SINGAPORE - This Ramadan, Akbar Nawas will not just have to make do without his favourite fried spaghetti with chicken, it will be the first time he cannot break fast with his wife and four children.
The Chennai City coach is stuck in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, one of several states hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic in India, which has been on lockdown since March 22.
In a phone interview with The Straits Times on Saturday (April 25), the 44-year-old chuckled as he shared: "My neighbourhood grocery store has run out of meat. No chicken, no seafood, I have been a vegetarian for a month.
"Chocolate is hard to find, and Tong Garden nuts are sold out."
It is not that he often shops. His condominium management has been limiting residents to just two outdoor visits per week.
As such, Akbar passes time by analysing football matches and "trying to come up with crazy tactics".
Yet even football is no more as the I-League - which has been suspended since March 14 - was cancelled last Saturday (April 18). With four games remaining and an insurmountable 16-point lead over East Bengal, Mohun Bagan were declared champions.
Defending champions Chennai are seventh, three points further adrift with a game in hand.
Akbar said: "Mohun Bagan are worthy champions, but honestly, football is not the first thing on people's minds now. What is most important is everyone stays healthy, and this virus comes under control soon so that I can go back and be with my family.
"There was a flight back from Chennai, a six-hour car ride from Coimbatore, on April 9, but my visa had expired and the league was not cancelled yet, so I couldn't try to get on that. I have been in contact almost daily with the embassy and my club are sorting out my visa extension, but I can only wait for now."
He was last in Singapore in December to see his family and has heard rumours the earliest flights back are in June.
His assistant coach and fellow Singaporean Satyasagara (formerly known as K. Balagumaran) is also stranded in India but at least has his wife and mother-in-law, who is frail and finds it difficult to travel long distances, for company. His 15-year-old daughter is in Singapore.
Satyasagara, 55, said: "I really miss my daughter, mother and sister, but compared to Akbar who is facing four walls alone, I am more fortunate because at least I have some family members with me here.
"Akbar and I will talk once every few days and we try to keep each other's spirits up by bantering in Singlish."
Practising yoga four hours a day - double his usual routine - with his wife, who is also a yoga teacher, helps him maintain peace and calm despite not having stepped out of his apartment for more than a month now.
"Since the league was suspended, I started traditional ayurvedic treatment for my knee. I could still go out due to this medical reason, but I decided to just order the oil and herbs online and continue the treatment at home with the help of my wife."
He and Akbar - the first Singaporeans to win an I-League title - are among a handful of Singaporean coaches plying their trade abroad.
Others include Kedah's Aidil Sharin, who returned home after the Malaysian Super League was suspended, and V. Sundram Moorthy, who is understood to still be in Laos where he is the national coach.
Akbar said: "It is a big sacrifice to be away from our families, but we are grateful for this opportunity at Chennai City to build a championship-winning team."
