the entire responsibility of the children’s education on schools. They would barely even keep track of what their wards were being taught. Now, I have seen parents take the initiative and help the kids with their studies.”

“The children too are getting the opportunity to observe how their parents and other family members carry out their daily chores and are learning from it. And my entire experience here has been an enriching one. I may have failed in making my documentary but I will treasure the lessons I learned and the friends I made. I look forward to returning to Likir next year, hopefully, after visiting Turtuk during Nowruz,” says Ayan.

For now, however, more than a month since the lockdown was enforced, Ayan — who is on unpaid leave — is uncertain about the future, but is sure that there is nowhere else he would rather be.

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A Joseph