Crossing the Lakshman Rekha

Crossing the Lakshman Rekha

I have the privilege to be able to love this lockdown; it’s come at such a cost for so many. I do occasionally miss my cafe and the staff who know my perfect brew, but overall it’s nice to be isolated.

Not much has changed in my life on the face of it. I do the same things, except I do it in my home with my pajamas and when in a zoom meeting, I wear a decent shirt over it. Or else it’s mostly the same, no-brainer dressing up. And this is beginning to get infectious!

Yes, as an ambitious person, there is a real itch to get out and fill my day with meetings and projects. Yet at the same time, there is a peace of mind now that feels very natural. I’m a big-picture kinda girl, but now I find I have time for the little things too. On the projects and ideas I gave up on. Maybe because like many women, I’ve never had the chance to really slow down before?

(In one of those moments of idle curiosity, by the way, I found myself looking up Zoom. Did you know that Zoom was founded by Chinese immigrant to the US called Eric Yuan, now a billionaire?)

My weight is dilly dallying & the incessant walk to-and-fro to the kitchen has increased. Not for complex recipes but to get more tidbits with my black coffee!

I have learnt that I make terrible Boondi Raita and my eyebrows on closer look are very scanty, so god bless the genes– no need to wax or thread. I won’t be eligible for the before and after COVID competition for luscious quarantine moustaches.

Being in lockdown, especially a woman in lockdown, many of us who have grown up with Indian mythology have been reminded of Sita. Sita crossed the Lakshman Rekha and stepped from one lockdown into a worse one!

But she stepped out of the line from a sense of duty and faith. It was her dharma to serve the mendicant, who unbeknownst to her was Ravana.

That same confusion is now brewing among some of us when it comes to the Dargah, Mandir, Masjid and Church. They go there because their faith is that important to them. Enough to cross the line we’ve all drawn.

Faith is a wonderful thing. But COVID doesn’t have a religion attached to it. Like Ravana, you won’t see it coming. Please don’t add religious fervour when pointing fingers at those who err nor let religion stop you from keeping us all safe. We have already chosen colours representing faith. But Characterless COVID-19 is faithless. It does not respect political borders or ideologies.

This creepy, tiny virus is an atheist and is teaching the world a lesson, that posterity will remember for the days to come. This is war of a different kind. We will all probably emerge different post this. Till then let’s pray the world heals and the flowers bloom and there is no more acid rain and we have clean air to breathe.

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