The Lockdown Saga...Unlocking Many Budding Talents
Recent lockdown has unlocked many a budding talents, albeit it hasn’t been an easy peasy lemon squeeze times, as the micro sized invisible hydra headed devil is on the prowl at all the nook and crannies, making human cower in their four walls of confines.
But human traits have the ability to adapt to any eventuality; hence after initially being shell shocked and getting paranoid over the behavior of the virus, the grim reality was accepted willy nilly. And the lockdown provided a fillip to hidden talents. To beat the lockdown blues people dabbled with the skills, which hadn’t seen the light of the day, giving them enough time for side hustle….
People tried, innovated with the cooking skills and voila! We had super ‘’Michelin chef’’ emerging, then we have had novice singers showcasing their singing and all our nouveau Michael Jackson and danseuse with their jigs - jives monopolizing the virtual screen. Each one so gung-ho and sashayed their way to a cobal. Whoa! They are all fired up. Surely all Johnny-come-lately are having a fame to claim.
There have been music concert to raise money for the impacted daily wagers, few foundations came up delivering fresh cooked meals to the affected people, students across India have displayed large heart by giving back to lesser privileged peers of the society, some also roped in psychologist to conduct "happiness session".
All in all the period of crises has seen the best of humanity at the helm. Now as the cliffhanger plot thickens, I have my own story to narrate.
Life is a potent mixture of good and bad creating heady intoxicating cocktail of moments. I have lived the most in my past few months of lockdown with great introspection, may be a few years sadder but am also few years wiser too, gaining profound understanding through a void and loneliness devoid of any superficial baggage.
A nonentity in a stage jam packed with emerging stars and I am not in the race trying to keep up with the Joneses. Lockdown period has seen me finding my way through the jungle of my thoughts and memories, which has never run out of steam.
As one after another each layer of self lay exposed the treasure box of my memories opened up, I am overwhelmed with a sense of déjà vu, I hear the sweet echoes of my childhood.
Once again I am a kid living in the hills chasing butterflies, prancing up and down where poppies and cosmos grew in wilderness in the slopes, it seemed as if each flower vied for my attention. The entire scene has stalked me in all my growing years. The magic of nature never wore off.
A wave of nostalgia gripped me as I recall how I lived in each poem taught in the classroom. My thoughts too wandered lonely as a cloud and then became a part of’’ daffodils’’, and sang a solitary song, whistled in the winds, waltzed with the pine trees.
I miss sleeping under the stars, moon and reaching out to the stars to pluck a few only to adorn my hair. I find the child in me in the orange of a rising sun, in the green of the valleys, in the songs of the birds. Hopes, dreams linger to be a part of me and I see a promising future.
I am totally lost in a world I lived once, I giggle hysterically, my incoherent imbecile uttering are a proof of my longing to a world lost n devoured by humans. with a sudden blinding clarity I stumble upon the present and a sickly feeling of dismay sets in.
AND I MUMBLE A BARELY AUDIBLE CONFESSION TO SELF, ‘’I DO NOT BELONG HERE, HOME IS WHERE POPPIES GROW IN ITS FULL GLORY’’.I pray and look towards a rosier future bustling with flora and fauna. Let the mankind put their hands together to make the world a better place to live with deep connection to nature.
God has created the universe in such a way to ensure interconnectedness and interdependence among its creation. By protecting the habitat of other species we are protecting human habitations.
A healthy ecosystem where birds, animals and humans live in complete harmony free of disease. All is still not lost and its never too late hence I will not sing a woeful song for I know the present situation too shall pass.
--Veena Khurana/New Delhi
(The author is wife of Late Wing Commander Khurana)