It's family time for Karnataka athletes during forced coronavirus break

COVID-19 outbreak has, like everything else under the sun, ground sporting activities across the globe to a complete halt. During this forced break some of the top athletes in Karnataka are finding it tough to follow even their daily fitness routines as all training centres, including gymnasiums, are shut. While all of them are happy, in a way, to be able to spend quality time with their respective families, they are also finding ways to keep themselves active and fit within their confines.

Rohan Bopanna, Indian Davis Cupper

I came back on March 9 from Croatia. An hour and a half before my flight to the US, I got to know that Indian Wells was cancelled. So we had to change our plans and come back to India and we were in the airport for 17-18 hours before we could get the flight to India.

Since then, it's definitely been a lockdown, I've been at home in Coorg with my family. I'm getting to spend time with my family, especially our daughter who is 10 months old. This brings back a lot of memories of the time I spent in Coorg while growing up.

The good part about being here in my coffee plantation is that there is a lot of space, so I go for morning runs. I have my niece and nephew who play tennis, so I play with them in the evening in our front yard. So I'm keeping myself active. We players are all in touch with each other through WhatsApp or video calls etc.

This is a situation no one could have prepared for and we have to make the best use of it.

S Chikkarangappa, pro golfer

You can take me out of golf but you can never take golf out of me! I've just hung some 10 blankets on my terrace and hitting balls. I just started doing that since yesterday.

Although I'm staying at home, I'm not taking fitness for granted and working hard on that. I've got the list of do-at-home exercises and doing it religiously. This was the time when I would be busy travelling but I don't mind staying at home and spending quality time with my mom and dad.

I'm helping out my mom in the kitchen everyday and assisting with the chores too. It's like going back to my childhood. My room was in a mess and I've cleaned that up too. Good time to practice meditation as well.

Pankaj Advani, cue sports champion

Health and safety come first, and having learnt how contagious this virus is, I've not stepped outside of my house for nearly 10 days now.

With the amount of people dying everyday, it really looks scary. Since I don't have a table at home, it's literally no snooker or billiards for the moment.

I've been spending some quality time with family, especially mom who is the most dearest to me. I'm helping her with cooking. I do some basic exercises and been reading a lot.

Thispandemic hastaught me to appreciate little things in life. Sometimes we take certain people for granted and these moments make you realise their values. I'm lapping this period of rest. Also I feel the world had become such a busy place, this pandemic was nature's way of saying enough is enough.

Nature has literally forced us to stop doing our regular stuff and spend time with loved ones.

Prasidh Krishna, Karnataka and IPL cricketer

Once the 21-day lock down was declared, it became tough for me because all the gyms were closed and even the National Cricket Academy was shut.

I focus on rehab when I am not playing any tournament. So I made my own fitness routine at home. It isn't as elaborate as I would follow in gyms but I feel I am making use of this time well.

There is no way I can go out and play cricket. So now I am mostly busy with my PlayStation. I am mad about it. I play FIFA on the PS. Also, I have been calling my close ones.

I have a few friends in the US. The situation is really bad there. I keep in touch with them.

K Gowtham, Karnataka, India A and IPL cricketer

During this phase, you have to keep yourself active. I am happy that I am spending good time with my wife and family.

I am keen on learning new things. I cook and do other household chores.

Look, we athletes travel a lot. We are away from our dear ones and we don't know how they spend a day and what they do when they are at home. It's a good opportunity to understand them better.

I am definitely eager to go out and start playing. But at the end of the day, health is more important than anything. It's about being patient, respecting the guidelines of the government and waiting for the situation to get better.

Devdutt Padikkal, Karnataka, India A and IPL cricketer

To be honest, it's been hard for me. We are set to one routine, which mainly involves training and playing. Situations like these can make you lazy. So I want to stay as active as possible.

My goal is to do something productive. Apart from my fitness activities, I have decided to practice meditation. This is something new for me and I have always wanted to do this.

Of course, I used to always think I don't have enough time with the family. Now it's fun to play board games and watch movies with them.

Look, there is uncertainty about the situation but all we can do is to stay at home and follow the government's guidelines.

Aishwarya Pissay, National champion in circuit racing and rally championship

I haven’t been able to go out and cycle with cops at every corner so I have been cycling indoors on the trainer. Then there are workouts formulated by my trainer, strength and conditioning mostly.

I do some yoga and meditation, and yeah, that’s pretty much all I can do for now. It’s very hard to stay sane at times like this so I am spending more time with family and studying for my exams, which have been postponed.

I also spend time visualising races, essentially my pre-race routine, during my meditation sessions so that takes care of the racing, mentally at least.

As told to Sidney Kiran, Roshan Thyagarajan, Vivek M V and Sandeep Menon (DH Sports Desk)