KOLKATA: Sanjana Panja left Kolkata six years ago to study in Milan. In all these years, she has never seen Milan so deserted. After the Covid-19 outbreak, schools and universities have suspended classes for two weeks and the bustling streets have gone empty. With the Indian government on Tuesday deciding to cancel all visa/eVisa that had been granted to nationals from Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan on or before March 3, the situation has become complicated.
Panja doesn’t want to risk returning to Kolkata now. “I don’t want to take the risk of taking flights where I can contract the virus from any passenger. I also do not want to take the risk of taking the virus to my hometown and endanger my family,” she said.
Sanjana Panja
According to her, majority of the Indian students there have already gone back. Sourin Guha Thakurta, a construction engineering student from JU who worked for four years in Kolkata before leaving to do his Masters for Politecnico di Milano, had returned home on February 27. “Most of my friends from India are back. Initially, I thought the situation would be contained. But overnight, I found 100 new cases. Entire milk section of the supermarkets was empty. People were stocking up. That’s when I decided to return home,” he said. “Had I stayed back, my visa would have been cancelled. My university has started e-learning courses and I will not return till the situation improves.”
Sourin Guha Thakurta
Panja was supposed to go on a trip to the nearby town of Imbersago on last Saturday. “On Friday, the total count of Lombardia in Italy was approximately 73. When we returned from the trip, the count had gone up to 130,” said this former student of Jadavpur University’s architecture department.
This rise in figures was enough to get Panja and her friends and acquaintances talking about what to do. “We were constantly messaging each other on Whatsapp to understand what was happening. Five major league football matches were postponed and currently matches are being played in spectator-free stadia. Ten towns in Italy are on lockdown now. Offices and workplaces are open but everyone has instructed employees to take precaution and self-isolate themselves and work from home,” said Panja, who also teaches mathematics in a school.
Being the design and marketing head of a fashion company, Panja has also seen the impact of the outbreak on the world’s fashion capital. Giorgio Armani's Autumn/Winter 2020 show at the Milan Fashion Week was held in an empty theatre. The show was livestreamed in front of an empty Teatro [theater] on the Armani website. “I wasn’t attending the show but was aware of the developments. The show was held behind closed doors. People were asked not to attend the show,” she said. In fact, Armani himself was also photographed putting on a face mask as he entered the building. “From Sunday onwards, the cosmetic stores and pharmacies stopped selling masks and sanitizers. Our guess was that since people were not really affected in Milan, they didn’t want to sell masks and sanitizers to avoid panic,” added this Bengali resident of Milano Villapizzone.
Canned food available at the supermarkets are fast getting over. “Some have really panicked and not even going out to buy groceries and have stocked up for weeks. Others like us are calm. We are wearing masks and using sanitizers but going out for important works,” she said.
Panja doesn’t want to risk returning to Kolkata now. “I don’t want to take the risk of taking flights where I can contract the virus from any passenger. I also do not want to take the risk of taking the virus to my hometown and endanger my family,” she said.
According to her, majority of the Indian students there have already gone back. Sourin Guha Thakurta, a construction engineering student from JU who worked for four years in Kolkata before leaving to do his Masters for Politecnico di Milano, had returned home on February 27. “Most of my friends from India are back. Initially, I thought the situation would be contained. But overnight, I found 100 new cases. Entire milk section of the supermarkets was empty. People were stocking up. That’s when I decided to return home,” he said. “Had I stayed back, my visa would have been cancelled. My university has started e-learning courses and I will not return till the situation improves.”
Panja was supposed to go on a trip to the nearby town of Imbersago on last Saturday. “On Friday, the total count of Lombardia in Italy was approximately 73. When we returned from the trip, the count had gone up to 130,” said this former student of Jadavpur University’s architecture department.
This rise in figures was enough to get Panja and her friends and acquaintances talking about what to do. “We were constantly messaging each other on Whatsapp to understand what was happening. Five major league football matches were postponed and currently matches are being played in spectator-free stadia. Ten towns in Italy are on lockdown now. Offices and workplaces are open but everyone has instructed employees to take precaution and self-isolate themselves and work from home,” said Panja, who also teaches mathematics in a school.
Being the design and marketing head of a fashion company, Panja has also seen the impact of the outbreak on the world’s fashion capital. Giorgio Armani's Autumn/Winter 2020 show at the Milan Fashion Week was held in an empty theatre. The show was livestreamed in front of an empty Teatro [theater] on the Armani website. “I wasn’t attending the show but was aware of the developments. The show was held behind closed doors. People were asked not to attend the show,” she said. In fact, Armani himself was also photographed putting on a face mask as he entered the building. “From Sunday onwards, the cosmetic stores and pharmacies stopped selling masks and sanitizers. Our guess was that since people were not really affected in Milan, they didn’t want to sell masks and sanitizers to avoid panic,” added this Bengali resident of Milano Villapizzone.
Canned food available at the supermarkets are fast getting over. “Some have really panicked and not even going out to buy groceries and have stocked up for weeks. Others like us are calm. We are wearing masks and using sanitizers but going out for important works,” she said.
Get the app