Page 64 - Musings 2022

Diary Entry: 21/09/2025

Aayush Atul Verma
2017A7PS0061P

I remember that morning. The morning the news came on the television, alerting everyone that
there was a nationwide lockdown. Being the crazy survivalists that they are, my parents had a

bunker built into our basement in case such a precarious situation was ever to arise. The

moment that the news came, Tia, Joanna, Louise, and I were shooed into that bunker. At the
time, none of us knew how long we’d be in there. Today marks five years since we went inside

the bunker, and it’s finally time to step into the outside world. I feel nervous and excited and
flushed all at once. There are tiny beads of sweat forming on my forehead - that is how nerve-

wracking this is. I have not interacted face to face with anyone other than my siblings and

parents for the last five years, and I’m quite worried about how I will socialise. My dad is
making blueberry pancakes, and the aroma is filling this bunker. My mom is setting the table,

and Tia, Joanna, and Louise are being noisy as usual. They’ve started their typical morning
shouting, ‘Martin, come for breakfast.” Guess I better go; otherwise they’re going to make my

eardrums burst.

The pancakes were delicious, as always. But I could not concentrate on those amazing pancakes
because I was stepping out today! I am going to meet my friends from school, I can’t wait. I

wonder how different life out there is now, compared to five years ago when we came in. Oh

man, Dad’s calling me.

It’s TIME! Finally!

I will be back with the tales of my adventures tomorrow!

Diary Entry: 22/09/2025

WOW.

Yesterday was something. Once we stepped out of that bunker, it felt like we were breathing a
different kind of oxygen - it was different from what we had gotten accustomed to, but it had

a vague sense of familiarity. The first thing I did was run up to my room. Seeing my room
made me weirdly nostalgic. I remembered waking up in my room five years ago and not

realising how drastically everything was going to change. From down the hall, I heard the girls’

shrieks of excitement as they ran up to their rooms, and Mom and Dad exclaiming with joy as

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