Memories Forever
Everything that happened during the Pandemic seems to be very sudden. No one expected that a ‘tiny’ virus could make this much consequences. Living the Pandemic times has been very difficult in multiple ways. Even realizing that we have been living amidst the Pandemic for a year is quite difficult to digest. It has been a year of survival in many ways. Despite the human and material loss, it also takes away many things that we take for granted so long. The outbreak of Covid-19 destabilized the economy, affected people’s livelihood, and gave a pause to our ‘normal’ life. The online learning mode shift opened up new vistas of knowledge acquisition despite the technological divide it ensued. The mask and the sanitiser became an integral part of our lives. Despite all the difficulties of this pandemic time, I recount the life during the Pandemic beyond virtual as a time of kindling relationships and resuscitating childhood memories. Although 2020 will be marked as an era of Pandemic, it is also a year that made possible a re-joining with family that gave me a lot of beautiful memories.
Once the institute suspended classes due to the outbreak of Covid-19, I came home in a vacation mood. The plan was to stay for one month at home and then return to the campus. I never expected ‘that one month’ can extend to a year at that time! Although the 14 day quarantine was quite dull, I made plans to do things after the quarantine. I planned to visit my friends and relatives and even made a list of nearby places to see before going back to campus. The world outside the room fascinated me and the urge to go out was so much than ever. I spent time watching movies and reading but counted days to end the quarantine to execute my plans.
Figure 1: A view outside of my room reflected on the laptop screen. The picture was taken during the time of my quarantine. It clearly captures my urge to go out of the room and explore the outside world (March 26, 2020)-
Many things have been changed once I was out of quarantine. State imposed strict lockdown measures and many places suddenly became containment zones. Although the restrictions ruined my plans to meet my friends and relatives, I was happy at home spending time with my parents and sibling. We have the advantage of being in a rural place as we have enough space to move out and wander without violating the social distance. As the institute has resumed the semester with online classes, the network problems and the frequent power outage became a severe issue. It became a necessity to wander into various rooms at home for a better network connection. Sometimes I went even outside to have a better connection. It reminded me of the privileges that I have once I am inside the campus, which was always taken for granted. Although the classes have been going quite well, I found it very difficult to stay inside the home for that long. I miss the affection and intimacy that we get by seeing the people. The severity of the pandemic, the death rates, the rising number of cases, and the future uncertainty was more than enough to be worried. A change was inevitable.
Figure 2: A glimpse into the network connectivity issue (10 May 2020)
Life was getting worse day by day. Staying inside home for a long time was very stressful. At the time, one of my maternal cousins invited us to our ancestral home where my grandparents reside. Everyone, including those who reside in hostels was at home due to the suspension of classes in their institutes. As everyone was badly in need of a change, without much thought, we went to our ancestral home where we all have very emotional and nostalgic memories.
Grandparents, both are above 70’s, were also going through a tough time as the restrictions completely confined them to home. Age related ailments and their increased vulnerability to disease further worsened the situation for them. They were very happy once they knew about our plans and they wholeheartedly received us. Those two days that ten of us spend in our ancestral home left us many beautiful memories which we can cherish throughout our lives.
It has been more than ten years that we all stay together in our ancestral home. As we all have many childhood memories associated with the place, it was an emotional moment. That stay made us realizes the value of our relationship. We did so many things together.
Figure 3 : A beautiful morning where we all have breakfast together in our ancestral home (14 June 2020)
The re-joining with the family was a thrilling and happy moment for everyone. Without the intrusion of parents, we enjoyed every moment with our grandparents. It gives us immense joy and a life time of memories. The place of my ancestral home is very beautiful and visually soothing. We explored the small waterfall near to our home which is more like a personal possession for us. We spend a lot of time there without any other concern. We reclaimed old memories with a realization of our attachment to the place. The brief stay at our ancestral home assured us the intensity of our relationship. Although 2020 is going to be marked as an era of pandemic that made devastating effect, it also made possible a reunion of cousins which was happened only because of the particular situation. The two days that we spend together rejuvenated everyone and gave us so much energy to survive the difficult times during the pandemic. I wish to go back to that place again and again where we all started our lives. For sure, those moments would last forever.
Figure 4: A small stream near our ancestral home (8 Nov 2020)
All the photos have been taken in Redmi Note 7S camera.
