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Observing Ramadan during

COVID-19

Toastmasters DivisionD holds onlinespeech contests

MONDAY 20 APRIL 2020 Email: dohatoday@pen.com.qa

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sector is booming driven by consistent rise in users and quality services by network providers.

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Boom time for

technology

COVER STORY02 03DOHA TODAY DOHA TODAYMONDAY 20 APRIL 2020 MONDAY 20 APRIL 2020

SACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s vibrant Information and Technology (IT) sector is booming driven by consistent rise in users and quality services by network providers.

The level of satisfaction among users is also high due to consumer centric services provided by the telecom companies. Adoption of new technology in Qatar is also high as the use of Internet and new devices has increased significantly over the last 10 years.

According to a report released last month by the Planning and Statistics Authority, the number of com-puter and Internet users in Qatar has increased sharply. The annual growth rate for computer and Internet users in the period (2009-2018) was 9.9 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively.

The number of computer users among the popu-lation in the age group (four years and above) reached

2.2 million people in 2018, compared to 846,000 people in 2009; showing an annual growth rate of 9.9 percent during 2009-2018.

As per the report, the percentage of computer users among the population in the age group (four years and above) represents 82.7 percent of total population in this age group in 2018. The indicator is likely to rise in coming years due to high level of awareness among cit-izens and expatriates in Qatar. The telecommunications sector is contributing significantly to the country’s economy.

When it comes to Internet speed, Qatar has always been in the top league. Qatar augmented its ICT infra-structure and improved the Internet quality, and became the first country in the world to launch 5G services. The country has invested substantially in 5G technology which allows peak Internet connection speed to reach 1Gbps. The roll out of 5G has also accel-erated the development of wider communications

infrastructure in Qatar.A 5G network has the capacity to allow 10,000

times the volume of traffic compared to LTE, and pro-vides peak capacity of 10Gbps. Ooredoo was the first in the world to launch a commercially-available 5G network, and has made substantial progress towards rolling it out across Qatar. For users, 5G services means having access to very fast download and upload speeds compared to 4G network. 5G is also a great step for Internet of Things (IoT), applications that need extremely high speeds, and it will pave the way for a host of smart technologies such as smart cars, VR, AR and drones to be part of our everyday lives. Since the start of this year, many new mobile devices have also been launched in Qatar which are compatible with 5G services. With increase in use of such devices, their prices are also expected to fall in coming months. Compared to older generation, younger ones are swift in using new technologies.

Booming technology,

telecom sector

An image from Ooredoo promotional 5G ad

An image from Vodafone Qatar promotional ad

The report by the Planning and Statistics Authority showed that the proportion of the population using computer in the age group (four-14 years) is 92.2 percent of the total population in the same age group in 2018.

The number of Internet users among the population in the age group (four years and above) reached approximately 2.3 million users in 2018, while it was approximately 816,000 in 2009, registering a growth rate of 10.7 percent during (2009-2018). The proportion of Internet users among the population in the age group (four years and above) to the total population for the same age group reached 51 percent in 2009 and 85.9 percent in 2018.

On the other hand, statistics show that the proportion of the population using Internet in the age group (four-14 years) is 88.8 percent of the total population in the same age group in 2018.

The number of Internet users per 100 population increased from 52 users in 2009 to 85 users in 2018.

The number of the workforce using the computer has increased. It was almost 589,000 in 2009 and became almost 1.7 million in 2018, which is 79.8 percent of the total workforce in 2018. The proportion of economically active population using Internet was approximately 579,000 in 2009 and became almost 1.8 million in 2018, which is 84.1 percent of the total workforce.

Statistics show that the number of fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants has fluctuated, as it decreased from 17 lines in 2009 to 16 lines in 2018. It is worth noting that the highest number of lines reached 22 in 2012.

According to the report, the number of mobile phone lines per 100 inhabitants reached to 143 in 2018.

The number of telecom customers is not only rising but the level of satisfaction among them is also very high. Results of a survey, released recently by the Communications Regularity Authority, shed light on the level satisfaction among business consumers in Qatar with their telecommunication service providers.

The results indicate that the percentage of overall satisfaction with telecommunication services reached 90 percent, where 84 percent were satisfied with the mobile voice services and 83 percent were satisfied with mobile Internet services (increased by 14 percent compared to the findings of the satisfaction survey 2015).

In terms of fixed-line services, 98 percent of consumers mentioned that they are satisfied with fixed voice services, 94 percent satisfied with fixed Internet services (increased by seven percent compared to 2015 findings), besides 90 percent were satisfied with leased line services.

Mobile services were the strongest performing segment with at least nine in ten such consumers reporting to be using Mobile Voice and Mobile Internet services (95 percent and 94 percent respectively). In comparison, two thirds of the consumers reporting to use Fixed Voice services and just over half (55 percent) report to use Fixed Internet. Usage rates of Leased Line services continue to decline with only five percent of business

According to a report released last month by the Planning and Statistics Authority, the number of computer and Internet users in Qatar has increased sharply. The annual growth rate for computer and Internet users in the period (2009-2018) was 9.9 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively.

consumers reporting to be subscribed to the service. The findings suggest businesses in Qatar are fol-lowing global trends and moving towards emerging technologies rather than traditional telecommuni-cation services.

As per the survey, the most important telecom-munication services that help businesses in Qatar run effectively, in descending order, are Mobile Voice, Mobile Internet, Fixed Voice and Fixed Internet.

In 2019 the level of overall satisfaction with all telecommunication services has either increased or remained consistent when compared to the 2015 baseline study. Mobile Internet shows the largest gain in satisfaction, with an increase of 14 percentage points from 69 percent in 2015 to 83 percent in 2019.

According to the survey satisfaction levels vary according to geographic location of businesses in Qatar. Business users located in Doha and Al Wakra report higher levels of satisfaction with most tele-communication services when compared to other municipalities within Qatar. At least nine in 10 business consumers located in Doha and Al Wakra are satisfied with the network coverage, availability of services, network reliability, quality and clarity of voice and speed of data.

A 5G network has the capacity to allow 10,000 times the volume of traffic compared to LTE, and provides peak capacity of 10Gbps. Ooredoo was the first in the world to launch a commercially-available 5G network, and has made substantial progress towards rolling it out across Qatar.

COMMUNITY CAMPUS04 05DOHA TODAY DOHA TODAYMONDAY 20 APRIL 2020 MONDAY 20 APRIL 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has paralysed the entire world. This novel coronavirus does not differen-tiate between developed, developing or poor

countries who have proved powerless and disabled in its wake. The negative effect of the virus has become particularly evident on the common rituals of Muslims, halting congregational and daily communal prayers at mosques.

As Ramadan approaches, COVID-19 is still spreading. The virus will most likely prevent congrega-tional religious rituals such as Tarawih prayers and sermons in mosques, as well as communal Iftar parties, particularly in light of social distancing measures. Many governments have also closed ministries, organisa-tions, universities and schools and opted for working from home. This may nevertheless turn into a source of relief for fasting Muslims, as it will help save com-muting time and avoid exposure to the virus.

Under these circumstances, we are required to feel satisfied and not horrified by the pandemic. We should also recognise that Ramadan is a gift from Allah to His servants. Therefore, we have to feel happy and rejoiced with its advent, particularly in light of the fact that this is the month when the gates of Paradise open and those of Hell close. Ramadan also has a night that is better than one thousand months.

Ramadan provides an opportunity for embracing change and striking a balance between meeting indi-vidual requirements, contributing to the fulfilment of the collective responsibilities, and observing the rights of Allah and the fellow community members. It also instils morals and virtues, such as altruism, tolerance and forgiveness in the fasting person. Therefore, imbal-anced relationships should be rectified as whoever gives precedence to a single aspect at the expense of another will inevitably lose the desired balance. This poses a high risk because it creates imbalance when little attention is paid to one’s family, job or skills.

Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Three men came to the houses of the wives of the Prophet to inquire about His worship. When they were

informed about it, they considered their worship insig-nificant and said: “Where are we in comparison with the Prophet while Allah has forgiven his past and future sins”. One of them said: “As for me, I shall offer prayers all night long.” Another said: “I shall observe fasting continuously and shall not break it”. Another said: “I shall abstain from women and shall never marry”.

