Rambling in the times of COVID
The week that has gone by has been unreal for all of us. We had hoped and prayed that the virus somehow skips our country. It was foolish optimism of course. So, ready or not, here it is. Social distancing is the new found talisman though the technical term should be ‘physical distancing’. I was myself tempted to distance myself from everything, including from my stray… err I mean Saturday thoughts. But then discipline gave a rap on my knuckles that sent my fingers tapping.
It feels a little odd to be in Mumbai and not meet friends. But more than that what feels odd is not being in a hospital, on my work bench, especially in a medical emergency of such proportions. The old life beckons more often than before but then the new life that I have chosen has its own challenges to keep me busy.
Meanwhile everyone is home. There are eight of us in the house that reminds my daughter of the popular sitcom- ‘Full House’ (Watch it if you haven’t. There is a sequel too though I prefer the original one).
We are plugged on to our devices with meetings and adjusting our body clocks to time zones across the world (the husband more so but we hear and bear with all those alarms and reminders too). Suddenly we are short of plugs and someone is forever looking for the headphones.
But we are grateful that we are all together and working from home is even a possibility for us. Not everyone is fortunate. Every time one of us goes down to pick a delivery, we say a silent prayer collectively and thank these people for doing their jobs.
Amongst all the news of hoarding and empty shelves in stores, I choose to remember the milkman who saved an extra pack for me. Or the young couple who picked up groceries for their old neighbours at the end of the corridor. Or the friend who gave her helper a month’s pay in advance because her husband who’s an Uber driver isn’t getting enough passengers because of the lockdown.
When all of this is over and I know it will be, I just hope we are our better versions, like the ones we aspired to be. Till then let’s count our blessings and make the most of what we have. Leaving you with a quote from Malcolm S. Forbes that I have liked since forever;
When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always get worse. And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better.
PS: Hoping that I am out of my rambling mode soon and come up with something more coherent next week.
Love and Light