It is a fine morning, struck many people in a large traffic block. The vehicles are parked for miles. The people who go to works, study, and other purposes are waiting inside their vehicles.
As in any other block, people are impatiently sitting in their own vehicles, honking their horns and expressing their anger and frustration. A girl is sitting in the car listening to all this. She finds music in the midst of noise. She got out of the car and started singing and dancing beautifully. Out of it all the people get out of all the parked vehicles and sing and dance to the rhythm with her. This is an excerpt from the Hollywood musical drama movie LA LA Land (2016). You may be wondering why it says here. But we all live by the attitude stated in it to a certain extent. This girl in the movie is the one who faced such a big negative situation with an emotional attitude. Noise pollution, impatience, and the problems that come with it can cause everyone gathered there with that block. But it all turned into beauty and music by her positive attitude.
Covid-19 has become a major disaster around the world. Everything was passing so fast and beautifully. Suddenly everything had collapsed at the feet of a virus. Only death statistics and the spread of the disease can be heard everywhere. In short, the eyes became a microscope and the coronavirus became the only thing that could be seen. Many words like Sanitizer, Quarantine, N-95 Mask, and Lockdown have entered our lives and knowledge. Everything became stationary for a moment. A situation where those who are running out of time with the single word lockdown have to go down to kill time. This situation has created a lot of peculiarities in our families and relationships.
When Relationships are Identified
The Covid epidemic has brought about many changes in family life and relationships. Sometimes we realize that it was a great opportunity when certain freedoms were denied. When a mask covering our nose and mouth came on, we said, ‘Oh, it’s suffocating.’ When we say social distance, we know the value of touch and the care behind it. So many things are new, but we could not avoid them all and we accepted it all. Our world was confined to the interiors of the house without going out, and sometimes to the quarantine, only to the room. However, all this oppression and repression did not last long. Despite the mask, the man learned to laugh with his eyes. We were shown how deeply we can love, even while sitting in the virtual world. You can see how valuable relationships are by looking at WhatsApp groups that are still active. A nation has learned how terrible loneliness and isolation can be and how to deal with them.
The advertisement for toothpaste that came out during the lockdown seemed very appealing. An old woman who lives alone. But she has everyone, including children, nieces, and nephews. Old but she is a woman who keeps the mind of youthfulness. They are trying to find a solution to the grief of isolation she faced in Lockdown. She is having a reunion with her loved ones at a restaurant when everything closed is open. Happiness can be seen in the eyes and faces of all. An uninvited guest arrives between them at the party. The woman, without any facial expressions, is wearing a wedding ring that she was holding in her hand. At first, it was a surprise for the children and other loved ones when they two smiled together. But then they all rejoice in it.
Even though it’s an advertisement for toothpaste, it says a lot. About the loneliness of the elderly. One of the most distressed and frightened people at Covid time was a group of elderly people who had to live alone despite everything. On the one hand, the whole family shared happy moments together while on the other hand people like this spent the day and night squeezing the pain of isolation. The people who are abroad also felt the pain of departure and tension about each other in the family. The Nuclear families must have felt that the joint family system in relationships was very useful all this time.
Is Life So Beautiful?
Covid gave us a realization that every moment of life should be enjoyed in the most beautiful way. Only the smell of death lingered everywhere. The realization that anything can happen to anyone in the next moment. It enabled each of us to see life a little better. Being together, gatherings, jokes, and new tastes of homemade food all became new experiences. In the movie, Journey 2: The Mysterious Islands, a group of people is trapped on an island. It includes a teenage girl and her father. Everyone wants to escape from the island somehow. Eventually, a ship is built and they all try to escape. That’s when the girl realizes that her father is missing. When he went in search of it, he was standing, shaking a large piece of gold that had been buried in the ground. He told his daughter that it was time to leave and asked her to escape. The father says that he will come back later with the treasure. At the same time, he is trying to convince his daughter about the great loss in their lives if the treasure is left there. But the daughter’s answer was completely different. “Dad, it’s more important that we’re always together than that we’ve become the richest ones in the world.” At the daughter’s words, the father changes his mind and leaves with her.
The present situation has given us a great conviction that we should be together in all families and relationships. To make every moment the most beautiful, we were able to find beauty and perfection in our imperfections. All of these are just some of the identities that Covid has in store for us. We realize that we have a responsibility to protect others, not just ourselves. We have the foresight to look for great opportunities in everything ahead, instead of missing out on a lot of opportunities in life.
In addition, we have learned to be grateful for every moment. We thank Almighty God for our loved ones. We are grateful to be able to cope with the most difficult of circumstances. We have learned to rejoice and be comforted in our hearts by being allowed to be with our loved ones. In the book Thanks for Thanksgiving, author Julie Marks says: “Where to start is a big question, but life is a big joy to be had, so we can be thankful for everything from the turkey on the dining table to the beds we sleep on.”
It is our family and relationships that always give us comfort, hope, and desire to live in the midst of great crises. So we can always retain the great potential of the emotion given to us by the difficult situation. Greetings..!
Sunisha V. F.