The dry leaves were crumbling under her vehicle tyers and the roads had a layer of dirt on the sides of the divider. The white powder was sprinkled on the sides of the roads which were either closed or working only as a single lane. The dogs were barking and cows were running because they felt that human life was invading their privacy which they had acquired for weeks on the road. There were very few people roaming around, it felt like it was the middle of the night but with bright daylight. The scene revealed a melancholic mood, it felt like an empty void that you feel after crying for a long time. The void was desolate and made her feel guilty for some crime that she had not performed. She was paying for something which was not her fault but there was nothing that she could do except to accept the situation.
Her mind rolled back to the first announcement about lockdown which was laden on them for 21 days about a month ago. She knew that it was the only option that the government would have in such tough times of pandemic but had not expected that it could happen to her. When the lockdown was declared, her first thought was how would she be able to survive at home without hanging out. She liked to hang out, visit friends, relatives, libraries, bookstores, coffee cafes and her life revolved around it. Now that it was taken away, she had no other choice but to stay home.
Of course, she had plenty of things that she needed to work on in the forced vacation but her mind would need some time to get settled. In fact, she got so comfortable with the vacation that when it was time to get back to the real world, she felt heartbroken. She tried to analyze the situation on the roads and felt a pang of despair. She loved her hectic life and the idea of hanging out daily but the situation today made her feel dejected. The scene was something similar to the movies that have portrayed scenes highlighting the destruction after the war. The roads were lifeless and everybody was scared and gloomy.
She wondered about her life before the pandemic, the craziness of finishing work, and leaving to either meet friends or to run some errands. The tireless working hours and the rest that the body was deprived of, the honking on the roads, and the cheerful voice of the people. Today, she was out but could not hear any of these things instead she felt emptiness and loneliness. This situation today, forced her to ponder on the thoughts related to her choices. Did she like to hangout or she liked the people with whom she went out? Did she like to drive or the honking in the traffic? Did she like to have coffee or to have it at a cafe with her kind of people? Was her life hectic or the people around her made it delighted? Today, her working hours were the same but she cannot put it in the category of being hectic. The pandemic might be dangerous for the world but it has helped the people to take a pause, think and rediscover themselves.
Reading Love 