One of the roads in my village which I discovered during the lockdown |
It has been two months now since most of us were shut in at home. When
it started I thought the medical science would bring the coronavirus to its
knees. After all, our science took us to the infinite interstellar spaces and
also to the microscopic spaces between electrons. This science gave us so much
that we grew up trusting its omnipotence. I did, at least. Well, almost.
On 23 March, when the Prime Minister put the country under a lockdown in
his characteristic magisterial style, I did hope that science would invent a
remedy on the 22nd day – a day after the lockdown was to end. My
Prime Minister’s aplomb elicited that hope from me. I marked the count-down on my calendar.
When the lockdown entered the second week, my hope and trust both
flagged. I stopped marking countdown on the calendar. I knew the world was
going to kneel down before a microscopic virus. I chose to read and write all
the time. I wrote one blog post every day for the A2Z Challenge thrown by
Blogchatter. On 30th April I completed the challenge with 26 posts
on 26 different works of literature, books or authors that captured my fancy –
most of them being classics. Those 26 posts on books ranging from Bernard Shaw’s
Arms and the Man to Kazantzakis’s Zorba the Greek have been
compiled into an ebook titled Great Book for Great Thoughts which will
be launched by the Blogchatter on 25th of this month. The book will
be available for free download for a month.
April passed gleefully with the great books. I also had ample time to
wander through the social media. I read the comments made on many Facebook
posts and laughed a lot. The posts were serious articles written by eminent
writers from various publications. The comments were made by the public. I marvelled
at the inanity of the public. The capacity of the public for levity and banality
left me more amazed than amused. More than once my heart hardened enough to long for the coronavirus to spread more rapidly and eliminate the worst species on the
planet.
The suffering of the underprivileged classes stirred my tender feelings,
however. I watched on my TV screen thousands of people walking hundreds of
kilometres from their workplaces to their hometowns. I saw people die on the
roads. I saw corpses being dumped in mass graves. I saw the real worth –
worthlessness, rather – of human life. I wondered about the meaning of
suffering. I began to write my next ebook: Coping with Suffering. [The
title was given recently.] The book has gone into 9 chapters already, starting
with ‘To exist is to suffer’ and ending with ‘Impotence of suffering’. The last
and tenth chapter, ‘Inevitable lessons’, will be written in the coming week.
The book will be launched at Amazon in the first week of June.
I can see another ebook waiting to be written in June-July. I’m going to
look at English language in those months. When the monsoon will be playing its bizarre
melody [which used to be romantic in earlier times] on my roof and all around,
I will be playing with the elegant structures of English sentences, starting
with the simplest sentence ‘I
go’ and moving through apparently complex ones like ‘The tall, handsome, well-dressed
and equally well-mannered boy was walking,’ Well, did you notice that
the structure of both the sentences is the same: Subject + Verb? Language learning
can be fun if we know the patterns of the sentences in the language. I’ll
explore those patterns in June-July. [Look at this one for instance: ‘The tall, handsome, well-dressed
and equally well-mannered boy, who used to accompany that pretty petite girl
you were speaking about the other day, was walking alone in that fateful evening
while the multicoloured car with the Swastika painted all over its body came
speeding along…’]
In addition to all these are my online classes in the mornings.
So the lockdown hasn’t been bad, after all. I wish it had been half as
good for the weaker groups of my countrymen.
The Black Swan events we read about in books descended upon us in April. It's painful to see and imagine the agony of people walking hundreds of kilometers in peak summer, small children in tow. The meaning and dimensions of Suffering have changed, for many.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading the book.
It's a rather serious book. How do major religions view suffering? Then some philosophers and writers. Why are we so insensitive today? That's how it goes.
DeleteFluent moves with moods....The struggles of happiness and peace...Wish the best...regards
ReplyDelete🙏🙏
DeleteLots of points to ponder....the life has to travel and with strong determination of whatever little it has to offer as a tribute to its blissful presence in the world of fascinating creations...what it offers depends upon the mission it embraces....dreams and deeds walk hand in hand as are life and death...it remains meaningful so long it commits itself to its mission...wish all the best...my regards
ReplyDeleteThank you. Lockdown can be bad unless we engage ourselves productively. I'm learning that we can do a lot if we set our minds to it.
DeleteNice collection of the things you did during lockdown.witha positive message that life keeps on moving, it is we who has to decide to make the most of it
ReplyDeleteWe should not despair. We need to find a way out whatever the hell that is engulfing us.
DeleteI guess we have all tried our best to keep ourself positive and hopeful even though things around looked so grim. And each of us have come up with ways to battle with the negativity :) Looking forward for the book release on Amazon... Will definitely try to read.
ReplyDeleteThe book is serious and philosophical. Worthwhile, i assure you.
DeleteIt's amazing how much writing you get done. :) The situation doesn't seem willing to be controlled any time soon. Putting all the faith on science. Fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteI like it. That's the reason. When you love doing something, it comes naturally and freely.
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