Quarantine getting over, Nostagia, and Lessons.

As we are heading to an end of the quarantine period, I feel bittersweet. The time in quarantine has proven to be very eye-opening for me. It turns out that it's actually about prioritizing and not the time. People take out time for those whom they want to. Previously whenever I would ask one of my friends to play an online Ludo game with me or whenever I would ask my family members to sit together and watch something on the tea time, the answer would always be the same, there is no time. Everybody was so much stuck with studies, work, or other things that nobody had time for each other. The human relationship and intimacy were slowly dying a natural death. It's probably not right to find this period beneficial in any way but I am noticing a minor but significant change in the human relationships around. I can notice the change, it is very much familiar to my childhood when the internet and technology were minimal or absent. The human relationships were present and much purer. Sorrowfully, the real-life conversations were slowly taken over by messages, calls, video chats. 

The beautiful custom of writing letters died away. I remember finding one of the letters that my uncle wrote to his family when he went to America in the 80s. The letter wasn't very dramatic but the simplicity of the emotional expression was very heartfelt. Every word felt alive. I have always been an old soul. To date, I like to maintain a diary about my life. However, the pace of this busy life has made the daily entries impossible but I do to write one or two entries in a month, stating the major events that take place. I feel that written words stay alive even after we are gone but the digital exchange of messages has suffocated this wonderful tradition. Sadly, it succumbed to technology.

I clearly and fondly remember the days when we would write cards for birthdays and Eids. It was the whole activity. Going out and finding the perfect card for the friends we cared for, writing that card with witty quotes and poems, decorating the card with colored markers, and writing 'open with a smile' on the envelope. I still have the cards that I received in my school days and honestly, they are the treasure of the best time. The exchange of cards would be such an exhilarating activity. Recently, I was going to the cards that I received in school and some of the cards were from the people whom I am not in contact with anymore but were my friends at some point in time. It's just amazing how time passes by and all that remains is the memories, cards make those memories very vivid in your mind. A type of film runs in your mind about the wonderful times that you had. Life seems both emotional and happy at the same time when you take a look at these cards.

As the days in quarantine passed, I've kept thinking about the value of time. The time spent with our loved ones, the past, present. All the memories that we created are proof that we lived a life to be remembered. The good and bad things make up an interesting story, our own personalized story. The one with us as the main lead and the world revolves around us. Our approach. We all are the heroes of our story and I find it very incredible. God is indeed the best director who has created billions of stories and each story is different yet astounding from the other. Sometimes I feel that God is an artist. Isn't it just unimaginable that He created so many faces, diverse yet distinct from each other? The many instances in life make me realize that He intended all of us to be the heroes but do we play the part? He puts everything in place so that we could shine but do we? At some level, I deeply feel that we disappoint God a lot. He is forgiving so He forgives and keeps bestowing with the small and grand blessings in life but how often do we prove our worth for such blessings?