The Prophet (Peace be upon Him) came to them and said, “Are you the people who said such and such things? By Allah, I fear Allah more than you do, and I am most obedient and dutiful among you to Him, but still I observe fast and break it; perform prayers and sleep at night and take wives. So whoever turns away from my traditions does not belong to me”. (Narrated by Al Bukhari)

In the rush of our competitive world, a person may forget himself and his family members. However, self-quarantine may provide opportunities to strengthen family bonds and adopt the etiquette and morals of

Islam. It can also encourage community members to perform their rituals and prayers, as well as reciting the holy Quran. Quarantine also gives us a chance achieve delayed tasks and drives us to be more righteous. This undoubtedly requires a sincere love to Allah, constant remembrance of Him and continuous reflection on His glory. Allah the Almighty said in the holy Quran “But be wise, learned, and forbearing because you are teaching the Quran, and you are studying it.’’ (Surah Al Imran, verse 79).

Giving alms amidst the coronavirus pandemic is more obligatory than giving it at all other times. It is a reason for relieving distress, ending troubles and enjoying the mercies of Allah. Prophet Mohamed (Peace be upon Him) said: “Whoever knowingly fills his stomach while his neighbour is hungry is not a true believer.” If this applies when a person is able to go out and earn his living, then giving alms is more important at times of crises and destitution during the quarantine.

By Alms, I do not mean the prescribed rate of Zakat only because people usually pay their Zakat during Ramadan. I do not also mean Zakat Al Fitr (Fast-breaking alms) that should be obligatorily paid by every Muslim but rather supererogatory alms that enhance social solidarity and compassion. This kind of alms becomes obligatory in times of need because it helps the poor people and fulfils their needs. This happens when a person thinks compassionately about another person, which drives the former to support the latter. Prophet Mohamed (Peace be upon Him) said: “Indeed charity extinguishes the Lord’s anger and it protects against the evil death.” (Narrated by at-Timidhi and others)

Social media platforms are no longer just sites on the Internet. They have turned into a part of our social life that wastes our time and contributes to losing the most beautiful moments of our life. Although these platforms bring families, friends and strangers together, it is not easy to dispense with their usage. Therefore, it is important to reconsider the principles of our interaction with social media during Ramadan.

We also warn against watching useless TV pro-grams, movies and charades. It is important not to waste a lot of time watching TV during Ramadan because indulgence even in watching useful programs may result in losing the spiritualities of the holy month. Of course, a person can watch recorded episodes of any of Ramadan programmes after the end of the month.

People vary in observing forms of obedience to Allah according to their willingness, skills and talents. Some people tend to worship God by catering to the needs of vulnerable people or giving alms to the poor. Therefore, it is up to everybody to choose his way to get closer to Allah.

Ramadan has come to strengthen our determi-nation and resolve and to free us from weaknesses and vulnerability. Therefore, it provides us with an oppor-tunity to modify our behaviour and purify ourselves after some people become accustomed to ineffec-tiveness and low achievement.

Finally, we pray to Allah to relieve us all from this pandemic, alleviate all our worries and cure all our illnesses.

The article was written by Dr. Mohamed ElGammal, Associate Professor at the College of Islamic Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

— The Peninsula

Dr. Mohamed ElGammal

QF expert discuss main elements and challenges of virtual learningFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools, universities and learning and development professionals to shift rapidly from in-person to online learning.

According to the Unesco, the education of 91 percent of stu-dents worldwide was disrupted. The sudden disruption has pushed schools and teachers from around the world to seek solutions and tools that could facilitate remote teaching. The fact that students have to learn from home is referred to these days as online learning.

“However, this is not quite accurate. Education and edu-cation technology experts from around the world are careful to distinguish between online learning and emergency remote teaching (ERT),” said Touhami Abi, Manager, WISE Accelerator programme of Qatar Foundation’s World Innovation Summit for Education.

Online learning often refers to learning remotely through carefully designed and delivered lessons. It takes from six months to nine months to properly prepare an online course at university level. The reason is that schools and universities provide an entire ecosystem that surrounds the students to ensure learning happens properly which includes teachers, facilitators coordinators for content. In order for online learning to replicate that learning experience, a lot of preparation on content side, pedagogy and definition of learning outcomes is required.

“What we witness these days instead is ERT which is about minimising the damage rather than maximizing the benefits since we cannot prepare schools and teachers over night to deliver an entire curriculum remotely,” Abi told The Peninsula.

“Think about it, if a teacher wants to teach a specific lesson remotely, the students will need to all be present at an agreed upon time, have access to Internet, a laptop or a tablet and focus in front of a screen for sometimes hours. Remote teaching may sound simple. However, it is a complicated process from teachers and students’ side,” he added.

According to Abi, one of the challenges that teachers face during remote teaching is the loss of body language as a means of delivery of content. Indeed, it is well known that the majority of what we communicate to people is expressed through body language. In front of a screen, student loose access to that and it becomes hard for students to understand content and for teachers to track students’ expressions which are an indicator of whether they understood the content or not.

“Also, we cannot mention remote teaching without referring to the digital divide. Not all students have access to Internet from around the world and those who do, do not always have Internet fast enough to follow lessons all day remotely,” said Abi.

“Finally, families who have several kids, may not have enough electronic devises for all their kids. If the kids have to study all day remotely and at the same time then logistically it becomes a challenge for families. You can see that from what was mentioned above, there is a lot of complexity in remote teaching due to challenges in creating content, pedagogy and logistics,” he added.

Observing Ramadan during COVID-19

Toastmasters Division D holdsonline speech contests

Division D, District 116 of Toastmasters International in Qatar has successfully conducted its Toastmasters Annual

Conference (TAC-D) online speech contests on April 14 and 15.

Under the banner ‘Discover 2020’, more than 300 members, district, and division leaders attended the first online annual con-ference of its kind in the history of Toast-masters in Qatar. Traditionally, such contests are conducted on stage, however, with the evolving coronavirus outbreak, this year’s event embarked on a virtual stage.

Opening the two-day event, Mou Bera, the TAC-D Chair, said: “Challenges are opportunities in disguise and the current pandemic provided us with a unique oppor-tunity to conduct our annual conference online with participants joining in from all over the world including Antarctica.”

“The annual contest aims to empower our members to enhance their speaking skills and reach the international level,” said Juttas Paul, Division D Director. He continued: “It is very exciting to witness our first-ever online contests in Qatar. This proves the power of virtual networking during this time of uncertainty.”

The TAC-D was marked with three renowned world public speakers from the US Dr. Randy Harvey, Lance Miller, and Ryan Avery.

Dr. Randy Harvey, a 2004 World Champion of Public Speaking delivered a keynote speech in which he highlighted on the importance of focusing on the audience and suggested to pick on one of three cate-gories when crafting a speech; faith, hope, or love.

In his keynote address, Lance Miller, World Champion of Public Speaking for 2005, explained how one learns from ‘giving

a solution’ rather than simply ‘passing a test’. Miller captured the online audience with his words. “Toastmasters ignites our individual capabilities to handle difficult situations,” he said referring to organised online contests. The greatest wasted natural resource in the world is the untapped human potential that resides in each of us,” said Lance.

Ryan Avery, the youngest World Champion of Public Speaking history of Toastmasters in 2012 delivered yet an intriguing speech. “If you want to succeed,” he cautioned the online attendees “don’t sur-round yourself with people who’ll challenge your big dream.”

The success of the first online TAC-D sets an example to the rest of other divisions in Qatar and is poised to raise the performance of District 116 during these challenging times of the pandemic.

Dr. Randy Harvey Lance Miller

Ryan Avery

DOHA TODAY DOHA TODAYMONDAY 20 APRIL 2020 MONDAY 20 APRIL 2020

TRIBUTE06 07THROUGH THE LENS

ABDUL BASIT / THE PENINSULA

Italian comic book writer/artist Milo Manara has crafted artwork paying tribute to those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. With Italy being one of the countries hit hardest by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, comic book writer/artist Milo Manara has crafted new illustrations paying homage to the real-life heroes that have kept his home nation going amid the crisis.

