New Year Resolution

 

As we step into the third month of the year, I wonder what lies ahead of us. I wonder about which  set of hopes to carry on my shoulders. I wonder about the number of kilos that I need to not carry further. I wonder about the hours my child should study as she progresses to a new academic year  .. I wonder  .. the List goes on..

Like a flash of lightning, it strikes me ..we have survived almost two years of a gruesome pandemic. Many amongst us survived the losses in our own businesses, took the salary cuts in our stride, quietly adapted to the culture of working from home while the lines blurred between personal and professional. We bravely took up the role of being a full time teacher to our children who knew not how to adapt to a culture of seeing their teachers through a screen while their hands, legs and energy were left unsupervised. We scoured the net for videos that promised to help us make scrumptious meals in less than ten minutes. We relied no more on salons but ourselves to shed our haggard reptilian layers of skin to become the exfoliated and glorious glowing versions of ourselves. We  looked at Netflix, Prime and Hotstar with love and respect often letting it be our companion during the times of sickness, weekends or when the vaccination did its Matrix level mutation within us.

 For most of us, the last thought before sun down was “Until when do we keep up this tight rope walk ? When do we resume normalcy?”

Many a time the dark cloud of pandemic loomed large upon us keeping us away from our loved ones just so that they stayed safe. We painfully accepted the loss of our loved ones, wiped our tears and slid the masks back on while scanning our minds for the last conversation or the last laugh we shared with them. The pandemic ensured that they left us with not a chance of saying a final farewell or a closure.

We survived it all. We pulled our cousins, friends even closer , even tighter as the rectangle screens of faces overlapped each other in the online get-togethers. Each call ended with the promise of a reunion that would bound to be emotional and liberating. A walk with our family while inhaling fresh air, a visit to our favourite temple, a taste of freshly brewed filter coffee at Saravana , a chance to sink in our friends couch with feet tucked in, most importantly a time to relish our mother’s dishes and see them in real with no screens in between- these top the list of goals today.

So now as we witness the opening up of sectors, as our vaccinated  and immune selves place the first step outside, as we wave to our  school uniform clad children while the wheels of their bus go round and away ,  as we hold the armrests of our office chairs to adjust  its position, as the flight captain announces the sweetest message of a take off- we may close our eyes for a minute to welcome a new year with goals so starkly different from the other years ; that these resolutions might  get fulfilled.