I started writing regularly when the lockdown commenced in March 2020.
It is June 2022 now, and there has been a resurge of cases. A close friend of mine has also been affected. Here is something that I wrote in April 2021, and it is uncanny that a year more down the line, things are effectively the same!
Two years down the line, the situation is still the same. In some places, it has worsened. The reason being – two doses and a dozen mask boxes later, we have somehow started thinking that this has ended and it will not affect us anymore.
And so you have a combination of full masks, under the nose masks and “no mask superheroes”. The two meters social distancing norm has long been forgotten, and we all are seemingly comfortable in our new normals.
Only until it strikes close to home. That’s when you realize that it is still a pain dealing with PCR tests and teleconferenced doctors, and home isolation with kids is not as easy as it sounds.
Not to mention the stoppages at work. And most importantly, the experience of the disease itself.
Read this…and let’s resolve not to let our guards down. Keep the masks up, keep sanitizing and keep fighting. The war isn’t over as yet!
Think of yourself way back in February 2020. Did you even imagine that in a month, your world would change so drastically?
It almost seems like a disaster movie, only that we are in it.
I guess we are done with the “nature is healing”, and “showing us the mirror” statements. One can only tolerate Dia Mirza for 2-3 hours before fatigue sets in.
I know what you are feeling now.
Frustration. When will this ever end?
You tried to convince yourself to use the extra time well, but one year down the line, it seems pointless.
But that’s the thing. Life is sometimes an uphill climb – like the type that you pay a lot to go trekking in the wilderness.
Every breath is an incremental process. Every lesson takes time to seep in. The longer you learn, the longer it stays.
But most importantly, this is where true hope comes in.
Not the type that is characterized by it’s fleeting nature – like the small windows of focus that we have now become accustomed to.
Hope is tough. It is impractical at times. You are prone to give up. You want to believe, but you are constantly challenged by your own self.
A dilemma, a war of sorts within.
Who will win?
Will it be the part that wants to give up, throw the mask away, and go with whatever has to happen…or will it be the part that perseveres, and continues to do so until the tide has abated…
Unfortunately, I do not have that answer. You do.
But I would go with persevere. It has a better chance of a better ending. Despair is human, and it is natural, but it is not a solution.
A mask is. Sanitisation is. Even when it feels stuffy, even when it feels suffocating…you know that it is the right thing to do.
Just one more day. And then another. And another. Until we win.
The start of a journey of a thousand miles…begins with a single step…and an N95 mask. Throw in a PCR test for good measure.
And when you emerge triumphant, celebrate the human spirit. Celebrate yourself. Your loved ones. Money can be made anytime, but feeling triumphant – now that is a completely different feeling.
Let’s look forward to that.