Some donned their chef's hats, a few picked up books for late morning reads, and many enjoyed something that has become scarce given the everyday noise pollution - listening to birds chirping on trees - during the 'Janta Curfew' on Sunday.
Proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contain the spread of novel coronavirus, the "self-imposed curfew" inspired people to stay indoors from 7am till 9pm and spend some quality time with their families.
While Twitter user Vandana Kumar was excited to hear "the call of nature" in the busy metropolis of Mumbai, writer and addiction counsellor Smita Barooah "woke up to the call of the peacock".
"Can u believe it, this is Mumbai and for the 1st time we cld hear only the call of the nature ...The birds chirping ...all kinds..The koyal, the crow, the pigeon, the sparrow...How soothing (sic)," Kumar tweeted.
Barooah wrote on the social media website, "In my housing complex, can't see a single person or car move. Can you hear the koel & the other birds? Woke up to the call of the peacock :)," while sharing a video.
Another user, Kunal Rajendra Sagar, from Mumbai also shared a video clip from his balcony.
"it is first time I am able to hear nature's voice of birds instead of human generated noice (sic)," he wrote.
Appreciation towards the birds' chirping was apparent from the trending topic 'Bird' on Twitter with over 64,000 tweets.
While roads across the country wore a deserted look, the traffic on the social media site was booming with over 3.4 lakh tweets trending with #JantaCurfew.
Several users from different cities shared photos and videos of deserted roads that see heavy traffic on usual days including the Connaught Place market in New Delhi, the Bandra-Worli sea link and Palm Beach road in Mumbai, the walled city area in Jaipur, Hazratganj and Chowk areas of Lucknow, and Dhakuria in Kolkata.
Corporate lawyer Aditi shared a video of the Marine Drive in south Mumbai, deserted "for the first time" in her lifetime.
"Bombay, slowing down for the first time in my lifetime (30 years), and coming together as usual in support during these testing times," she said.
The curfew also brought out the chefs in people as several Twitter users shared photos from their kitchens.
Mohit Gupta tried his hand at cooking as he posted a picture while stirring a pan.
"Learning cooking how to make food (sic). The Best way to spend time at home," he wrote.
Venkatesha Prasad, all the way from the Netherlands that is also affected by coronavirus, shared a picture of his children cooking for the family.
"Our kids are cooking food for all of us (10 ppl). They learn important life skill & No boredom! We can make a change, Yes we can Win!" he wrote on the microblogging website.
Some Twitterati decided to read during the curfew as they posted pictures of books.
One user, Urvi (Sirf Sana), decided to pick up 'The Goldfinch' by Donna Tartt, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014. Another user Neeraj Nigam picked up 'The Making of Hero' by Sunil Kant Munjal.
The 'Janta Curfew' was announced by the prime minister on Thursday evening to hinder the spread of coronavirus.
By Sunday morning, the number of COVID-19 positive people in the country had gone up to 324, according to the Health Ministry.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
