It’s been only a few days since people have been staying
home and already I am receiving distress calls about anxiety and depression
peaking. Things are obviously not going well for people who have no social
support and also those with strained or abusive relationships. In these times
of chaos and panic, friends have been reaching out to give and receive support
which is heartening. I have been maintaining silence since 15th Dec 2019
on social media, incidentally also my birthday, due to several reasons.
However, since it is a time when most people are going to be
at home and scrolling their Facebook feed, I thought it is a good time to
engage in productive conversation. Mostly it has been an exhausting, exciting
and busy time since 2020 began, keeping oneself updated about one public health
crisis after the other, communal tensions and counselling needs. And now this
virus is the latest challenge which is going to be around for a while it seems.
Requesting everyone to please keep yourself informed through confirmed and
trusted sources only and avoid spreading misinformation.
Although we are all frustrated, conversation is key in these
times and so is slowing down. Only read as much news as you can handle. People
at the frontline of this health crisis in the community need support in terms
of a sense of normalcy and appreciation. They need a warm word, or a meal
together, a moment of light hearted banter, friendship, time to rest,
recuperate and take care of themselves and their families.
A word of advice that helped me sustain hope was to take
this opportunity to slow down and reflect on immediate spaces around us. Clean
out inner garbage as well as outer. Discard hoarded memories, clothes and junk.
Help out people in need of food, shelter, clothes or medicine. Do not name,
shame or blame people with the virus on social media just because you have time
on your hands. And most importantly, as you sit with your near and dear ones –
pause and look at their faces- smile, reconnect.
Take that hour long bath if you haven’t in a while. Put
aside the temptation of frenzied scrolling of social media feeds. Re – read old
letters, look at albums, play music, cook good food. Like really pay attention
to what you are doing. Use your sensory organs to touch, feel, smell, taste,
listen and see as much as possible by your body to ground yourself in the
present. Contribute to creating peace in your environment and homes.
And for those who believe in prayer, do pray. Pray because
intentions, thoughts, words, and actions matter. Act in accordance with your
prayers. And since it is world poetry day today, I feel like going back to my
oldest muse – nature.
“A prayer for the tired heart,” I found,
Scribbled on the bark of a bard-tree behind my house.
I wondered if the words were new or old
As travelers often passed by this road.
I quickly picked up a leaf from there and left
As rain clad earth hummed at my theft
Added it to the motley crowd
Of broken beads, feathers and stones I’d found
Home ceases to feel like home
When you leave each time alone
Return with a fresh wound, a mask, a poem, a card
Your mirror shows nothing but your façade.
Nostalgia lies sleeping among your books -
As friends, time capsules, coded missives.
Every time you smell the dust, the marks on those pages
A sigh of relief escapes, a character engages.
They seem to question your betrayal
How could your loyalty to them fail?
It took a crisis for you to remember your path
It took the world stopping to make you restart.
After this conversation with my books
I took down a page from the old nook
Took out a bright red pen from my school bag
And jotted a prayer for the old tired heart.
Sree
