On March 22, India hunkered down at home, heeding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to observe a 14-hour Janata Curfew to slow the spread of Covid-19. That Sunday, THE WEEK photographers stepped out to document, as Modi tweeted, the “beginning of a long fight”
No traffic to control: Kiranmoy Manna, a traffic sergeant of Kolkata Police, at the Howrah Bridge that is usually teeming with vehicles. He supported the call for Janata Curfew, saying, “It is important to break the chain to defeat Covid-19. The world is facing a crisis now, as is our country, and I am happy to see very few people on the road today.” | Salil Bera
The divine and the quarantine: Nearly 500 devotees visit the 150-year-old Thakur Dwara Temple in Lucknow daily, says its priest Narvadeshwar Shukla. On March 22, none turned up. “I am praying to God for this evil to go soon and to keep people safe and happy,” says Shukla, who is a fan of Modi | Pawan Kumar
Fast, food: Ved Prakash, who works for a food delivery app, says he wants to make as many trips as possible so that people stay home. But he adds, “Some residential societies are not allowing us inside, fearing we might be infected.” | Sanjay Ahlawat
At sea: The fear of Covid-19 has further damaged Kashmir’s tourism industry following the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent lockdown last year, says Arif Ahmed Khuroo, who ferries locals and tourists at Dal Lake. But he says measures like the Janata Curfew are needed in this hour of crisis | Umer Asif
Playing safe: Siddhesh Chaudhari, a graphic designer, plays with his twins, Pravrush and Praroh (in pink tee), in their home garden in Mumbai. Sundays were either spent shopping or at the beach. But with the fear of Covid-19, the family, including his parents and wife, has minimised its outings | Amey Mansabdar
Cleaning drive: Sushila Devi, a municipal sanitation worker, sweeps one of the busiest roads in Gurugram. “We have been told that only cleanliness can fight the pandemic, so we are working round the clock.”| Aayush Goel
Travelling light: Bus driver Santosh Kumar and conductor Sunil Kumar work with the Delhi government’s Cluster bus service. Very few people took the bus, owing to the Janata Curfew | Sanjay Ahlawat
Nonstop nourishment: Neither the fear of coronavirus nor the curfew could stop Narender Gowswamy from supplying milk to his customers in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Both children and the elderly need milk, he says, and therefore he cannot skip his duty | Arvind Jain
Mixed signals: Two gangmen sit on the columns of a railway bridge height limiter, that accidentally fell on March 22, on the Kempegowda International Airport road in Bengaluru. They had to ensure that the columns were fixed soon so as to avoid any damage to the bridge from bigger vehicles | Bhanu Prakash Chandra