And one day, out of the blue arrives a virus and locks us all down amongst the four walls. Morning rush hours turned into lazy stroll out of our beds. Mops replaced laptops, Strategy decks became recipe books and office floors made way for homely chores. Minutes of the meetings converted to grocery listings. Time too has slowed down its pace and seems to be stuttering along aimless and confused. Months of lockdown has reversed the cycle of our daily lives for ever.
The world has come to a standstill. Streets wear a deserted look, the shopping arcades stand like abandoned eyesores. The hustle bustle of the commerce, the honking of the cars and chatter of the hawkers are heard in mute, barring the howl of a stray dog and the bawl of homeless cattle.
Prisoned as we may seem, these lockdown days have taught us a lot for posterity. We have learnt to be human and humane. We behave like a tribe for once and stood together for a common cause. Families stay together, play together, eat together, laugh together and sleep together. Every day was a new learning. We followed our duties and honoured our responsibilities. We stood still and held on to things as time passed by in the new normal.
The world resembles a sleepy, just out of bed, unkempt beauty without any makeup. It’s as though the Nature has gone on a sabbatical and cocooned herself away from us. Tired of everyday turmoil, unwilling to bear human hypocrisy, she has gone into her version of social isolation. Not prepared to be taken for granted again, she has withdrawn to some self-time for self-healing. Retreating in to her state of stillness and switching on Be Right Back mode, to reason, reflect and respond.
She has left us with a break to recollect and course-correct our duties & responsibilities. Our every cautious step accounts for every inch of land we grabbed from her. For every plant we watered, she reminded us the price of every tree that we felled till now. And whenever we spilled the filth, she has cleaned the muck off her face each time. Each moment with our loved ones, she recounted her every beloved sacrificed to extinction. For every war, every nuke, every SARS and every virus, ended up in borrowed living off her precious savings.
But then, she is a giver unlike us. When our machines stood ground in the garages, she gifted a breath of fresh air to inhale. We stayed away from the streets and she paraded her precious wild for us to meet. Tired of staring at the concrete roof, she sprayed for us the skies in blue. She added the greens, painted the purples and filled up the streams making us gleam.
Corona has made us realised how strong nature is and how vulnerable us mortals are. It’s a wake-up call to tell us that we have always lost when we dared to be one up on her or tried to short change nature. It’s a crude reminder to us that we need her more than she needs us, for we come and go, and she’s here to stay.
Switching on the refresh mode, scrubbing the dead skin off, She is waking up to a bird song on her lips and to a rhythm in her feet. Her heart is brimming with love and her eyes are gazing with joy.
Time for redemption! Lest we take her for granted and play spoil sport once again. For all the abuses we hurled, she is still giving us a chance to amend. We falter again and she will make us pay for it dearly. Hassle her, we will count our days, humour her, we will count our blessings for sure.