Italian artist Milo Manara celebrates pandemic’s heroic women

Representatives from charity organisations in collaboration with local authorities are

distributing food baskets among workers at a labour camp at a street of the quarantined part of Industrial Area. The Industrial Area from Streets 1 to 32 are quarantined following the state’s preventive and precautionary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Charity organisations, which distribute large number of food baskets to workers daily, are following preventive and precautionary measures strictly as beneficiary workers are ensured to maintain social distance at the distribution points. During a trip on Saturday organised by Ministry of Interior to the quarantined streets of Industrial Area, mediapersons and community leaders were briefed about the arrangements in place for the workers in the quarantined area. The local authorities including the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Public Health ensured the provisions of food, health services and other necessities for daily life of the workers in these areas.

ART FITNESS08 09DOHA TODAY DOHA TODAYMONDAY 20 APRIL 2020 MONDAY 20 APRIL 2020

PHILIP KENNICOTT THE WASHINGTON POST

It could be a long time before we enjoy the arts as a form of social bonding once again. For now, there are no intermissions because there are no concerts, no eaves-

dropping in the galleries because the museums are all closed, no flirtations across the table because the clubs are shuttered. The substitutes for the collective experience of art — the streaming concerts, virtual gallery tours and Zoom improv sessions — are a stopgap, but does anyone want them to become an actual replacement for experi-encing art in the company of others?

Yet if we are cut off from experiencing art with others, we are perfectly placed to consider an old and out of fashion idea: The power of private contemplation and sol-itary engagement. The silence in the room as you read a poem or look at a print, or prepare to listen to a piece of music, isn’t absence. It is the presence of your undivided attention.

Since the culture wars of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the arts have largely rebranded themselves as an essential public good. Arts leaders stress things like con-nection and engagement, promoting a collective expe-rience, ideally one that can be monetised. New museum buildings are constructed around restaurants, cafes and event spaces. Art forms, such as poetry, which earlier gen-erations may have thought of as a solitary communion, have been reinvented (or returned) to social spectacles, like poetry slams.

Today, we are far more likely to say that the arts take us outside of ourselves, and spur us to make connections with others, and the world, than the opposite - that they drive us inward and make us aware of our isolation and smallness in a grandly scaled universe. But both are true, and perhaps now that one avenue is mostly closed off to us, we might explore the richness of the other.

Throughout the history of the arts, and especially since around the beginning of the 18th century, there has been a recurring belief that the best art, the most true and meaningful, is made apart from the world. Artists

need distance to create. They need independence and isolation to free themselves from the conceits of fashion and the desire to please. The idea has encompassed not just creators, but also performers, interpreters and audi-ences. In 1964, the great Canadian pianist Glenn Gould gave up live performances, in part because they were hard on his nerves, but also because he felt an audience corrupted musical interpretation, encouraging show-manship and superficiality.

That made Gould, for decades, the patron saint of a certain breed of musical connoisseurs, who weren’t ashamed to admit what is now often seen as freakish or perverse: that they preferred recorded music to live con-certs, that they found audiences a distraction and would rather hear music alone, in the home, in perfect sessions of sweet, silent thought. The public perception of art in isolation has evolved from a sense that it is an enervating substitute for real life — young people in the 19th century were warned not to spend too much time alone in their rooms reading novels — to the popular calumny that it is a marker of mental illness. What does Hollywood’s char-ismatic psychopath, the murderous Hannibal Lecter, listen to, alone in his cell? Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which was Gould’s signature piece.

In part, the devaluing of creative and self-sufficient solitude was about democratising the arts. The con-noisseur might claim to find meaning and value in private contemplation of art, but this was a function of class and education, a pose of his or her privilege. You can hear what advocates for a more popular and public experience of art found so distasteful in the connoisseur’s solitary pursuits in these lines from Joseph Addison’s classic 1712 essay “The Pleasures of Imagination”: “A man of polite imagination is let into a great many pleasures, that the vulgar are not capable of receiving. He can con-verse with a picture, and find an agreeable companion in a statue. He meets with a secret refreshment in a description, and often feels a greater satisfaction in the prospect of fields and meadows, than another does in the possession. It gives him, indeed, a kind of property in everything he sees, and makes the most rude,

uncultivated parts of nature administer to his pleasures: so that he looks upon the world, as it were in another light, and discovers in it a multitude of charms, that conceal themselves from the generality of mankind.”

But one needn’t use Addison’s sniffish language nor his fundamental metaphor — that aesthetic pleasure gives us dominion or ownership of transient things - to accept his general premise that there are pleasures we cultivate in isolation that can sustain us.

Even more important, we needn’t be confined by the idea that art is fundamentally about pleasure, shared or otherwise. The experience of art in isolation has been loaded with negative associations about snobbery and mental instability because, in some ways, it is more intense and more painful than art experienced in more social contexts. We are so used to this idea — that the essential thing about art is to share it, to say to others, “Here, look at this” — that we neglect one of the most painful and profound things about the contemplation of aesthetic objects: that there are depths to the experience that are fundamentally incommunicable.

In that, art is like life. There is painting called “Land-scape With the Fall of Icarus,” once thought to be by Pieter Bruegel, now believed to be a high-level copy of a missing original by the same artist. It has been an inspi-ration to poets, including W H Auden and William Carlos Williams, because it depicts, with brutal humour, a simple fact that most of us are loath to acknowledge: Suf-fering is incommunicable. We may say to a close com-panion, “I suffer,” but that transfers nothing of the real experience of emotion.

The painting shows the denouement of the old myth about Icarus, son of Daedalus, the artist and craftsman famous for making statues so real that they had to be tied down or they would wander off, like living beings. Dae-dalus makes wings, fastened with bee’s wax, for his son to fly, warning him not to go too close to the sun or the wax will melt and he will fall to Earth. Unlike other paintings that depicted the story, Bruegel shows us not the moment when Icarus begins to fall, but merely two pale legs sticking out of the ocean, the last of the lad as he drowns. These legs are barely noticeable, a minor visual element; what matters more is the farmer tilling his field in the fore-ground, indifferent to the event, and a fisherman unflap-pably tending his line as a young man meets his doom.

Art binds us to others, but it also helps us grieve for the many things in our lives which will fall like the “splash quite unnoticed.” In that, it helps us anticipate the thing we most dread — the final, solitary experience of life, which is our own death. When you leave the theatre after an exceptional performance, only to find the world as busy and as indifferent as it was before you entered, that is the splash unnoticed. When you find something small, new and miraculous in a piece of music you thought you knew through and through, that is the splash unnoticed. Yes, you may speak of these things to other people, and perhaps, if you are very lucky, they will say they saw or heard the same thing.

But even if you manage to isolate and point to the thing, the thing that sparked the wonder or flooded the mind with memory, at some level it will remain funda-mentally private. No two people share the same aesthetic experience. Learning to accept, indulge and even revel in this fact is part of what art does. Paradoxically, it makes us better citizens of the world, more alert to its pain, more intent on its salvation. You can learn this lesson in a crowd, to be sure. But you can also learn it alone, and there’s no time like the present.

ERIN SAGEN THE WASHINGTON POST

The wind has bite, but the sun is high and indis-criminate on this early-spring day. Three blocks from the local high school, the usual choke of

cars that idle on my street at 3 o’clock has disap-peared, as has the noise that blasted from them.

On the sidewalk, groups of teens who regularly parade loudly toward town can’t be heard. So much of the daily rhythm made by cars and people has stopped, and it’s left a quiet in my neighbourhood that is both reassuring and unsettling to those of us who go for daily walks. But the walks themselves still bring comfort, if not because the world is quieter, then at least in response to its unnerving silences.

We’ve needed that for weeks here in the Seattle area, where the US outbreak first emerged and where I live. The spread of the coronavirus has forced the temporary closure of schools, businesses and institu-tions, and state and city governments have ordered the public to shelter in place. Traffic has slowed on both streets and sidewalks. But this doesn’t mean that Americans aren’t leaving their homes.

In the days after shutdowns began to sweep the nation, visitors flooded national parks, forcing some to close temporarily to protect staff and prevent the spread of the virus. Over a March weekend in the Seattle area, hundreds of people crowded hot spot Alki Beach to walk, bike, play in the sand — this despite statewide bans on large gatherings and recommenda-tions for social distancing. For the most part, Amer-icans can still freely get outside as long as they follow the six-foot rule. But this isn’t the case everywhere.

