Keep still, be aware

Geshna Sharma

The Covid-19 outbreak has led the authorities to shut down places in the city, making several people frantic. When the disease looms large over the country, social distancing being the only preventive measure, why can’t we take time out to appreciate the slow pace of life instead of being paranoid? We have long been trapped in the mechanical amber of life, so much so that we can’t stop for a moment to admire the slowness in things.

The shutdown reminds me of a poem by Pablo Neruda titled ‘Keeping Quiet’, “For once on the face of earth, let us not speak any language, let us stop for a second and not move our arms so much. Won’t it be an exotic moment without rush, engines, we would all be together in a sudden strangeness.”

Yes, the gyms are closed, malls are closed. What are people afraid of? That they don’t have stories to post on Instagram now? Perhaps, we are so addicted to the social media validation that we have forgotten to spend time with ourselves alone at home.

However, the human beings are still adept at surviving and are finding ways to cope with the new stress — of social distancing and staying at home.

Navneet, a corporate insurance lawyer, says she has taken up painting once again. Nikhil Grover, who works for an IT firm in the industrial area, claims he is catching up on all his favourite TV series and has discovered some new ones.

Another IT firm employee Harshmeet Sethi says with a wicked smile: “My parents were always against me playing video games during school days, but now they can’t scold me. I will make the best of it before my office reopens.”

Archita Sharma, a student at Delhi University, returned home to be with her family. She said: “It was my last semester and I was looking forward to spend as much time as I could with my friends. But I am happy to come back home as I spend all day with my dog, whom I could meet only for a few days in months.”

Maana works as a consultant but has currently taken out her childhood photos and is busy making DIY photo frames with ice-cream sticks to decorate her rooms.

Let’s just flashback a little and remember when we’d curse the air for not being cleaner, traffic for taking a toll on our time. With less people on streets, the earth is repairing itself. The sky appears bluer — if you haven’t noticed it, you can perhaps check the AQI levels.

Maybe, this is the earth’s way of telling us that we need to treat it with respect or face consequences — such as the one that people are dealing with world over. Treat animals with respect, bring humanity back to humans. There is more to life than battling traffic and pollution. Appreciate the shutdown. It won’t last long. But how you spend it, whether it brings the best or the worst in you, may even determine the kind of life you chose to live thereafter. Give the lockdown a chance because who knows when it is revoked, we all may miss the quieter days.