Lockdown Diary Of A Teenager: What to learn from the fear of loss
In the time that we all got to spend at home, the bombardment of negative news from around the country and anxiety regarding the health and safety of our loved ones forced us to confront our biggest fear: loss. From the loss of freedom, such as those of free movement and expressing physical affection, to the greater loss of livelihoods, everyone had something or the other that was taken away from them. While the loss of an active lifestyle seems mundane in front of someone who had to come to terms with the loss of a person, it is unfair to label losses as 'small' or 'large'. The magnitude of the loss varies from person to person, depending on the ways they decide to deal with it.
For people whose jobs require them to take a flight every other day of the week, the lockdown has brought a huge relief to their fast-paced lifestyle. The fact that they spent more time on aeroplanes with the cabin crew than they did at home with their family had been a source of great source of distress and was a major drawback in their familial life. Now, with the suspension of air and other modes of travel, the lockdown days have provided them with an opportunity to make up to their families for the lost time. It is a different matter that these very people are still adjusting to the 'potato' way of life but in this case, the loss of their daily activity has been beneficial in a certain sense.
On the other hand, people who travel by public transport to their place of work which is located in a different state (say, Gurgaon to Delhi) have suffered a severe blow to their usual way of life. Due to the imposition of many orders such as the sealing of inter-state borders and a natural decline in hospitality services, losing jobs temporarily seems inevitable for some. In this case, the loss has brought grief to many.
On the other side of the spectrum, groups who aren't complaining about the disruption to their usual life are the school and college crowd. For some, the lockdown has been a saving grace by providing them relaxation from constantly burning the midnight oil and for the others, it has given them more time to devote to their hobbies — binge-watching Netflix being a popular one.
The loss of classroom learning has also paved the way for digital education. All over the world, institutions have made attempts at bringing classrooms to students at their homes by creating virtual lessons with their peers. Though they do miss the company of their friends and the formal milieu, seeing education modernise and adapt itself to the changing times has been significant in restoring some sense of normalcy and promoting productivity. The apprehension that education would be compromised during this time has been put to rest by the fast development of online learning. It's clear that education and learning can never leave us.
I think we can agree that the one loss that has been common for all has been the restrictions on our movement. If cars were living entities, they would probably be relishing each moment of basking in the sun — something mostly denied to them since they left the comfort of their showrooms — for they have never experienced such a long break. We, on the other hand, dread this misfortune as not only are we unable to socialise, but we cannot even check on our loved ones, especially the elderly.
For people living alone, the loss of movement has been no less than imprisonment as the only humanly company they have is themselves. At the same time, this loss has made us more appreciative of the privileges that we took for granted such as moving freely on the roads. Never did we think that there would come a day where we would honestly be grateful for being able to go outside.
Each loss is accompanied by learning. It is God's way of teaching us values such as gratitude, thankfulness and the virtue of seizing the moment — characteristics that are hard to find in an ordinary human being today.
Experiencing this pandemic has compelled us to take our mind off our stuck-up routines and preoccupations to see what actually is of great importance to us and it is human lives, it is freedom, it is seeing food on our plates and it is happiness.
Also read: Lockdown Diary Of A Teenager: Learning the value of simple joys