Lately, I have felt that life is like a tower of Jenga blocks… one wrong move, and there you are with a big mess to clear!
Long time back, I had a steady routine with the kid going to his school, sharp at 8:30 a.m., husband going to his office by 9 a.m., dhoodhwale bhaiya on the door, dhobi bhaiya, driver and so on.
Believe me, it was just like a witch flying on her magic broom here and there to assemble things, like the lunch box, files, schoolbag, breakfast, and also finding my own self! The only ‘devis’ that gave me any soulful happiness were my cook and my maid. But yes, it was…
Till the cat slept on the mat,
rat was saving his life from the cat,
and the markets didn’t have the bats,
we were happily moving in our lives wearing hats!
But alas! Now the cat stares at me through the window, the rat is almost safe with me in the store, and the bat has spread this pandemic and acted the main lead in the corona attack.
A month back, the world was declared to be suffering from the biggest pandemic of our lives and we were in lockdown; borders were sealed. A step out of the house, and the policeman would make a rampage with his stick. No one could step out. No one. You can understand very well. Even before I could understand what Mr Prime Minister’s message for the nation meant, my helper, cook, maid and all others had all taken their steps.
Now, we are locked in the house with a few essentials and a five-year-old. These essentials include few sanitizers, disinfectant sprays, masks, and above all the most important—HANDWASH. In my entire life, I never knew that handwash can be a life-savior when everyone is stocking it up as some gold in the mines.
I asked my driver bhaiya to get me a bottle of handwash; he returned with a ghost-like face after a few hours and said, “Madam, handwash is out of stock.” Though the cute-figured diagram of this not-so-cute virus revolved in my imagination, I calmed myself that was not the END yet.
Handwash miley na miley, but when you have a 5-year-old questioning you day and night, your head goes on squats and planks. Nowadays, I am blessed with so many hands like a Devi, one hand has a spatula, another handles the mop, next has a duster, and one has a kindergarten book!
Lockdown has made our life come to a standstill. It’s unbelievable that the world has stopped for “repairs”. But, when you have a 5-year-old jumping in the house like a kangaroo all over the house, with all the delicate glass showpieces and crockeries, I can bet you don’t care what repairs are being done outside.
Nowadays, I feel empowered and divine with five hands. Positivity is the next thing the lockdown is teaching me and many like me. So, I consider these hands with different types of “house tools” in the form of a “customized gym.” Every day is a fight against this tiny-miny virus that has plunged into our lives unwanted.
Mr PM has his own ways to handle the janta, and he is a maestro in that. Modiji keeps the motivation high, be it the demonetisation, the surgical strike, his wining the elections twice or how to fight back with the biggest pandemic of the history. He appears on the TV screens, and we hop in front of it to know what our next task along with staying at home, is.
Modiji requested us to ring bells and beat the thaalis to encourage the heroes (doctors, nurses, police and all the other essential service people) and thank them. But we tend to forget that “Bharat ki janta is not aam janta“—it thinks before you say it and acts accordingly. Let me be clear, “aam” is not the one Modiji talked about a year ago in his interview with the actor Akshay Kumar.
Well, thaalis were beaten, bells were rung, and I believe, social distancing was ‘maintained’ by burning crackers, dancing on dhols, taking out processions. It was a lot more than what might have been done when Lord Shri Ram came back to Ayodhya. Many videos explaining why Mr PM requested us to do this went viral on the internet. Some said the coronavirus can be killed by sound vibrations, so we Indians poured our heart out making efforts to make corona leave the Earth.
Next was lighting up candles and diyas. It was really beautiful to light up the whole country to thank our heroes. We decorated our house with diyas, candles and torches. Social distancing was again a challenge for some who moved out to ask “Bhai, how was it?” I saw a viral video of an auntyji with diyas in her hand, shouting at the top of her voice “bhag corona bhag.” I know it must have been really difficult for Modi ji and even corona to digest this!
Doordarshan has earned back its 30-years-old TRP with the telecast of Ramayana. People are watching it for soul transformation and learning how to go back to basics.
The house has turned into a holiday spot—a resort rather; we are cooking restaurant-quality food, doing all the salon things at home, even trying out make up and nice dresses we ordered lately for soul satisfaction. The desire for more holidays has tranformed into requests to work. On the one hand, many are stocking house ration as if they will continue to live even if the world ends, and on the other hand, a few are trying to find coins in their wallet saying “Aaj ka shayad chal jaega“
“Maana apni jeb se fakeer hein
Phir bhi yaaron dil ke ham ameer hein
Mitte jo pyaar ke liye woh zindagi
Chale bahaar ke liye woh zindagi
Kisi ko ho na ho hamein to aitbaar
Jeena isi ka naam hai”
And the lockdown show continues…