In Britain, the government announced a sweeping nationwide lockdown that restricted outside exercise to only once a day, and police were granted the authority to enforce these rules. France declared a two-month state of emergency, imposing still stricter rules: Residents could go outside for up to one hour to complete essential tasks and exercise within only a half-mile of their homes, but they needed an official form to justify their outings. In states like Washington and California, measures to flatten the curve have been comparatively less aggressive but nonetheless have involved shutting down all nonessential services

and mandating residents to stay home.Who would have thought, just a few weeks ago,

that going for a walk would become such a luxury? Not everyone has the physical ability to walk, it’s important to note, nor does everyone live in a com-munity where walking is a safe, even feasible option. That was true before the pandemic, and it’s true still. But now, those of us who can get outside and walk, should, and not just because of the well-known health benefits, like lowered blood pressure and improved sleep. (Although who wouldn’t appreciate some better sleep these days?)

I started going for neighbourhood walks when I lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At 27, I had moved there for journalism school and had arrived from Seattle with plenty of grief in my heart and anxiety in my head. My beloved grandmother had died earlier that year, and I was transferring into my program as a first-generation college student, 3,000 miles away from my friends and family. I felt alone and hopeless. But it was a pivotal time for self-growth. Only after I began seeing a therapist and started going for evening walks, just to get out of my apartment, did the gloom begin to lift.

Chapel Hill was not what I’d call a pedestrian-friendly town. In fact, the South in general is notori-ously dangerous for walking. But on paved trails I strolled. Along quiet residential curbs, I released my mind and let it wander.

I paused to admire trees and houses, and nodded to commuters in their cars, gardeners in their yards. Without fully realising it, my soul was connecting to something else, something larger than me: a sense of community perhaps, or a deep gratitude for the nature all around me, which grew and died and grew back

again without a sense of scarcity or existential terror that had been haunting me. Exercise seemed irrelevant; it was more about finding space to contain all my wild emotions.

Walking sets our minds free, says Irish neuroscientist and In Praise of Walking author Shane O’Mara, at least in the moments we’re doing it. “Walking can allow you to escape yourself, and this non-ego focus is healthy. We should spend more time not thinking of ourselves,” he told Irish Times last

year.I have definitely felt liberated from the chaos of

thoughts while walking, even in places like Chapel Hill, where sidewalks end abruptly and you must enter traffic, the only thing separating you from cars being a small stretch of pavement.

In Europe, walking isn’t just a way of escape but a way of life in most cities, which were designed and built centuries before automobiles came along. Take Paris, a world city that is demographically giant but geographically tiny at roughly only six miles across.

The city proper has about 56,000 people living per square mile, about twice as much as New York City, which has about 28,000 people per square mile. Getting around on foot is a practical matter, but Parisians also have a strong sense of pride in their pedestrian culture.

For instance, after decades of increasing car use, as well as growing pollution and traffic, a concerted effort was taken by city government to “pedestrianise” city streets, to reclaim them for walkers and not drivers, and it’s been successful: Since 1990, driving has dropped about 45 percent and cycling has increased tenfold. The city must be mourning the tem-porary loss of this ability to be mobile, because it was never just about exercise — but culture and identity.

Today in the United States, walking is framed as an acceptable form of exercise, one of the few activ-ities we can do outside of our homes. It’s never felt core to who we are as Americans. But at least we’re still allowed to do it, even encouraged by some. Maybe right now, we can get out and take a stroll and appreciate it for the simple escape it gifts us. Just keep six feet of distance - and leave your worries at home.

Amid a pandemic, the calming power of a simple walk

Art is a collective experience - it’s also a deeply private one

FOOD10 11DOHA TODAY DOHA TODAYMONDAY 20 APRIL 2020 MONDAY 20 APRIL 2020

OLGA MASSOV THE WASHINGTON POST

When I wonder about the discovery of certain foods — and I wonder about it a lot — I like to imagine the delight of the first person who

popped it into their mouth. Take yogurt, for instance.It’s little more than fermented milk and was most

likely an accidental discovery made thousands of years ago. That alchemy of fermentation transforms a humble ingredient, milk, into something nourishing, comforting and versatile.

Eat it plain or showered with granola or drizzled with honey; stir some jam or fresh berries into it; add it to smoothies; use it to marinate chicken; whisk it into dressings or dips; or churn it into frozen yogurt or ice pops. From humble to indispensable — what can’t yogurt do?

As we’re spending a lot more time indoors because of the coronavirus outbreak, being able to make yogurt has become even more enticing. Plus, it makes for a great chemistry lesson for my 5-year-old, who eats yogurt by the bowlful.

It also allows you to teach a little history, too.The first traces of yogurt are believed to have been

found in Mesopotamia from around 5000 BC, but it’s dif-ficult, if not impossible, to be sure. Today, yogurt is the most popular fermented milk in the world, according to Sandor Katz’s encyclopedic The Art of Fermentation, which is astonishing considering that 100 years ago, yogurt was a regional food, made and consumed pri-marily across Southeastern Europe, Turkey and the Middle East — and by immigrant communities scattered across the globe.

It has been around for so long because it is so basic and easy to create. To make yogurt, you need milk, pref-erably whole and not ultrapasteurised, a starter culture (such as plain store-bought yogurt with live cultures or an heirloom culture), a pot with a lid, a heat source and, ideally, an instant-read thermometer - though people have made yogurt without one for millennia, so it’s not a requirement.

The bacteria that make the thickest, creamiest yogurt happen are thermophilic, meaning they need elevated temperatures to do their magic. As the bacteria consume the sugars in milk, they produce lactic acid, which is what makes milk proteins curdle. The result is yogurt.

In practical terms, you first need to heat the milk to a range of 180 to 200 degrees — to kill off any unwanted bacteria — then introduce the yogurt starter culture around 110 and 115 degrees and maintain the mixture at that temperature as the yogurt develops.

Because yogurt is a live product, keep in mind that sometimes culturing can take from 6 to 12 hours. Getting it right is a combination of art and science. Don’t add more than the indicated amount of starter culture to the yogurt batch or it can lead to over-culturing, which can manifest as a combination of graininess, separation or bitter taste. Warm your milk too fast, and your yogurt might get grainy. If you see your yogurt separating into liquid and solid layers, it’s probably caused by over-culturing or cul-turing at too warm of a temperature. A thin layer of liquid on top of your yogurt is whey and is perfectly natural. Either stir it in or strain it for a thicker yogurt.

Today, grocery shelves are filled with a variety of yogurts. Its contemporary global popularity is linked, for the most part, to two people: Ilya Metchnikoff, a Russian zoologist known for his pioneering research in

immunology, and Isaac Carasso, a Sephardic Jewish immigrant who had moved his family from Greece to Spain. The former’s research, which focused on lon-gevity, zeroed in on yogurt as a key contributor to health and gave gravitas to the idea that yogurt was a medicinal food. Inspired by Metchnikoff’s research, Carasso estab-lished a yogurt facility in Barcelona and named his business Danone (later changed to Dannon) - and the rest is history.

To make yogurt at his facility, Carasso used two bac-teria isolated at the Pasteur Institute in Paris: Strepto-coccus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. Today’s commercially produced yogurt has one or both listed in the ingredients.

In contrast to commercially made yogurt, the homemade yogurt made using an heirloom starter has a more biodiverse community of bacteria (far more than two) that not only help with self-propagation, but also most likely contribute to its tangier, more nuanced taste.

I had been making yogurt for some time with relative ease. I would mix a little plain store-bought yogurt into my fresh batch of warm milk and wait a few hours for the liquid to set. I’d then use a little bit of that resulting yogurt for my next batch, and so on. But a disappointing thing

would eventually happen: My yogurts would thin out and weaken over time.

“Traditional yogurt cultures are evolved microbial communities with a good deal of stability and resilience generation-to-generation,” Katz explained. “It seems that their biodiversity scared early microbiologists, so they sought to isolate the strains that were functionally nec-essary and get rid of the rest.”

