The flipside of Lockdown!

?2020 will always be remembered as a year where we all have been through a time that had its own pros and cons. Humans were locked up in their houses, each one of us went through hard times which stretches from a range of problems from being unemployed to losing close ones to the deadly disease “corona”. We also can’t forget that this period was a period that helped us, to take a backseat and reflect, innovate, and get to the core of life and tap our true potential and realize our purpose.

On this note, let me take you to an inspiring and true story that has touched my heart and soul. This is a child I met 5 years ago when I started my journey in an unknown city with no clue of the language in a corporation school in Chennai. Jai is a 14-year-old student, a native of Bihar, and settled in Chennai with his family, a very fluent Tamil and Hindi speaker. (To make sure children identity is not disclosed I have changed the name in this article to Jai)

Mostly we use to chat about the distance and void we both feel with no friends and people around. As a common thing, Jai and I both drew energy and motivation through our friends and colleagues and the lockdown had taken away that aspect. We were left only with an app to chat - WhatsApp and few calls to connect with our loved ones. Jai was always a friend to me in addition to being my student. Being the eldest of 3 siblings, his understanding and maturity were very evident whenever he spoke and he was in touch with his life experiences and the learnings he picked up from those experiences.

Lockdown forced him & his family to leave Chennai and move back to his village in Bihar. You could imagine, after 13 years when a child who is used to living in a metropolitan city is forced to move to a village for an uncertain time, must go through. This child experienced a rollercoaster of emotions every day. It was hard to fit in at first, but this boy and his response to challenges have been always very unexpected, he adapted and adjusted to life in a village. The hard part was not having friends and people with whom he could connect and for him to fill in the void he was experiencing.

Gradually, schools were online and limited to 60-90 mins. Classes were virtual and friends stopped responding to Jai’s texts due to data limit or unavailability of devices at home. Jai entered a phase of life where he felt all alone. He hardly used to speak to his local friends as so far there were no friends who were welcoming and as Jai was an introvert, he struggled to find new friends here. He was going through a time where he felt lost. A life that was so enriching till March 2020, suddenly in 2021 had lost the sparks of energy and passion. The only company that he used to enjoy was the lush green fields, watering his farms and capturing their images.

Jai being a person with strong grit, decided this year can’t cost him to lose on his learnings and he started looking around the village for a problem that he would like to solve. ?While roaming around and giving a glance at his gallery he realized that green attracts him and that he knew the basics of farming. When he was going around areas near his house, he found something. Yes, this was the empty barren dirty area that Jai can work on and make it a clean and green area! (The article poster pictures are before and after results)

He was happy, as now he knew a way to keep himself engaged and this aligns with his long-term goals of being a problem solver for himself and his community. He started with cleaning this space. Picked up the old, rusted bicycle and the bamboo door and the old bushes and discarded them. Next, he planted spinach, cucumber, chili, Lima beans, lady’s finger, and tulip sponge guard. The same small barren area was transformed into a green and productive area thriving with life.

Jai has been watering these plants for the last two months. Jai says, “The place is very small that's why I got fewer seeds. Miss, I don't plant all these because I want to have them, I planted them because I like to see them grow. I learn from them to grow in life. I don't like eating lady’s fingers, but I planted them too. I don't care what kind of plant or saplings it is; I just feel like to plant things I love plants. Many people like pets but I like plants because it teaches me a lot, like about their vitamins and consistent growth, patience and time it takes to grow any plants.”

He also adds regarding the efforts, ”The ingredients need to full fill this transform, I got lady’s finger seeds for 5 rupees, red spinach for 5 rupees, chili plants for 10 rupees, cucumber seeds for 5 rupees, and most expensive this is the hard work for this and taking care of these plants ??. Best of all, these plants are growing with natural nutrients and no harmful fertilizers.”

Jai has helped me to see the difference we can make if we use our energies in the right direction. Merely 25 rupees, a piece of dirty land and a strong will to change the world, helped this child to bring this transformation. I would just like to conclude that Corona being a hard period has also given all of us multiple opportunities to grow, push our boundaries and be someone we always wanted to be!

What do you think? Do comment and share your stories of lockdown transformation.

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