My lockdown story: Staying Positive
Amidst a falling economy, humanitarian crisis, earthquakes, fires, locust swarms, violence, protests, brutality, the list goes on..
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Photograph by Preetika Parashuraman
Preetika Parashuraman
As I wake up every morning, I check the number of positive cases. While it is no surprise of how haunting the numbers look, I still declare them at home only to see the worry and fear drawn on their faces.
If you had offered me to learn via online classes, binge-read books and binge-watch on Netflix, spend time with family and game nights with friends, I would have taken that instantly.
However, experiencing the lockdown life, I realize the importance of social interaction, after all it is what makes us human.
I have begun to miss the ordinary realities of the pre-COVID-19 world, which now feel so much more than a fantasy.
Having plenty of time to myself has led me down the unending road of introspection. I have begun to realize the flaws in the life I lived pre-covid.
I can say that this introspection has given me a fresh perspective from being boxed inside.
Amidst a falling economy, humanitarian crisis, earthquakes, fires, locust swarms, violence, protests, brutality, the list goes on...I still find myself to sit and enjoy things that have been happening all along all around me and that I have been remote to.
As I look outside, I see a quiet road and a boy feeding stray dogs under the scorching sun. I look at my parents bickering about working from home as they never leave an opportunity to remind me to wash my hands with soap. The lockdown lifestyle has taught me to appreciate the small things in life.
During trying times, I take comfort in my friends and family who are constantly lifting me up. Everyday I am learning from their lockdown tales - from desperation to be productive with an overload of college deadlines or living with mental health issues suffocated inside four walls, I began to immensely sympathize with general human tendencies that help me fight my own battles.
I have gained huge admiration for my mother who is tolerating two grown up adults and their tantrums despite her busy zoom meetings.
However, I do my best to give her a hand to reduce her work at home.
As selfish as it sounds, the increasing number of positive cases seemed to become a statistic until a life expired right in front of me. I learnt that death is inevitable, be it at the hands of a virus or not and it is okay to bask in the sadness of all that is happening around you but at the same time hang on to hope, love, and the future we all are striving towards.
