Ok, I am back, after a very long gap! I know! I can’t stop scolding myself for not writing more often, only to realize that although I have clung to my reading habits, the Netflix-Amazon Prime-Hot Star triad, along with the Smartphone has managed to push me away from writing. Not that I am an author or something, but writing had always been a way out for me. I remember I used to write diaries when I was a young girl. They used to be naive and sometimes even vain, but I was still writing! And I had written hundreds of letters to my husband when we were courting, without getting a single reply. But I still wrote. And then…it all just stopped.
So, why am I writing again? And that too without it being a travel blog or a significant event post? Because one word has changed the world for all of us! One word that in merrier times would remind us of fun and frolic and now rings of dread, anxiety, fear and worry. One word that has led to deserted streets and has kept people locked up indoors, frustrated and scared. The one word that smells of fear and death but in its own way it does have quite a few brighter sides. Corona!
Come to think of it, these trying times have given us what our daily busy lives have been snatching from us since we grew up – time! Time to think, time to read, time to write (ahem!), time to look at nature, time to revisit good old Doordarshan, time to cook, time to appreciate and acknowledge the little gifts of life, time to sit together, time to connect with old friends, time to pursue our interests….and time for so much more!
Among other things it made me feel thankful for every day that I get to live within the secure perimeter of my preferred and privileged existence. I mean, I have my family (healthy, so far), my job, my friends, food, rest, work, and of course my phone! I don’t have to worry about what I will eat tomorrow or whether I will get what I need to survive. And I have a TV and I have the internet to give me a million dimensions of the truth making it like the broth that has been spoiled by too many cooks.
And then there is Doordarshan… I spent my childhood in the ’80s and in our times, we did not have a cable connection (that came in much later). So Doordarshan was our only hope! We all know how we love nostalgia and so, we are at it again! Dekh Bhai Dekh,
Ramayan, Mahabharat, Byomkesh Bakshi, Circus and so on. I especially loved seeing the original version of “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” and “Baje Sargam Har Taraf Se”…
And so I spend my days in dread and anxiety but not missing the small gifts of life! Halfway through the lockdown, my high points are to be able to spend endless time with my son, hear a squirrel’s call (did you know that they lift their tails each time they call?) through the day and spot glow worms on my terrace after, what… decades or more?!
So, how is it going for you?
The world around me 