Common to most of us is our current recognition that what can't be controlled can at least be capitalised on to do what we've often yearned to but never found time in our routine-ridden lives for.
It's been so heartening to find fistfuls of friends rediscovering talents they knew they had but never could explore for lack of time or opportunity. Leisure had almost always been conquered by the need to be useful or to ensure all was done that could ease the routine of the next day. Whereas now that the deadlines are still there (maybe) but less looming on the immediate horizon, we do have 'time to stop and stare'.
Maybe then, although at the tragic expense of almost 3 lakh deaths worldwide (till date), this was an overdue break for humanity, suffering from an unmitigable fever of materialism. By this time, we have probably realised that food and sanitising supplies are worth more than their weight in gold (even literally). Endless weekend trips to stores selling branded clothes, toiletries and electronics have been replaced by once-in-a-while visits to the closest (geographically speaking) supermarket/grocery store just to purchase essentials that would justify queueing up for quite a few minutes at the entrance.
Technology, however we rue the toll it takes on our eyes and spine, has definitely proved more than a mere point here. If our sanity is intact, then the former has surely contributed considerably to preserving it. In an era of abruptly terminated real-time library services, Audible and Kindle and Netflix have made the transition to the stay-at-home phase painless and plausible. My son has been able to access school learning meaningfully through sites like Education City, My Maths, TT Rockstars and BBC Bitesize. Our lack of too many books on foreign shores have been compensated for by friends and family pitching in with links to scanned books, fiction and non-fiction, via email or Whatsapp.
It's been so heartening to find fistfuls of friends rediscovering talents they knew they had but never could explore for lack of time or opportunity. Leisure had almost always been conquered by the need to be useful or to ensure all was done that could ease the routine of the next day. Whereas now that the deadlines are still there (maybe) but less looming on the immediate horizon, we do have 'time to stop and stare'.
Maybe then, although at the tragic expense of almost 3 lakh deaths worldwide (till date), this was an overdue break for humanity, suffering from an unmitigable fever of materialism. By this time, we have probably realised that food and sanitising supplies are worth more than their weight in gold (even literally). Endless weekend trips to stores selling branded clothes, toiletries and electronics have been replaced by once-in-a-while visits to the closest (geographically speaking) supermarket/grocery store just to purchase essentials that would justify queueing up for quite a few minutes at the entrance.
Technology, however we rue the toll it takes on our eyes and spine, has definitely proved more than a mere point here. If our sanity is intact, then the former has surely contributed considerably to preserving it. In an era of abruptly terminated real-time library services, Audible and Kindle and Netflix have made the transition to the stay-at-home phase painless and plausible. My son has been able to access school learning meaningfully through sites like Education City, My Maths, TT Rockstars and BBC Bitesize. Our lack of too many books on foreign shores have been compensated for by friends and family pitching in with links to scanned books, fiction and non-fiction, via email or Whatsapp.
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