Life update #4ish

Hello everyone, remember me?

It’s been exactly four months since I last turned my attention to this space. I hadn’t meant to take a long break like this, but then again, that’s life for you.

A lot has changed in the past four months. I took a break from work, finally went to my home city after a long time, just in time to get married. The two of us came back to Bangalore shortly after that.

Thanks to the pandemic, the few weeks leading up to my marriage had been extremely stressful. Restrictions at that time mandated that I had to be quarantined for a week, and then get tested since I had arrived from another state. And in those few short weeks, we had a lot to worry about – from testing positive to dreading a triple-lockdown announcement, and of course, making sure that all the arrangements for the ceremony were taken care of.

As for the wedding itself, it was a very small affair with 100 guests which was the maximum number allowed at the time. There was no Haldi function or any other gathering before the actual event. But thanks to my colleagues, I did have a lovely small-scale bridal shower in Bangalore. Thanks to the live stream, many were able to join in virtually. (Here’s the link for the live stream. Fair warning: you might have to fast forward a lot.)

In the weeks just before my marriage, I had planned to make an announcement, and maybe schedule a few more of my 6WSP prompts. But like most events, even the best-laid plans tend to go out of control and I was pulled into the chaos. Writing had taken a back seat. After a while, I felt as if I had run out of words. Most of my time went towards work, binge-watching, selecting photos for our wedding album, and so on. To make matters worse, the second wave hit really hard. Unlike the first one, this time around the virus stepped in much closer, affecting near and dear ones. Several of my colleagues have lost their lives in the last few months. I have been tested twice now, and luckily the result was negative on both counts.

Bangalore is currently facing a lockdown. I still have to commute to the office daily, but other than that, we haven’t stepped outside in days. Even when we do, we wear double masks and make sure that we sanitize our hands, AND anything and everything that we have used during the trip. It’s a bit hectic but that’s still better than… well, you know what.

The days are hard when all that you keep hearing about are the new mutant strains, the vaccine shortage, the death toll, black fungus, and God-only-knows what other monstrosity. Everyday. Without fail.

Last year, I wondered how things will turn out to be in the near future. I had hoped that a return to normal was within grasp. But things have only taken a turn for the worse. Maybe one day, someday, we will go back to living our lives the way we used to. Before this pandemic overturned all of that. But I have learned to take joy in the small things, for the flame of hope should never be allowed to die. Hope is all that we have. Hope and a prayer for a future without a pandemic.

But today, I felt the need to pen down my thoughts and finally attempt a comeback to the blogosphere. So here’s to all those people who kept asking me when I will start writing again – I guess the time is ripe. Thank you for reading and thank you for believing that the writer in me is still alive. Good night and take care.

On a side note, the 6WSP posts will run the way they used to. Watch out for the next prompt, next Saturday, only on My Random Ramblings.

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Image courtesy: Pixabay

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