The long period of COVID-enforced lockdown forced us to take a pause from our high-paced routines, introspect, and reflect. To understand what teenagers have been thinking about during this time, we conducted an Essay Writing Competition on ‘Self Reflection’. A grade 11 student from New Delhi submitted an interesting essay and went on to be one of the winners. Read on!
If the times of today are actually considered to be fulfilling, does that turn the times of yesterday to dust? Psychologically, the answer would be no. Yet physically, the answer is much more complex than what an individual expects. Conservation or deletion of memories is somehow seen to be comparable to the Law of Conservation of Mass. In Physics, the above term is used to refer to the principle that mass can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only be conserved when the system is isolated. But the apparatus today is convulsing.
Amidst all of this, people finally start to breathe air and not dust. Mothers tidy up their cooking skills, passionate writers begin to write, dreamy artists begin to paint, fans of Shakespeare get to read the way hyped Chetan Bhagat, all once again. And nature begins to heal, the skies are clearer, sunsets are more peaceful than ever, and the banter of kids in balconies every evening just draws me back to my childhood days – when we’d just sit on our terrace, eating ‘jalebis’, looking at the kites fly. I think everything does have a brighter side, doesn’t it?
We do get a break from the judgments of the world, from the worries of the materialistic lifestyle, and the anxiety of being influenced. While the whole world is suffering a setback, some of us got a time out from their regular work schedule. Kids got online school running, people got work from home, families got time together, while doctors, policemen, and army personnel had to work overtime to help the inflected. Some children are happy that their parents don’t go to offices anymore. However, today when the first responders are working 24/7, I realise how difficult it is to go to bed without seeing one’s parents for days, knowing that they are susceptible to the infection.
During this time, I took out time to improve upon many skills.I’ve started to read the books that were on my wish list for too long. Being an acting enthusiast, I tried method acting and imagined myself playing emotional scenes (Earlier I had a hard time performing those!) Also, I attempted to brush up my ‘Master Chef’ skills. I am a trained Indian classical dancer, but I couldn’t remember when I stretched my legs the last time. I had started dancing at the young age of six, trained for six years, but lost touch along the way trying to excel in academics. This time, I started to dance again. It helped me lose some of the lethargy I gained with all the stress eating during Board Examinations. I also painted a lot of stuff: Mini canvases, dream boards for walls, and whatnot! I am now taking Spanish lessons and even working out regularly.
These horrifying times have had some slivers of positivity. Today, if I were to reminisce about something, it would be of all the times I’ve laughed with someone, smiled stupidly, not realizing how indispensable these moments are. Now that my best friend can’t hug or annoy me like before, I understand how important expressing gratitude and love is. It is times like these that teach us to have faith, to bond, and to be better every day. We are in this together and will surpass these times for something better that awaits us in the future.
