March 17, 2020. Just another regular, uneventful day. I get up, get dressed and trudge through work. I return home early because there are these uneasy murmurs of the distant Corona virus from China looming around the corridors of Bengaluru.

On my way home, the auto driver was talkative and prophetic. He said something about Modiji closing down the country which I hardly paid attention to. I was browsing through my phone. He even told me that the Corona virus was bio-war. He said this with a lot of conviction that I almost believed his conspiracy theory. For my part, I said that one has to wash one’s hands for fifteen minutes to get rid of the virus! Of course, that was incorrect but well-meaning advice that I had heard somewhere. The auto driver nodded in resignation. I paid him his charges and walked home. I laugh at this funny exchange now. But, this was my last interaction with the outside world for the next three months were spent in lockdowns and isolation. Now, when I look back, I should have paid a little more attention to the friendly, neighbourhood auto driver on my last pre-pandemic ride home.

Tiny little lesson #1
Cherish those little conversations with random well-meaning strangers. You never know, a pandemic may just be around the corner.
The lockdown is declared. I wake up late. I sip my coffee dreamily. And, then I get down to business, doing what I love the most -making plans. Yes. Those who know me a bit know my love for sticky notes and to-do lists: home makeover, cooking, baking, reading, weight loss routines… the list goes on. I get down to working through my list like an industrious ant working through a sugar cube. As I was busy checking off activities from my to-do list, I realised something. It was the in-between moments… those moments that were not part of my (so-called) grandiose plans that were really gratifying. Dusting off flour from my daughter’s nose as we ate burnt cake; bickering over who will do the next set of dishes; huddling around and binge-watching Stranger Things, or discussing weight loss with an old friend while munching hot samosas. It is these in-between moments that I recollect with great fondness. Not the tick marks on my list.

Tiny little lesson #2
To-do lists matter. But the in-between moments matter a lot more. Don’t fail to live them.
One fine evening, I saw a masked neighbour screaming at a masked food delivery guy near the gates of our apartment. There was a mix-up apparently and the neighbour got the wrong food parcel from the restaurant. So, he was hurling abuses at the food delivery guy who was muttering apologizes. I thought for a moment. This delivery guy who is risking his life to bring someone food because he needs to feed his family should not be the one making apologies. In fact, he is a superhero. Just like the maids, the fruit vendors and the mechanics of the world who brave a pandemic to make our lives better; so we can spend our time lighting diyas, clanging vessels and hurling abuses from behind five-layered N95 masks. The food delivery guy was Thor from the Avengers movie, a real superhero (probably too much Netflix).

Tiny little lesson #3
Not all superheroes wear capes and carry a supernatural hammer. Some of them carry food packages and brave a massive pandemic. Treat them right.
Solitude is at once, delightful and dreadful. The lockdown brought with it the much-needed quiet that was missing from our busy lives. To be alone with oneself, with one’s own thoughts and emotions and to hold your peace is one of life’s biggest challenges. I spent my evenings on the terrace gazing at the infinite colours of the setting sun, marvelling at the creator’s masterpiece. It was in these moments of quiet, that I looked inward as scenes from my past whizzed past me like flashbacks in a movie. I was held in the throes of a myriad of emotions: feeling; processing; accepting and transforming. I realized, what is inside is as beautiful as what is outside.

Tiny little lesson #4
Look inside once in a while. There is a lot to be seen.
The pandemic and its effects are so much larger than the tiny insulated bubble that is my life. There were bigger things happening around me. I lost a relative to the virus. A friend lost his job. My maid and her family could no longer sustain in Bengaluru and left for Mandya. A security guard became depressed and committed suicide, leaving a large family behind. A housekeeper was struggling to pay her son’s fees. I watched helplessly through most of it. Helped a bit where I could. But through it all, I saw the resilience of the human spirit. The will to carry on; look forward to another brighter day. As my maid rightly put it, “It’s okay to struggle for a while. What’s more important is we get past this virus and get to live fully well.” That brings me to my final tiny little lesson #5 Resilience and the strong human will can survive all odds. Including a pandemic.∎