STAYING SANE

The pandemic of coronavirus has shattered the human soul.

It has changed life as we know it. Schools and offices are shut down, we’re restricted to our homes and the future feels very unpredictable. Why write at a stage like this?

For one, we are living through history. It’s a chronology. Future historians may gaze back on the narratives, articles, stories, and art that ordinary people are cultivating now to tell the saga of life during the coronavirus.

But writing can also be deeply therapeutic. It sort of heals you. It can be a means to express our notions, hopes, and joys. It can help us make understand the world and our place in it.

Let’s, go back to when this all started. A lot of folks were thinking: “It’s just 14 days. Things will bounce back to usual soon.” 13th day of the lockdown 1.0, I was eager, ‘Yayyy, the quarantine veil is gonna lift finally’ until I understood how COVID 19 virus has whirled the world upside down and every country is trying to combat the pandemic.

All things considered, it’s wiser to concentrate on the immediate and not get ahead of ourselves. This will keep us sane.

So, every one of us is quarantined and isolated in our houses. Students’ every day waking up early, taking online classes. Watching the lecture in sleepy eyes and sometimes “accidentally” falling asleep while listening. Folks working from home go from wearing ironed shirts and boxers in zoom meeting to struggling to find a decent corner in the chaotic house for online conferences. In short, their day is pretty much slated (It’s a myth).

Idle folks like me, have enough time to practice and develop a more positive mindset. There’s nothing dreadful about it. The brighter side to this is we have an abundance of free time and food on our plates to unleash our creativity during social separation (remembering to be grateful here).

As the line says “good food, good mood” and with a lot of time in my hands, I have been experimenting a lot with learning new dishes. Surprisingly, this period is about eating real food. No processed junked food.

My hobby now includes eating and also thinking about the next time I will be eating. The ending be like – I feel guilty for over-eating (every time).

Well, most of my other enjoyment would be in painting, sketching, writing, baking cakes (the same recipe), catching up with my leftover books, and rarely exercising (bought a yoga mat tho).

Quarantine is and shall always be about goofing around the house, tiptoeing to the kitchen at midnight, and back and forth. Figuring out what you are gonna do after life is back to normal. Managing the work profile and getting a source of income for daily meals. Reaching out for needy people. Lying back with arms under the head – watching the room ceiling and think of how grateful we are for what we all have and much more. The list is very long.

Pandemic made us all do weird yet great stuff. Life during pandemic is full of stories and whether serious or funny, happy, or sad. Above all, we are enjoying our family lunch and dinner. Never in life, we are going to have these precious moments again, so embrace it.

It feels like it’s been months. But it has been, honestly, an unbelievable period. From being insane at first to becoming sane about the whole pandemic situation, we all got used to it in the end, started to be thankful for the first time in the longest time.

Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee wrote in the article about “Cosmic Fury As A Spiritual Wake up Call” she says, ‘Human beings are certainly not the most important life in the canvas of creation. It’s human beings’ concept that human life is the superior-most. Even at the highest intellectual and spiritual level, humans can think and act within the limitations of the human mind. What do we know about other lives? What is their philosophy?” So, let’s not forget that every life is special and different. Value your surroundings.

We will get through this, one way or the other. With so much tragedy and treacherous politics, it can be hard to imagine a future. Even after the whole pandemic comes to an end, lives everywhere are back to normal, there’s a lot to worry about in this brave new world.

Like Pope Francis once said, “Let us all work together and do our best, for a future where every life respects the other life.”

Till then, keep going. Be kind to yourself and others around you. Take care fellas!