Festival Of Lights –
And Gratitude
“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” – John Lennon
What a year this has been!!
Back in March 2020, during the first lockdown, the novelty and the situation took us by surprise. Everyone was so fearful of the unknown disease and grateful for the safe environment that homes provided, that most of us accepted the circumstances positively. We all adjusted and adapted to the new lifestyle as there was no alternative.
Since then, we have come a long way. Nine months later, we are more competent, resilient and better adjusted to the lifestyles changes thrust on us for our safety. Most of us have stopped finding fault with the government’s reaction or dealing with the situation, realising that we have to be more accountable individually.
Our safety depends on the precautions we take and how willing are we to follow the advice that health workers and responsible agencies have so diligently been sharing on social media these last nine months. We are now more knowledgeable about the deadly disease and better prepared and equipped than we were in March.
After phases of lockdown, late in the summer life limped back to normalcy. Traffic and people were out on the roads and markets were buzzing again with new norms of safety in place.
With time as cases decreased, people became more complacent. They began to socialise in safe bubbles, going out to malls and restaurants, and most of us learnt to be careful and live alongside Covid.
However, one still heard of friends falling victim to Covid, of asymptomatic spreaders and the necessity to avoid large gathering and parties.
With time hospitals and doctors were better prepared to deal with Covid patients, and one presumed the worst was over.
As winter sets in, many cold countries have reimposed lockdowns. The second/ third wave seems to have again put a strain on our medical facilities and resources.
In my country, India, October is a month of festivities. A time for parties, celebrations, visiting friends, family and rejoicing.
Weeks before Dusshera and Diwali, people thronged the markets, throwing caution to the winds, attending Diwali card parties and dinners. They were weary and tired of the restraints and succumbed to festivities and with the belief that they now had stronger immunity.
Diwali, this year for us, was very different from the previous years. We had decided it was necessary to be still careful. The constant flow of visitors and friends dropping by were absent. The emphasis was on cleaning and decorating the house with love, lights, flowers, making and relishing homemade sweets.
My endeavour this Diwali was to light up the homes of my service providers who have struggled to make ends meet these last few months. What I would usually spend on gifts for friends was diverted for a good cause. I know it’s a drop in the ocean, but every drop counts.
The evening Lakshmi Puja on zoom with the family will linger in my mind long after Covid becomes history.
We, prayed for prosperity, well being, and good health for everyone.
We prayed to the Almighty that none of us or our successive generations ever live through a pandemic ever again.
We prayed for benevolence from the Gods; to be kind to humanity and make us humans more aware of our environment and the necessity to refrain from destroying the world for our future generations.
I am a firm believer that collective prayers never go unanswered. The news about Pfizer and Moderna vaccine efficacy is encouraging, and hopefully, in a few months, the vaccine will be available to all.
As of now, we are grappling with more cases of Covid than ever before, and closer home as friends and family are getting affected. The scarcity of beds in hospitals is a reality that looms in front of us, and doctors are tackling with different manifestations of the disease in their patients.
2020 has been a year of revelations, learning, reckoning, adjusting and coping. We have all changed, and even when things get back to normal; we will never take life for granted. We can never predict what tomorrow has in store for us, so while planning is good, be ready to accept that things may not go as planned.
“In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