Isolated strains in commercial yogurt are weaker than “an evolved community,” he continued, “and can’t perpetuate from batch-to-batch the way heirloom cul-tures can.

“Thankfully, heirloom yogurt cultures are increas-ingly available. I have one I’ve been working with for about 10 years.”

One note: With an heirloom starter, your first batch or two may be looser, but it will soon turn out creamy, dreamy yogurt.

Where can you get heirloom yogurt culture? You have two choices: Buy the culture from one of the few places that sell it (I purchased mine at Cultures for Health), or find a friend who makes yogurt using an heirloom culture. I’ve already shared mine.

Once you pick your starter, your next step is to choose

The Mediterranean diet which is high in vegetables, whole grains, fish, and olive oil not only helps you live longer but also keeps the brain sharper, say researchers, adding that those who followed the diet

had the lowest risk of cognitive impairment.According to a recent analysis of data from two major

eye disease studies published in the journals Alzheimer’s & Dementia, adherence to the Mediterranean diet correlates with higher cognitive function.

Dietary factors also seem to play a role in slowing cog-nitive decline.

Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), led the analysis of data from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) and AREDS2.

“We do not always pay attention to our diets. We need to explore how nutrition affects the brain and the eye” said lead authors of the studies Emily Chew, director of the NEI in the US.

For the findings, the research team examined the effects of nine components of the Mediterranean diet on cognition.

The diet emphasises the consumption of whole fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish, and olive oil, as well as reduced consumption of red meat.

AREDS and AREDS2 assessed over the years the effect of vitamins on age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which damages the light-sensitive retina.

AREDS included about 4,000 participants with and without AMD, and AREDS2 included about 4,000 partici-pants with AMD.

The researchers assessed AREDS and AREDS2 partici-pants for diet at the start of the studies.

The AREDS study tested participants’ cognitive function at five years, while AREDS2 tested cognitive function in par-ticipants at baseline and again two, four, and 10 years later.

The researchers assessed diet with a questionnaire that asked participants their average consumption of each Medi-terranean diet component over the previous year.

Participants with the greatest adherence to the Mediter-ranean diet had the lowest risk of cognitive impairment. High fish and vegetable consumption appeared to have the greatest protective effect.

At 10 years, AREDS2 participants with the highest fish consumption had the slowest rate of cognitive decline.

The researchers also found that participants with the ApoE gene, which puts them at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease, on average had lower cognitive function scores and a greater decline than those without the gene.

The benefits of close adherence to a Mediterranean diet were similar for people with and without the ApoE gene, meaning that the effects of diet on cognition are inde-pendent of genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease, the study said.

— IANS

your method. And here’s the best part: The best, easiest method requires no fancy equipment, such as a yogurt maker or Instant Pot.

And you can still set it — and forget it. I like to make my yogurt in the evening, and then put the inoculated milk, all snuggled up in a blanket, in my oven with the light on. I wake up to delicious yogurt, and all I did was sleep. Magic!

Because I use an heirloom starter, each batch I make tastes tangier and richer than the one before. The transformation of milk to yogurt never gets old.

HOMEMADE YOGURT30 mins, plus culturing time8 to 10 servingsIf you love yogurt, this homemade version will

taste more nuanced, creamier and tangier than any store-bought brand. The only equipment you need is a pot with a lid, an oven with a light and a thick towel. The simple recipe calls for whole milk and a bit of yogurt as a starter. If you are able to find organic, non-homogenised whole milk, it is optimal, but plain whole milk will work, too. Lower-fat milks will result in a thinner yogurt. Do not use ultra-pasteurised milk, as it is not friendly to yogurt-propagating bacteria. You don’t have to add heavy cream, but it brings a lovely luxuriousness.

NOTE: For the starter yogurt: If you use store-bought yogurt as a starter, look for plain, whole-milk yogurt with “live cultures” listed on the ingredient label. Using store-bought yogurt will produce fine results, but your batches are likely to weaken over time. If you buy an heirloom yogurt starter or get one from a friend, your batches will be self-perpetuating - meaning you will be able to use a bit of yogurt from one batch to make the next and so on. Keep in mind, if starting with an heirloom yogurt culture you have purchased, your first few batches will be a bit runny, looser than yogurt you might be accustomed to. Keep making it, and the yogurt will thicken as you make subsequent batches. If you want Greek-style yogurt, you can strain it using a fine-mesh strainer and cheese cloth — and strain the yogurt for about four hours.

TROUBLESHOOTING: Because yogurt is a live product, keep in mind that sometimes culturing can take anywhere from 6 to 12 hours. If your yogurt is grainy, chances are you heated it too fast over too high of a heat. Take your time with it. If your yogurt sepa-rates into liquid and solid layers, this is usually an indi-cation of over-culturing or culturing at too warm of a temperature. Adjust the length of culturing time, and check the temperature at which you are culturing the yogurt to make sure it is within the correct range. If you notice a thin layer of liquid on top of your yogurt, it’s whey. Either stir it in or strain it for a thicker yogurt. Don’t add more than the indicated amount of starter culture to the yogurt batch as it can lead to over-cul-turing (graininess and/or separation) and bitter taste.

Storage Notes: The yogurt will keep almost indefi-nitely. The longer it sits, the tangier it becomes. Try to consume it within 3 weeks. Food and Voraciously editor Olga Massov had one batch she once forgot about for 2 months, and it was delicious.

Ingredients2 quarts whole milk, preferably organic and non-

homogenised (do not use ultrapasteurised milk)

1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)1/4 cup plain whole-milk store-bought yogurt or

yogurt made from an heirloom starter (see NOTE)StepsRinse the inside of a medium heavy-bottomed pot

with cold water and add the milk and cream, if using. Set the pot over medium heat, stirring from time to time to prevent scorching on the bottom, and warm until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges and the milk grows a wrinkly skin, 180 to 200 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes. Watch the milk carefully as you don’t want it to come to a boil.

While the milk warms, prepare an ice bath in a large bowl wide enough to fit the pot.

Remove the pot from the heat. Place the pot in the ice bath and stir the milk until it is cool enough for you to stick your pinkie in it for 10 seconds, 110 to 115 degrees, 3 to 5 minutes. (You can also cool the milk on the counter, but it will take longer and depend on the ambient temperature of your kitchen.)

Transfer about 1/2 cup of warm milk to a small bowl and whisk in the yogurt until smooth. Whisk the yogurt-milk mixture back into the remaining warm milk. Cover the pot with a lid and keep warm. The easiest way to do this is to cover the pot in a thick towel and transfer the whole thing to the oven with the oven light on.

Let the yogurt mixture sit in the oven with the light on until thick and tangy, 6 to 12 hours - though some batches may require up to 18 hours of propagation. The longer the mixture sits, the thicker and tangier it will become. (The time may vary depending on the warmth in your kitchen.) Transfer the yogurt to containers, cover and chill until completely cold, about 3 hours. The yogurt will continue to thicken in the refrigerator.

Instant Pot InstructionsPlace the milk and the cream, if using, in the mul-

ticooker pot and seal. Make sure the steam valve is turned to “pressure.” Select the yogurt function and heat the milk to 180 degrees, about 25 minutes. (If using Instant Pot, the word “Yogt” will appear when the liquid reaches temperature.) Uncover, trying not to let the moisture accumulated inside the lid drip into the milk. Turn the yogurt function on again and let the milk warm at 180 degrees for five minutes to thicken it.

Turn off the multicooker and transfer the metal bowl to a wire rack. Let it cool until it reaches 115 degrees, about 45 minutes. Alternatively, you can cool it in an ice bath.

In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt starter with 1/2 cup of warm milk, stirring to fully incor-porate. Whisk the yogurt mixture into the rest of the milk and return the metal bowl to the multicooker. Seal, and make sure the steam valve is set to “venting.” Select the yogurt function and set the timer to eight hours. When done, the display will read “Yogt.” Remove the lid and ladle the yogurt into containers. Cover and refrigerate overnight before eating.

Nutrition (based on 10) | Calories: 124; Total Fat: 7g; Saturated Fat: 4g; Cholesterol: 20mg; Sodium: 87mg; Carbohydrates: 10g; Dietary Fiber: 0g; Sugars: 10g; Protein: 6g.

