Journey into 2021

We are all tourists and God is our travel agent who has already fixed all our routes reservations and destinations. Trust him and enjoy the 'Trip' called life.

2020, earlier we expected to be an ugly duckling, throwing more challenges, confusion and hardships our way than what we could have imagined, with time ugly duckling saw its reflection and realized  it was a Swan. Here is how my 2020 was:

The year had fire, fire flies,  loctus, cyclones, flood, riots and to top it all the Pandemic. Nature continued with it ferocious storm like breeze, even on 31st Dec.  There were suicides, rapes, riots, and encounters  where people  were caught alive but brought  dead. Politics,  Media, Judiciary  and Parliament  saw  a new low. Great acts of friendship  like Namste Trump had unrest in the capital in parallel, to be soon followed by the pandamic, all in such a hurry, we are unable to decipher  the conclusions. Undoubtedly the year belongs to and will always be remembered as the Year of Corona Virus or Covid - 19.

Pandemic  helped us realize  we are one, brought  the world together.  Thanks to technology there were lot of work still left and many things kept rolling though we were confined to our homes and most important  we realized the importance  of health workers to whom we should to grateful forever. Irrespective  of their ceaseless  service  so many were blamed, harassed and sidelined.  

For me on a personal  note,  it was like Alice in wonderland,  with Flamingo being my saving grace. The journey  from Hummingbird  to Flamingo  was enchanting.  Glad to work for and be part of Diversity  and inclusion,  and on the project  for financial  inclusion  which is still  in progress.  And amidst  all the cooking,  cleaning  and I'll health, Thankfully  could  read 100 books and scribble about each of them in addition  to other scribblings. Thanks to almighty  for his grace and blessings.

As I had posted in my article  on Linkedin 'The Year & The Teaching':

"What's ahead?

Only time can reveal.

But our actions do have a great role in shaping our destiny."

These where the first thoughts, and words, with which, I had started 2020. This is the year great visionaries had asked us to look forward to. But how many had envisioned what we saw in 2020 and of the people if they really had, how many had helped us prepare for what we saw this year?

2020 had lot of surprises – some good and some not so good – let us take good with the bad; Thank God for our blessings – for keeping us safe and healthy. For having all the people around, who worked very hard to ensure most of us are safe as we pray for the innocent departed souls and their families. This year has taught us:

New way's of doing things. This year helped us find novel and quick solutions to our problems. We might have gone online few years from now; but this year made it happen - banking, teaching, technology and few other industries have gone online, literally overnight. The way and frequency in which we go out have changed, and most of us try to confine ourselves to our homes as much as possible. It's indeed a tribute to our adaptability in the face of sudden and extensive change. It has helped us interact with others in a completely new way, and provided us with a much-needed refresher’s course in personal health and safety.

Beauty lies in simplicity. We are all equal, regardless of our culture, religion, occupation, financial situation or how famous we are. We are all connected and something that affects one person has an effect on another. We have complicated our lives by creating many divisions and conflicts. It’s the essentials that we need (food, water, medicine) as opposed to the luxuries that we sometimes unnecessarily give value to, how materialistic our society has become. Our true work is to look after each other, to protect each other and to be of benefit to one another. Was reminded of my father's favorite sentence, which is similar to the lines from Ode on Solitude - By Alexander Pope:

Happy the man, whose wish and care

A few paternal acres bound,

Content to breathe his native air,

In his own ground.

Staying at home more has allowed families to reconnect emotionally, and it has also helped establish healthy boundaries for being together and enabling work from home. With all the migrant issues, and reduction in traffic jams, nature probably is telling us to mellow down our travels. To be connected to our roots, to our family, and to be around those who need.

Me Time. It looked like, it was time for mother earth to take much deserved break, after her repeated warnings and all her sacrifices. So also many of us had put our interests in the backseat, promising to come back to them when we have time, but the time never came. The lockdown put us in a forced break and many have rediscovered forgotten hobbies or finally got the time to pursue new ones. To 'Educate self'. To 'Ask Existential' questions about life, and seek answers from within. If not now, you would never have the time to upskill your selves and work towards doing all that you wanted to do.

Existential wake-up call. The pandemic has brought us face to face with our own mortality, it has nudged us to engage in a healthy dose of self-reflection. It has reinforced the fact that life is so uncertain and anything can happen at any time which we never want to expect. It has taught us not to take anything for granted, especially nature, cause, when it hits back, no corner in the world will be safe. Health is the first of life, very precious and we cannot neglect it, and need to appreciate and support the health workers.

If you are breathing, healthy & alive you are privileged. Life is short, there will come a day, when each of us without exception, will have to bid life, goodbye. Everything in life comes with an expiry date. No amount of success, money, power, fame or glory, can change that. Keep ego in check, a virus can bring the world into standstill. Be Kind, grateful and positive. Help each other.

Spread Health, Hope & Happiness Always!

Hoping the one learning we carry forward from last year is the ability to slow down, to pause and to look around. In that pause,many people saw for the first time the problems of others. In that slowing down, people rediscovered their kinder, generous selves.

May we change  our direction and not desires, change our perception  not prayers, change our attitude not actions, change our habits and not humility. Let's walk together  to our destination  of success, health and prosperity. Sunrise on 1st Jan 2021 morning was amazing. It reminded me 'To see a rainbow, there has to be rain'. It has been more than five years, each year, I would begin by looking at the sunrise, and mostly it was the same place, but never was it so beautiful. Was a bit worried, after the rain previous day; but as always; come what may - The Sun keep rising again. 

It is as much about the 'Miles' we walk as it is about the destination. Let's reflect upon our strengths, Hope and happiness as we spread our gorgeous wings and take flight into the new year for 2021. Let this year be the beautiful  swan in all our lives.

As always, when health & Happiness remain my wishes for all, the priority  for 2021 is going to be hope and peace.

Our ancestors used to put the lemon and chilli on doors of their shops or home, on their vehicles to keep away the mosquitoes and insects because they used to live in the homes made up of mud and stones. Lemon and Chilli are very rich in vitamin C. So when the lemon and chilli were pierced by a cotton thread, the fluid ( acid from the lemon ) stick all over the thread and the smell of it get spread into the surrounding environment with the help of air. This smell helps to repeal the mosquito & fly to enter into shops and homes and in the same way, Chilli too is remedial as it acts as germ-killer when hung outside. If no remedy is found in  2021 or we have many more instances like in 2020, let us get back to it, in additon to diyas and talis from 2020.