History, thy split the stretch, January to December, mask to myrth, subsistence to survival, havoc to hope, to define 2020.
When I write this, I know this is not my story alone.
Nobody even in their wildest of dreams should have felt that they are going to be a part of a novel life culture marked by distancing and isolation.
As a student who is at the threshold of adulthood, it was not quite easy for me to calibrate with what is happening around and how life turned out to be as it is. You find the whole life that happens around you turning blank. Physical spaces being replaced by virtual spaces and yes, it is high time to call for an adjustment. Everything was reduced and decimated to platforms which could only provide a glimpse of the sense of real. To make things more precise, life is all about making adjustments. The change that happens within and outside the physical and mental space could be gradually felt. . Things that we once considered little and small started to prove priceless and constant longing for them becomes an unending story.
But we couldn’t do anything rather than directing ourselves to be a part of this novel spell of life. Live, so that you can fight for another day became the principle. A bit of maturity and a lot patience could be the key which I realised as times passed.
I started getting involved in the process, the process of making me fit to go forward with this novel spell of life which is of course, something I never wanted to. But, when drastic times ask you to step up, it’s hard to be that good old you. All of us have been through times of distress, emotional conflicts and of course feelings of existential crisis. Most of us have also come across a number of students who have been fighting hard to get their mental health back to normal. I always wanted to go back and ask them directly, ‘How is life?’Life would never be easy, I know.
Constant internments with the same routines stamped the trademark of the ‘2020 way of living’. Take this for granted; ’there is no harm in crying. Sometimes, it is the best way to rejuvenate yourself’.
The sole idea of existence itself became an underrated conception. During this period of uncertainty and intricacies, the fact that you exist is something that you could always be proud of.
Looking back, it’s the time for us to realize.
Every moment of life is unique. Kissing your parents, a sunset, listening to the tunes of nature, watching a movie that you always wanted to see; each and everything possesses greater significance. “Never had in our life that we could find a way to go back to your home and be that person crying out loud, Mom what is for today’s dinner? “
At the same time, we should not suspend the lives of thousands of people who are still fighting hard to revive their fortunes. They lay on bare grounds. Their voices go unheard and unattended. They know no political doctrines and ‘human rights’ must be the biggest ridicule they have ever come across their lives. The voices of the dissent are too good to encompass the kingdom of democracy that is overshadowed by growing clutches of capitalism and religious chauvinism.
We saw how people change. Physical separation could unite as well as separate people. Permanence is the biggest joke of life; the most remarkable lesson of 2020.Sometimes, the act of saying goodbye also proves to be a luxury and a mere formality, which hurts sometimes.
At times, most of us have been involved in a process of retrospection which could expose the evil, the angel and the human being in you at the closest proximity. Go back to yourself. Hear what your mind always wanted to tell you. Take your time and console yourself saying: everything will be alright and this time too shall pass.’
A decade begins.
We never know what lies ahead. The kind of life we live today must be well outstretched from what it was 10 years before when we proffered ample importance to test papers and school assemblies. Take some time to think about the teachers who lifted us towards heights of excellencies and made us dream of a colourful future. Take some time to think about the paths you have come across; the agonies and hues of happiness that painted the canvas of your life. Ready to embrace what lies ahead. Unpredictability and ambiguity add to the symphonies of life.
So that’s that.
2020 was a lesson that we should always remember for: a lesson that could keep us moving forward amidst the darkest of times.
Trust the process. The result is inevitable. It finds the way to you as times beckon.
Let 2021 recoup the dreams and fortunes that were destroyed in the aisles of 2020.
10 years from today, let’s say, ‘we came across a time when life was redefined; normality was suspended and concealed within the veils of nylons and polyesters’.
Happy New Year
