My Musings on Corona

General change

In Avenger’s Endgame it was just a snap to swipe half of the world , In this real planet,it's just a meagre handshake. Months ago, when Corona wasn't severe, I posted a meme, “ if i get corona, i know exactly whom to sneeze at”. Initially corona was more into memes than in real life. During initials of the lockdown, life was still simpler, saree challenge, baking challenge, gol gappa challenge etc filled up our days. Less people were positive and more people were cautious and a lot less people could pronounce the name ‘hydroxychloroquine’.

The time was ripe for my father to learn cooking and his office boss to learn ironing but still both choose to half time sleep and half time indulge in video calls and it was just my mother, for whom nothing really changed. Her chores remained the same but  sometimes  rather increased, in case we requested some home made junk food  from her kitchen or accidently  spilled the milk on the floor and left it for her to clean.

Most amusing thing I did was that I watched my 2020 horoscope, the ones which are posted on youtube around the start of the year. It said that my stars indicate loads of travels. Shakespeare once said “ the earth has music for those who listen” but now the earth has a virus for all those who can breathe! The COVID19 pandemic has forced us to change our routines, lifestyles and habits and many are still desperate  for life to go back to the pre COVID era but until a vaccine becomes widely available, society will undergo a radical transformation.

Social distancing, staggered seating , sanitation and cleaning practices to name a few are mechanisms to fight this deadly virus. I can't believe i was last year  fussing over Game of Thrones’ weird last episode but but rather should have wondered about how much life is taken for granted by me. 

 Never exercised, never went out for morning walks, not even evening walks, never indulged into outdoor sports, in my life, my imagination and thoughts gushed from one web show to another web show, one novel to another novel, one fantasy to another. I never relied on the real life presented before me. Worst part was not the prohibition of live cricket matches but the fact that I graduated from my college and passed out even  without a graduation ceremony.

But, being a nerd, living detached and alone were my favourite hobbies. I always felt left out in a crowd. Crowds always scarred me. Unable to strike a conversation, I was always worried what the other person would think of me. But wasn't this crowd defining and identifying me as a nerd. Who am I becoming into this pandemic? Was missing a crowd and any  event of socialising a part of my insanity or it was just another dose of existential crisis?

“If life were predictable it would cease to be life,and be without flavour”said Eleanor Roosevelt and therefore i realised if i can't control everything that happens, i can change my experience of those things and thus i can make my pandemic life a happy life.

I started counting the stars at night which became visible in this metro city due to less pollution. I started walking under my roof's moonlight.  I started befriending with my balcony’s plants. By watering them I realised which one needed more water, which ones about to have a new bloom and  which one needed a bit of trimming. I shifted from cooking burnt toast to mouthwatering desi chinese and  lip smacking desi italian. Slowly my world expanded from watching worldometer, insta live sessions to practicing yoga on the roof.  As Aristotle said” it is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light”. I decided to practice meditation. As they say, if you can't go outside, then go inside. This pandemic is a crucial time to move inside, within ourselves and experience ourselves from a deeper self.