Recipe from Olga Massov; Instant Pot instructions adapted from “Dinner in an Instant” by Melissa Clark (Clarkson Potter, 2018).

Making yogurt at home is easier than you think

Mediterranean diet sharpens your brain too

LIFESTYLE12 13DOHA TODAY DOHA TODAYMONDAY 20 APRIL 2020 MONDAY 20 APRIL 2020

ANYING GUO THE WASHINGTON POST

American University senior Lucy Weiler was perturbed to hear a bass rendition of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” blaring through her living

room wall. But then it continued, for nearly a week, during which she also learned that the kids next door had a Bop It and were, indeed, pulling it, twisting it and bopping it.

Since the coronavirus shut down her university, Weiler, who is surrounded by neighbours of all ages, has found herself trapped in a weird conglomeration of noises in her apartment complex. More than 200,000 residents here live in apartments, and with more people working from home or finishing the academic semester online, a lot of them are suddenly home at the same time.

New York-based etiquette expert and speaker Thomas Farley (better known as Mister Manners) stresses that people should have a reasonable baseline for life in an apartment complex. In his turn-of-the-century New York brownstone, for example, “I can hear a neighbour switch on a light switch. It would be unreasonable for me to want them to stop doing that, because I chose to live in an environment where sound isn’t perfect.

“You’re going to have to readjust your expectations during this time,” Farley says. “I think this is going to be a time where we all have to pull together as a community and culture, and it starts with our neighbours.”

You’re probably noisy, too“Sound is the number one issue in most shared com-

plexes,” Farley says. A Google search for “noise in apart-ments” comes up with 57 million results. People living in an apartment complex should expect noise, Farley says.

But the noise issue is also a give-and-take, he says. To self-test your own noise level, Farley recommends turning on music, closing your door and going into your hallway. If you can hear the music, it’s too loud.

Emily Auger, 22, is going through a coronavirus-induced noise problem. Auger, a recruiting assistant, lives

in an apartment complex in Brighton, Massachusetts, with about 40 units. Hers is below a family with kids and above a couple with a newborn. Although she had ini-tially noticed heightened noise on weekends, the self-quarantine forced her and her roommate to confront a new reality of shrieking children and a crying baby.

Auger grew up in a suburban neighbourhood, watching her parents befriend every neighbour and become fixtures in their community. It’s a stark contrast with her current situation, where the only interaction she had with her neighbours was on move-in day. But the ethos her parents instilled in her makes her more sympa-thetic than angry with her neighbours.

“I would never go up and tell them to shut up their child,” she says. “I imagine they have enough on their plate.” The noise she has encountered has also made her hyper-conscious of the commotion she makes herself, knowing that a newborn is right below her.

“Sure, it would be nice if we could all come home and you never heard any noise from another neighbor,” Farley says. “But that’s not the reality of living in a multi-age, multi-demographic dwelling. It has its own charms, and you have to take the good with the bad.”

Adjust your expectationsAfter American University announced that the rest of

the semester would be conducted online due to corona-virus, senior Thomas Davidenko burrowed into his apartment to ride out the academic and medical storm.

On the third day, he heard the sharp rhythms of a drum slice through his living room, lasting hours into the night. Although the noise was muffled, the drums were loud. But Davidenko has learned to enjoy the irregular beats.

The drums “threw me, but I kinda dig it,” he says. “I think the fact that we’re all facing similar challenges can break the ice between neighbours.”

Etiquette expert Diane Gottsman endorses this sort of patience. “There may be more noise in the building since everyone is working from home and kids are cooped up all day,” she says. “Show understanding during this

difficult time, and realize everyone is learning to adjust to a new normal.”

Small gestures go a long wayGilda Goldental has found herself being hyper-con-

scious of her own etiquette now that she’s working from home in suburban Silver Spring, Maryland. She doesn’t vacuum during work hours, she greets neighbours in the hallways, and she has been taking the stairs instead of the elevator, hoping her neighbours will feel more com-fortable with fewer people in a small metal box. The crisis has made her wistful for a more intimate con-nection with the people living around her.

“I’ve realized I should put more effort into getting to know my neighbours,” says Goldental, 24, a case manager for Network for Victim Recovery of DC, a social services organization. “I don’t think I appreciated it nearly as much as I do now. Just getting outside and seeing a lot of what my neighbourhood has to offer has made a huge difference in adding relaxation to an oth-erwise stressful time.”

Gottsman regards these small but significant gestures of neighborliness as huge points of impact for how people can remain positive in a time of uncertainty.

“We have to be tolerant and kind and civil,” Gottsman says. “And those aren’t just buzzwords. We’re all a bit on edge. These things will really get us through this time.”

Tell neighbors you’re thereGottsman knows apartment dwellers may not have

gotten to know their neighbours as those in single-family homes have. She sees this time in quarantine as an opportunity for neighbours to chat (from a distance) and commiserate about their social isolation.

“The very definition of social distancing,... it’s making us more aware of all our actions,” Gottsman says. “We’re realising how much we actually rely on each other, and it’s shaping how we communicate.” She suggests reaching out and checking in with neighbours - elderly residents may need help obtaining food or medicine - or simply leaving a note on a neighbor’s door, just to let them know you’re there.

Ashlee Thomas, a George Washington University graduate student working in urban planning and interna-tional development, has been friendly with her DC neigh-bours. Recently, she was bringing in her own groceries and saw an older neighbour in the hallway. She greeted him, joked about their opposing soccer alliances (Madrid for him, Barcelona for her) and offered to help if he needed anything.

“When you ask someone if they need something, it often makes them feel safe,” Gottsman says. If you’re too nervous to take that initial step and get to know your neighbors, Gottsman suggests organizing a virtual book club or party and asking the apartment manager to help publicize and coordinate it.

Thomas adds that being neighbours is a “fundamental reminder” that you share space with others and that your actions can affect others’ well-being.

“Our health is dependent on the health of those around us,” Thomas says. “We are a society, not an economy, and only with collective action will we be able to deal with coronavirus.”

And what if this time in quarantine becomes long-term? The new normal? Gottsman and Farley both stress that patience, compassion and empathy will go a long way. There is no perfect how-to manual on approaching neighbours in the middle of a pandemic.

ROXANNE ROBERTS THE WASHINGTON POST

We have seen the future and it is dark, gray and

messy: Dark roots. Gray streaks. Outgrown cuts. Not just bad hair days, but bad hair months.

Good hair, as it turns out, is not essential during a pandemic. While millions hoarded toilet paper, others beelined to their stylist for one last haircut or colour before salons closed. Now they’re staring in the mirror contemplating a crowning glory that is not so glorious.

On one level, this is truly the least of our concerns. It’s just hair. But if you’re lucky enough to be worried about it, it’s also a loss of routine, a loss of control and a loss of self-confidence. The stay-at-home order launched a thousand DIY tutorials ab out hair cutting, home colouring or embracing your roots. In six weeks, goes the new adage, we’ll know everyone’s real hair colour.

Some people have resigned themselves to ponytails or baseball caps. Others have bribed their way into speakeasy salons or illicit home visits. And a few have tackled the issue with a healthy mix of humour and humanity. Kelly Ripa, co-host of “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” posted a photo on Instagram showing a thin gray streak in her honey-blonde hair: “Root watch week one.”

“This really struck a nerve with my viewers,” she says. “It’s almost like solidarity, because they’re so used to seeing people on camera looking like they’ve been done by professionals, which they have.... I just feel like it’s almost liberating to have the veil lifted off.”

Ripa, 49, started going gray in her early 20s (“My hair is now totally white”) and has coloured her hair for decades. “The grayer my hair got over the years, the blonder my hair got,” she says. Now she’s sequestered at her Manhattan home, doing the show remotely and touching up her roots with spray from a can. “It’s so user-friendly,” she says. “There’s no artistry involved. “

Fans, always quick to share their opinion at the most trivial change in her hair, have been “so forgiving, because we’re all in it together.” They’re sending her pic-tures of their roots. Nobody’s perfect, and now we’re all less perfect than ever.

“Can I tell you something? I think we’re all going to be better off for this,” says Ripa. “We’re all being satisfied with less.”

