Rajdeep Singh and his wife Kate, who live in Portland in the US, have found a way to beat the long queues outside stores of people stocking up supplies in view of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

With lockdown, social distancing and self-isolation becoming global buzzwords, many cities in the US have seen people frantically stocking up on supplies to hunker down at home for prolonged periods of time.

So, Jamshedpur-born Rajdeep and his wife are growing their own vegetables at the garden in their home in Oregon’s largest city.

The couple have prepared beds and sown seeds of white turnip, onion and carrot. They also grow apples and blackberries.

Both Rajdeep and Kate have been asked to work from home and they are using their free time to farm.

“Obviously we are worried about the well-being of Rajdeep and Kate, but they are safe and busy growing vegetables,” said Rajdeep’s father Avtar Singh, a resident of Sonari and seven-time national cycling champion.

“They are not standing in queues to buy vegetables and other essentials from malls as they find it very tedious. So, they have found a way out to sustain themselves.”

Their garden at Portland in United States.

However, Rajdeep and Kate are running out of toilet paper and sanitizers.

“Ration stock is also fast depleting. But they seem to have found way out to sustain themselves through vegetables for the time being. I think my son knows how to sustain during a crisis,” Avtar said.

“It’s very cold in Portland and the streets are also mostly deserted.”

Suspected coronavirus cases are quarantined at their homes in Portland and doctors are paying periodic visits, he said.

Rajdeep, a project engineer with a multinational firm, has been settled in the US for nearly two decades now. He married Kate, a music teacher, in Jamshedpur in 2018.

“We are happy that both are well from the health point of view,” said Avtar, who is also the founder of Jeevika, a Sonari-based NGO working for the intellectually impaired.

Sukhdeep Kaur, Rajdeep’s mother and secretary of Jeevika, said the pandemic had stalled their visit to Portland.

“We were planning to visit US to meet Rajdeep and Kate. But the virus has emerged as a stumbling block. Like any parents, we want to see our son and Kate happy,” she said.