May 12, 2020

This virus has left us with shaken feelings and shattered dreams but also taught us many new values to live by during the current lockdown. You can think of it as the worst or the best time of your life.

Life changed for me ever since the lockdown had been announced. Everyone has changed ever since this virus entered our lives. I think all of us have learned to be more humble, patient and understanding.

When one day of the curfew was announced, I did not mind the fact that I would have to be inside the whole day. Surprisingly, that one day went by in a flash. Not long after, I was notified about the extension of lockdown for two more weeks. In this way, the lockdown has continued to extend and is still on today as well.

Well…. How did I spend my time?

At first, I was bored but as the days passed by, I tried productively spending my time, doing things I had never thought of doing before. I slowly started helping my mom out with cooking and now I am creating my dishes and I am trying out a cooking challenge. I decided to advance my art skills and now have a drawing book of my own filled with creative ideas. I even began to eat more healthily and therefore have recently lost a lot of weight by living an active lifestyle since I have started exercising every day. Soon, I mastered the art of playing the keyboard and learned many new songs as well. I also studied more during this period, read new books and helped my mom teach one of her students in the morning. In this way, I also improved my work. Most of all, I learned the art of appreciating the littlest things I got and I
am thanking God for the blessings I received. I reminded myself that I was still alive and that luckily, I was not suffering from this deadly virus. Boy, was I happy that the virus was not in town!

However, as the days passed by, I began to count how many more days were remaining for the lockdown to end. Life became worse and worse for me. My AC remote was taken away from me due to the faster spread of the virus in the cold and I began to have sleepless nights because of the scorching heat of the summer. My piano stopped working when I had grown attached to it. My legs became sore because I played too much and over-exerted my body. I stopped teaching and studying and started shouting at the people in my house. Slowly, my ideas of artwork never entered my head anymore. I longed for some delicious food every night. I could not read books on my Kindle due to no access to the internet connection. Tears rolled down my eyes as I missed my grandma who I was supposed to stay with for two weeks while my parents went to Bengaluru together. I got bored with doing chores. Cases began to increase and very soon our town had become a red zone. The lockdown felt unending and it felt unbearable to be stuck at home in such devastating conditions.

How did I manage to be like this? Well…. I adjusted.

I managed to sleep only with a fan on even though my skin was very sensitive to heat from the beginning.

I learned to live without the piano until it got fixed and cried tears of joy when I played it after it was fixed. (Do not worry…. Nobody saw me). I lost some more weight and made myself eat the food that was given to me. I called my grandma every day so I did not miss her that much. I resumed teaching and continued to improve my mental ability. I learned to be calmer instead of shouting at everyone. I played just enough so that I would not feel weak later. The death toll in India became the least compared to other countries. I continued to help my mom cook and made new dishes. This time, I wiped away my tears instead of just crying.

This lockdown became a time of healing for me. I bled and I healed. I cried and I smiled. Life taught me that lockdown is not just being cooped up inside your home. There is a lot more to it indeed. Now, as I write this in the comfort of my own home, I relive all the memories I made during this lockdown. This situation might not have changed but it changed me. It is better to always look on the bright side of life. Hey! Do not blame me for copying the catchphrase of the bright side channel.