Love in the times of Corona...

“Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty. I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be.”

Once upon a time, there lived a blind girl who hated herself for being blind. The only person she liked was her loving and devoted boyfriend. He always took care of her and made her feel special. He would bring surprises for her and tell her that life is beautiful with or without eyes. He deeply loved her and wanted to marry her but she was adamant that till she was blind; she would not marry anyone.

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”

Fortunately, one day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her and her fate changed. She could see everything around her and she was so happy. Seeing her so relieved, her boyfriend once again professed her love and proposed to marry her. The girl was shocked to see that her boyfriend was blind too. Having gone through the ordeal of being blind, after some thought, she refused to marry him. Her boyfriend was shaken and stared at her with such deep sadness that it stopped resembling grief at all. Emotionally ruined and destroyed, with a heavy heart, the boyfriend walked away in tears. After a few days, she received a letter from him with just one line written…

“I won’t disturb you anymore my love…just take care of my eyes.”

This a classical tale of how our love, opinions and judgements change with circumstances. Some people may not be able to see the way things were before, and might not be able to appreciate them - but some gain a lot of clarity from the change. As Nietzsche said, “There are no facts, only interpretations.” You may be wondering why should I talk of love in times of corona? Because perhaps, sometimes in life, we need really bad days to interpret the good ones. We are used to seeing the world from CenterStage, but Standing on the fringes...offers a unique perspective.

“Love is a natural talent…You are either born knowing how, or you never know.” - Love in the Time of Cholera

Jittery out there, isn’t it? The fear of darker forces appears to have gotten the upper hand for now. We wash our hands, stay indoors, avoid handshakes and keep a track of the corona dashboard. Not that we don’t breathe…Just not near each other anymore. While a little bit of fear is good…if left unchecked has the potential to raise an ugliness in us. Fear has partitioned us on how we react to the crisis — We are either denying it or busy avoiding it. With lockdowns, we have a little too much time to think. Now whether we brood or reinvent ourselves is entirely our choice.

“If you only read what everyone else is sharing, you can only think what everyone else is thinking”

The lockdown is giving us valuable time to think about our family and our friendships ahead of whatever happens. It is time to call our parents, siblings, friends and to prepare them...to let them know how much we care for them despite their stubbornness. Self-isolated, it is time to think and realise the value of human closeness again, and the superiority of a conversation over a text or smiley. Look at the calls we are making or receiving from people around us…The way our siblings and parents check on us every now and then and vice versa…See with clarity what really matters in life and what have we been valuing so far. Because when the virus arrives in full force, our politicians will give speeches; emergency staff will do the grim work and we the people would be at the receiving end.

“The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective.”

Relationships are the cornerstone of meaning and purpose in our lives. Isolation does not need to mean that our relationships need to suffer, but we need to think about how to re-configure them. Now is the time to know that great relationships are based on listening - identifying and understanding the other person. Listening means being open to feeling their emotions, mirroring their feelings and sharing their fear. And as far as the scare is concerned…let I ask you something. What is the difference between being dragged to death and embracing it with laughter…With your head held high? Undoubtedly, there is little to choose, but I believe - that is all the difference in the world. And if you survive the ordeal then remember…?The view is best…when the climb is hardest!

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”