Author: Mrs. Sreejata Ghosh, Educator
2020! This year seemed to have a mind of its own. A mind where random thoughts over centuries have accumulated to one unified whole and thus has reacted, responded to show that all is heard, all is seen, all is noted.
As the days of 2020 passed, this perception molded into firmer belief. All the doings of mankind had taken a toll over his own race and Time had come to give us a taste of our own medicine, play our own tunes in retrospective and here we are – two to tango. So left forlorn, feeble and frightened, my poor self started to contemplate as I could feel 2020 breathing on my shoulder and watching me quietly, waiting for me to decipher the code of enlightenment.
However the journey for me had been quite a baffling one in the initial days nettled with fear, anxiety, inhibition, bewilderment; nettled with Why? How? When? Who? and so on. The tag line – ‘This is the new normal’ glaring with its headlight force, simply refused to seep in and register. How could this be the NORMAL?
Well, normal is just normal, isn’t it? It never shouts out to assert its presence, it is just there and we know it. But this weirdo – 2020, the bringer of Evil, could never be accepted as a part of our lives, it could never be accepted as one among us. All forces of the world unanimously agreed upon this and all in unison simply wanted to uproot this maleficent entity and throw it out of the universe to purge our earth of all the impurities and cleanse it again for rejoicing Humanity.
The creator, benefactor, seemed to smile in amusement and pushed forward a simple question – How long would you remain submerged in oblivion? How long would your race wallow in the pride of its superiority? Isn’t it the humans alone who have spread nefarious agents of calamity from time to time?
With this thought a chord in me suddenly untangled.
Well, I can’t truly claim ourselves to be the smartest of the lot now. After all, we misled, misplaced, mismanaged. We took our time to realize Earth. One short film came as an eye opener around midyear. It said – Earth doesn’t need you, it is self-sufficient and sustaining even without you. You are not the commander, but just a visitor. Know your place. Count your blessings. Think, rethink and conjure up ways of gratitude.
It seemed as if the soil under my feet softly slipped away, the glass palace of firm beliefs scattered into pieces. Realization!
Realization- though harsh at times, opens our eyes and saves our day, stops us from making blunders beyond repair. So now, I started unfurling a different side of me! I strongly feel, most of us have taken this journey like me. As a matter of fact, some were blessed to realize early, some took it late.
In our efforts to purge the earth, we ended up purging ourselves of our inner demons. I learnt to look beyond the meager and enjoy the broader view, I learnt to acknowledge and appreciate the little things that life offered and say ‘Please wait’ to colossal targets, I learnt to love and cherish instead of holding bitterness and despair. Rightly quoted by someone – “2020 is not the year to get everything you want. This is the year to appreciate everything you have.”
Thus, in this way, finally I managed to get out of my shell. I feel I finally could decipher the code of enlightenment which 2020 had planned for me. And so, I have rerouted my journey now and am wobbling my amateurish self towards the path of Glory. Now, that I have seen the reason behind the angelic presence of 2020, I dare not call it ominous any more. These days, Time is simply flying away, days are short, nights are shorter-there is so much to do, so much to cherish and so much to give. I don’t feel the warm breath of 2020 upon my shoulder anymore- maybe now that I have realized its worth, it’s slowly slipping out from my hand.
That you can say, is a perspective of my own. After all, it was a year with a perspective, right? An eye-opener, a game turner, an epiphany of life- whatever you may call it. The choice I leave on you.
