By Lyonel Doherty

What does a nine-year-old boy do during a global pandemic?

He balances toilet paper and breaks noodles. Then he stares at the ceiling and plays hide and seek with his cat.

The comedic scenes are all there in a video on Oliver Facebook Loop, which has garnered more than 3,000 views.

Aarav Gaba was getting really bored staying at home when he started making videos with his mom at Oliver Global Grocers.

“There are so many people who like my jokes and everything, so I just wanted to make people laugh,” he said.

Aarav was helping his mom in the store before COVID-19 hit. He actually made a video on coffee and a pinata hanging from the ceiling. When the pandemic started, he made one on social distancing.

But the most popular was a video called “Isolation Hacks,” which shows Aarav demonstrating activities you can do during the crisis. For example, he barks at his dog, making it run away.

“I have a talent for that. If, like, my dog is, um, just like bothering me, I just bark and he runs (away) and I’m free.”

When asked what he thought about the pandemic, Aarav said some countries are doing better than others.

“Where I come from in India, it’s getting a lot worse because people are just not caring about it or anything. All they care about is their religion and they’re going everywhere no matter what.”

Aarav said two of his elderly grandparents live with him right now and they stay in the house.

“I’m safe because I’ve been told that kids don’t get much fever (from COVID-19).”

But he worries about his family members in the store because they come in contact with a lot of people during the day.

Aarav admitted it’s hard staying indoors and not being able to play with friends. “I was planning on having a couple of sleepovers with my friends, but I couldn’t.”

So now he just talks to them online.

Aarav showed the Chronicle the trick in balancing two rolls of toilet paper (which will remain a secret for now).

He heard that some people are hoarding toilet paper during the pandemic, so he decided to do a good deed.

“My mom and dad had a few extra so I gave some to my friend,” he whispered. “One of my friends lives right next to me, but we can’t meet each other so I threw one over to him. He had, like, two rolls left in his house.”

Aarav said he wants to make more videos, including a part 2 to Isolation Hacks and one that shows what he is grateful for.

If you ask many nine-year-old boys if they are missing school right now, most would say no. But not Aarav. He can’t wait to go back to school, but in the meantime, he really likes chatting with his classmates via video conferencing.

Aarav enjoys doing the worksheets that are assigned because it’s a challenge to strive for high marks.

“I do what the teacher tells me and then I do a little bit more.”

Aarav said he usually gets all of the answers right.

“I just like seeing 20 out of 20,” he chuckled.

Even though Aarav is only in Grade 3, he knows exactly what he wants to do in life – be an archaeologist.

“I just love finding new stuff around. I like digging and digging and finding stones; I have a whole drawer of them over there.”

The coolest stone he found was a purple one on a mountain.

Before coming to Oliver, Aarav used to live in England where he had a strong British accent. He actually got bullied for it.

“That’s why I practiced to have a Canadian accent; I practiced every night (looking at videos) just so I wouldn’t get bullied.”

The bullying stopped, partly because he complained to the principal to “shut it down.”

Now, when the bullies come to the store, they “literally hide” when they see Aarav. “And then I say ‘Hi’ to them in an English accent,” he laughed.

When asked if the world will ever be normal again, Aarav said it will all depend on the people.

“If they don’t care, it (the pandemic) will go on for as long as we want.”