Well, not yet. We’re not at the acceptance phase of our hair loss. We’re still going through denial, anger and bargaining.

LoAnn Lai, owner of Salon L’eau in Washington, DC, is trying to cope with clients who are not coping. “They’re panicked,” she explains. “Women get very emotionally attached to their hair.”

Lai closed the salon on March 19 and has been fielding calls and texts from clients who feel unpolished, old, exposed. “We’re all working remotely, so why are we panicking?” she asks. Her theory: “It’s how we see our-selves. If I look in the mirror and don’t love the way I look, it affects how I feel.”

This is not just about vanity. OK, it’s partially about vanity, but it’s also about maintaining an image. “Hair frames and represents us,” say Emma Tarlo, author of “Entanglement: The Secret Lives of Hair” and a professor

of anthropology at the University of London. “It is intrinsically bound up with our identities and sense of who we are. People grow into particular styles over time, and to find themselves unable to maintain these is disturbing. It eats away at our sense of self. It alerts us to the abnormality of the situation and our loss of control over our own lives.”

Hair is a kind of armour we wear into daily battle; a bad hair day tells the world we’re not at the top of our game. “I usually go to the salon every week,” says DC-area life coach Shelby Tuck-Horton. “Doing my own hair is not something I like to do.”

Yet now, that’s exactly what she has to do if she wants to look professional on Zoom calls. “You should have seen me trying to blow dry my hair with a round brush. Oh my God. It was hilarious.” She finally called her stylist, Gwen Fields, who walked her through the process. “I didn’t look like I just left the salon, but I looked presentable,” says Tuck-Horton.

But she can hardly wait for the time it’s safe to go back to the salon: “It will be one of the first things I do when we can go out again.”

Not everyone is waiting; desperate hair requires des-perate measures. So, some clients are offering their stylists three or four times what a normal appointment would cost to make home visits — despite the guidance to stay six feet apart. “It’s tempting to ask and it’s tempting to accept,” says a stylist with an A-list clientele. “It’s just not possible. You either take the virus seriously or you don’t.”

Clients who are pressuring hairdressers, many of whom lack health insurance, “are acting out of selfish and irresponsible motives,” he adds. “It is a superficial routine. Behind this is personal vanity, because hair is one thing we can really put off.”

Fields, owner of Halcyon Salon in DC, closed on March 21 but remains in contact with clients like Tuck-Horton, some of whom use products that must be applied regu-larly to protect the hair. The items can be found online, so she and her colleagues are kicking around ideas for “virtual styling” — Facebook appointments where they

explain exactly how to use each product. In the meantime, some of her clients are buying gift certificates for future visits, a way to support the salon without risking anyone’s health.

For those who can’t get what they need online, Salon L’eau has launched a curbside kit for at-home care: Clients pay $78 to $85 for a custom mix of professional

products they can use to maintain their salon color, plus applicators, shampoo and conditioner.

Other salons are delivering similar packages to their customers’ doorsteps.

Of course, in addition to the high-end at-home hair products popping

up on phones and tablets, there is always the inexpensive boxed colour from the drugstore. For women who have used these products for decades, the current hair panic of the Haves is - if we’re being honest — kind of funny. While hairstylists, for the

most part, dismiss the claim that home colouring products can

produce professional results, plenty of happy customers would argue

otherwise. As Sally Altberger, a property manager in Denver, told The

Washington Post for an article about dyeing your own hair, “Why pay a salon colourist when

I can do it myself for $10?”At the very least, self-isolation is a great time to exper-

iment. Men, relieved of the need to shave, are sporting beards. Some women are dyeing their hair pink or blue. And some people — men and women - are cutting it all off. YouTube vlogger Joana Ceddia gave herself a buzz cut three weeks ago titled, “I finally shaved my head,” which racked up 2.5 million views.

“No one is going to see me,” the 18-year-old told her followers. “If I’m going to do this, it’s going to be now.” The verdict? “I love it. I thought I was going to hate it. I love it. It’s amazing.”

A buzz cut will eventually grow out. But turning gray is a more complicated process. Some women are embracing the chance to see what hue they have (a striking silver? a dishwater gray?) and how they feel about it.

“We’re hunkering down and focusing on protecting ourselves, thereby protecting others, and staying healthy,” Jane Larkworthy wrote in the Cut last month. “It would not be the worst idea to lay off the bleach that made its way into my scalp and nostrils for decades.”

For now, she’s watching the gray coming in as a “welcome curiosity,” but her stylist has promised to leap into action if Larkworthy decides she hates the gray. “When that day comes, I’ll likely be clinging to her knees like a toddler, screaming through uncontrollable sobs, “GET RID OF IT!!” But maybe I won’t,” she wrote. “Maybe revealing our true colours will be a catharsis. Maybe this will shift how women feel about hiding something that’s natural, if we’re newly awake to what’s important.”

And Ripa? What would her viewers think if she decided to stop colouring her hair?

“Initially, if I were to let it go gray, I think there would be disgust and outrage,” she says with a laugh. “But then, eventually, people would say, ‘You know what? I love it! I’m going to do it, too.’ Or, ‘It’s not for me but you look great.’ People get used to all sorts of things.”

Carson Daly and his son after Daly gave himself an at-home haircut live on the “Today” show.

When every day is a bad hair

day: Getting to the roots of our

new reality

The do’s and don’ts of apartment living, self-quarantine edition

ENTERTAINMENT14 DOHA TODAY DOHA TODAYMONDAY 20 APRIL 2020

14 DDDOOHHA TTTODAAYDDDOOHHA TTTODAAAAY 15MONDAY 20 APRIL 2020

New Orleans musicians fight to beat back the silence

DAVID MONTGOMERY THE WASHINGTON POST

The shops on Bourbon Street are sealed with hurricane shutters and plywood. The corner of Royal and St. Peters Streets is silent. A family of

musicians who typically perform there - a jazz clarinetist, her sousaphone-playing husband and their drumming daughter - last played their traditional closing number, “When the Saints Go Marching In,” on March 19, the day the music went into quarantine.

Calendars in the windows of the clubs on nearby Frenchmen Street still list who was to play each of the 31 days of March. Almost half those gigs never happened.

On the balcony above the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, a couple is dancing. In defiance of the silence, they have turned a speaker to the street to share graceful, lilting piano runs. The music is not live, though — it is Spotify. The playlist is a tribute to Ellis Marsalis, patriarch of the musical Marsalis family and a pillar of New Orleans jazz. He died April 1, at 85, from complications of COVID-19.

“I’ve got Ellis’s spirit up here,” Jason Patterson, one of the dancers, called down to a lone pedestrian car-rying a can of beer. Patterson is the landlord and talent booker of the shuttered bistro, where Marsalis per-formed weekly for 30 years. “He still wants to play.”

But beyond the reach of Marsalis’ recorded tunes, an unfamiliar quiet has settled in the streets of New Orleans, sapping the soul of the city that gave birth to jazz.

“It lets you know that things are different,” said Doreen Ketchens, the clarinetist exiled from her corner on Royal Street to self-isolation in her home. “It lets you know that things can die.”

As of last Tuesday afternoon, Louisiana had reported 21,518 cases of the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, and 1,013 deaths — the fourth largest number of deaths in the country. New Orleans has accounted for 276 of those who died and 5,718 cases.

Epidemiologists estimate that Mardi Gras festivities, which drew more than one million visitors and culmi-nated Feb. 25, accelerated the spread. The first case in Louisiana was detected March 9. Mayor LaToya Cantrell issued a stay-home order on March 20, but most enter-tainment in the city had been canceled by the day before.

The coronavirus turned off the music at the worst possible time of year for New Orleans and the practi-tioners of its boisterous style. Festival season was just gearing up - the massive French Quarter Festival was set for next week, to be followed by the even bigger New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Both have been pushed to the fall.

The mayor of New Orleans on Tuesday recom-mended that all festivals be pushed back to 2021.

This is a vital three months for local musicians, who, along with New Orleans cuisine, represent the essence of the city to the world. With a population of about 390,000, New Orleans has 38,000 “cultural workers” with jobs in music venues and restaurants, according to a 2016 study by the city. Musicians’ advocates estimate that more than 5,000 professionals and semiprofes-sionals produce the city’s collective sound.

