The Brighter Side of Lockdown
<p>It is extremely difficult to write about the brighter side of lockdown when millions are dying, becoming sick, losing their loved ones, their jobs and freedom. In these unprecedented times, reality hits hard and makes one lose all hope. Amidst all the despair and gloom we still cling on to a ray of hope that someday things will be back to normal. But what part of normal is worth returning to? The part where we toil for 16 hours a day doing mindless work, or rushing to work in a crowded train, leaving our loved ones starved for attention. The lockdown straightened our priorities, it took a pandemic to make us realise what is really important in our lives. We realised that so much of the office work can be easily done in the comfort of our homes and the daily commute during rush hour is absolutely unnecessary. We have more time to invest in our hobbies, dabble in cooking and finish that personal project that was long overdue. The lockdown also taught us the importance of human connections. We are social animals and we cannot survive for long being a lone wolf. The desire to connect and share is more than ever. We developed an appreciation for family, albeit their flaws, we learned to accept and love them for who they are. If you remember, at the beginning of the lockdown when all the business and services were closed, we developed self reliance by doing all the work by ourselves. In doing so we realised how much we are dependent on others in our everyday life and started developing appreciation for all the blue collared jobs out there. And also realised how some jobs are really tough and people are ought to be paid more. We all have been guilty of saying, if only I had time. Finally we do have so much time on our hands and people have been upskilling themselves, pursuing hobbies and even starting businesses. So yes, despite the pandemic and the lockdown, we have managed to look at the brighter side and hope for better days. </p><p> <strong>-Arundhati Dey.</strong></p>
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