Kuch Karona- I was talking to a colleague of mine about the current corona issue – in terms of the lockdown and she said – this is what our retired life will look like! Gosh… such a simple way of looking at the harsh reality. I started thinking – yes, actually, there will be a time when we won’t be working, we may not be able to connect with people [either due to health reasons or some other], friends may not be there nor we may not be in a position to go out or do things which we want to do. Scary!! This temporary lockdown is the reality of many of our senior citizens today and I hope it doesn’t become ours too.
The adult working population who feel caged in their houses today, due to the lockdown, need to wake up. This situation has made us realize a lot of things – the issue of abundance, the importance of self-reliance, being environment sensitive, and the impact of materialistic things in our lives.
We all have been thinking that we are forced to work because we feel responsible for our family and need to fulfil their requirements and crib about not being able to spend time with them. But the harsh reality hits us when we are finding it difficult to really connect with our family; ironically, we are actually cribbing about staying at home. Accept it – we working adults also get bored easily and do not want to do the same things every day nor do we want to sit idle in one place. This simply means, we love to do a lot of things and one of the most important is getting out of the house and working.
Work gives us intellectual satisfaction and brings financial freedom. We realized that the stress of work is actually good for our adrenaline and intellectual involvement. The colleagues – whom we rarely considered as friends have suddenly become very important. We are actually very happy to see them on video calls. It is important to accept the fact our work and our own personal spaces are as important to us as having holidays spending time with family or relaxing at home. Some may disagree saying work is only to fulfill the needs of life, but deeply we all want to be able to take some responsible work or else we would not have been cribbing.
Another aspect of this realization is that, it’s time we start taking our own selves a little more seriously – need to be comfortable with our own being. I am not speaking about taking care of ourselves by exercising or dieting but taking care of our mind and heart. This is the time to really take a pause and think about what I really like to do in my spare time – and for most of us – it’s limited to reading books watching TV playing online games or listening to music. What does it mean – most of us don’t have a hobby. Unfortunately, the moment we like something, we want to turn it into a means of livelihood. Instead, what we need to do is cultivate a hobby, which will make our soul happy [not for others or to be shared on social media]. It can be anything – Cooking, painting, playing musical instruments, repairing mechanical or household tools, singing, exploring a neighborhood, and gardening, making toys, or experimenting with science; absolutely anything that does not translate into earning.
In times such as these, having a hobby can be the savior. So, let’s use this time to think and dig out our hobbies, if we don’t have one, then pick one. If you have children, encourage them to take something exclusively for their heart and not for gaining good marks or obtaining a job. Find your happiness; take up things that keep your adrenaline rush going and help you remove the word ‘boredom’ from your life dictionary.
Let’s take this situation of Corona in terms of ‘kuch karona’.