In a town that averages 85 live musical perform-ances a day, festival season marks several delirious weeks when music is being performed around-the-clock. Most years, musicians can hope to bank some savings against the slow summer months when many

tourists think it’s too hot to visit New Orleans. But this Spring, the gigs have dropped straight to zero.

“Every time my phone rang or I got a text, it was a gig canceling,” said Ketchens, whose street perform-ances supplement work in concerts, weddings, parties and the like. “I think in three days I lost something like 17 gigs” - including one with Marsalis, her former teacher, with whom she rehearsed several weeks ago at his house.

The average musician in New Orleans makes $17,800 a year, according to a 2012 survey by Sweet Home New Orleans, a musicians advocacy group. The New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, which gives primary care to those with meager resources, has 2,600 patients. The lifestyle offers little room for rainy-day savings.

Even Grammy Award-winning band musicians can struggle.

Stafford Agee, trombone player for the Rebirth Brass Band — which received a Grammy for Best Regional Roots Album in 2011 — said that while he was able to ride out March on his savings, now he’s worried how he’ll pay the bills and support his four children.

“My ‘riding out’ is done,” he said. “I’m rode out. . . . We’re in another month now.”

In addition to local festivals, Rebirth had dates booked on the West Coast and in New York and Wash-ington. Those are gone, too. On top of money woes, another band member - leader Phil Frazier — tested positive for the virus. Frazier’s symptoms have receded, and he is doing better, according to Howie Kaplan, the band’s manager.

Agee is applying for grants offered to artists affected by the coronavirus shutdown from national groups such as MusiCares, as well as local organizations such as the

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and the New Orleans Business Alliance. Any assistance is welcome, Agee said, but he noted that the grants being offered range from $500 to $1,000.

“Rent is $1,600, so once I pay the rent, where do I go?” he said.

The federal government changed unemployment insurance rules in response to the pandemic to make it easier for freelancers and gig-economy workers to qualify for aid. But some musicians said they are still having trouble navigating the online forms to prove their eligibility.

To survive a crisis like this, Agee typically would find odd jobs. After Hurricane Katrina, he took on minor contracting and electrical work.

“I was kind of like rebuilding the city with music and with my hands,” he said, but he pointed out that it’s impossible to do during the pandemic. “What can you really do when no one is supposed to be outside? Drive Uber? You can’t pick nobody up because no one is sup-posed to be outside.”

The informal assistance networks that sprang up after Katrina are inspiring similar efforts now. Culture

Trombone player Big Sam Williams poses for a portrait in his New Orleans neighbourhood.

Singer Arsene DeLay poses for a portrait in New Orleans.

Aid Nola is a new umbrella of advocacy groups, including the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans, which coordinates access to food, health care and related assistance for musicians and other workers in the hospitality and tourism industries. City Council members Kristin Palmer and Helena Moreno have helped organize food distributions with the Second Harvest Food Bank in neighborhoods populated by laid-off gig-economy freelancers.

Three days a week on the sidewalk outside his closed club, Howlin’ Wolf, Kaplan distributes a couple hundred takeout containers of food to musicians and hospitality workers. On a recent Monday, Nick Benoit, a bass player, and Chad Cassady, whose guitar was strapped on his back, picked up meals of red beans and rice and fried chicken.

“Everything’s closed, and I have not a ton of windfall left,” Benoit said. “I don’t know if or when things will ever return to gigging in clubs again.”

Some musicians are responding to the crisis by per-forming from home on Facebook Live. Compensation comes in the form of virtual tips from fans over plat-forms such as PayPal and Venmo. But the medium is

better suited to some than others.“Who wants to see someone just stand there and play a

horn?” said Stafford, the trombone player for Rebirth.Margie Perez, a vocalist and bandleader under her own

name and in the group Muevelo! thought the same thing — how could she re-create her sound all by herself? - until she spoke recently with her neighbour Sula Spirit, another singer.

They live in Musicians’ Village, a neighborhood developed for artists during the post-Katrina recon-struction by Harry Connick Jr, Branford Marsalis and Habitat for Humanity, with an arts center named for Ellis Marsalis. Now, on Saturdays, they stream shows with their neighbors in Sula Spirit’s backyard and split any donations, wearing masks and gloves as they set up and performing at a safe distance from one another.

“It’s been good,” Perez said. “We’ve been getting a lot of love.”

Streaming shows are valiant attempts to restore pieces of the canceled calendar. On a recent Monday evening, singer-songwriter and guitar player Arsène DeLay and bass player Charlie Wooton were seated about six feet apart in her living room with their instruments. It was the hour of their regular gig at Buffa’s Restaurant.

“This is for all those folks who want a little bit of nor-malcy, to the folks who normally come and listen to music, especially on Mondays here in my sweet hometown,” DeLay said to an unseen audience that ebbed and flowed from fewer than 50 to more than 100 over two hours, according to Facebook views.

DeLay, who comes from a storied New Orleans musical family — her uncle John Boutté wrote and sang the theme of the HBO series “Treme” — said the donations approximate the earnings from the Buffa’s gig. But an artist

can’t keep returning to the same loyal fans who are facing their own economic crises to make up all the other lost gigs in a week. If she didn’t have the cushion of proceeds from having performed her song “Comin’ Home” on the series “NCIS: New Orleans” in 2018, she’d be up a “creek without a paddle,” she said.

“Music is very much a communal sport here in New Orleans,” she said. “Viewing concerts that are streamed online is great survival for the times we’re in right now, but it does not take the place of people collectively gathering to come together and listen to music.”

Funk trombonist and singer Sam Williams recently came up with a more elaborate solution to the challenge of conveying the hot, unbridled energy of a Big Sam’s Funky Nation show to a virtual audience. On a Thursday at noon, the band members positioned themselves six feet apart amid the usual cords and amplifiers — except the stage was Williams’ driveway in a neighborhood tucked beside a highway overpass.

“Hope you all are having a good time on this funky quarantine day,” Williams said to the smartphone and the laptop set up on a balcony. The band tore into songs including “4 da Funk” and “Gimme Dat.” Williams and Andrew Baham — on trumpet and backup vocals — exe-cuted the choreographed dance steps they usually display in clubs. Williams invited call-and-response exchanges with the unseen audience. Bass player Jerry “JBlakk” Henderson (wearing a black bandanna for virus pro-tection) and drummer Alfred Jordan (in a black mask printed with an image of sharp teeth) soloed mightily in the hot sun.

The neighbourhood-shaking volume drew folks onto their porches. They clapped and took photos. A few crept close to the driveway, but never enough to constitute an illegal gathering of more than 10. A man passing by in his car rolled down his window and played a cowbell to the beat.

Funky Nation is grateful for what amounts to grocery money from the weekly live streams, Williams said. But that can’t replace three months of four gigs a week that they’ve lost. During Jazz Fest alone, he was counting on 20-plus gigs performing with Funky Nation and with personal side projects.

Through his music, Williams, 39, is the sole provider for his wife and twin 3-year-old sons. Besides his dwin-dling savings and piling-up bills, he is worried about two sisters who tested positive for the virus. At least so far, their conditions don’t seem serious, he said, adding, “I’m trying not to stress myself out, but I am very anxious right now.”

For the time being, as the number of coronavirus cases relentlessly climbs, this is one way New Orleans tries to beat back the silence - with the music beaming from scattered driveways, living rooms and yards. That music, in turn, is received by isolated members of a hun-kered-down audience, fragilely connected by a shared sound experience.

After Katrina, “music was part of that inspiration to rebuild,” said Jon Gross, tuba player with the renowned Treme Brass Band, sitting on his front steps near the fair-grounds where he would have played at Jazz Fest. This time, he noted, the crisis is global.

“It may be on New Orleans musicians to . . . inspire everyone to rebuild,” Gross said. “There may be some-thing to the fact that we can reach out to every household through technology. That may be our calling: Instead of being here and letting the world come to us, maybe we stay here and play out to the rest of the world.”

Stafford Agee, trombone player for the Rebirth Brass Band, poses for a portrait at his home in New Orleans.

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