Sunday Reflections – Rudrapriya Sen

Life these days

I thought it is literally impossible for any school to be closed for almost a quarter of a year, but here we are, it’s been five months and no school !

When I heard the news from my parents that school is not very likely to open anytime soon, I didn’t know whether I should be happy or sad. I had plenty of reasons to be happy. The major one being I could read many storybooks. That thought kept me grinning for a while. But there were plenty of reasons to be sad too, as I am not a big fan of school, though I knew I could be ‘The Boss’, if the teacher made me monitor! So, somewhere deep down ‘no school at all’ was a bit shocking!

It was all settled. Reading story books, watching movies, munching in between meals, net surfing, listening to music, a little bit of study, I thought my life could not be any better. But life doesn’t play fair! Our school declared that we were going to have online classes. That was a nightmare! Downloading several apps and getting back to the old schedule which I thought had bid us goodbye for the time being! Now dear reader, imagine my unhappiness, I had to postpone all my previous plan and had to listen to my teachers about Prophet Muhammad, Global warming, Rational numbers, Physical and Chemical changes and Photosynthesis! However, I didn’t let that stop me, I have finished reading two Harry Potter books and am still reading books written by various authors.

There has been no family outing! I was hoping to go to Eco Park with my parents, but that didn’t happen due to the pandemic situation. I haven’t been to Siliguri to be with my grandparents and that makes me feel very lonely!

I am leading a monotonous life these days. Perhaps all the students are! Waking up in the morning, attending classes inattentively, (it is more interesting to watch the chat box and reading comments ) then bathing, having lunch and watching telly , somehow passing the time till the evening then going to the terrace for a walk. Then again back at our apartment, having snacks, practise Kheyal and Sargam geet, studying unwillingly till dinner then back to bed! Pretty boring. I love to listen to English rock and pop. But my darling mother always insists on Indian Classical music. I don’t dislike these songs, but it reminds me of olden days when people were not so open to technology and that makes me feel exasperated.

As we are ‘at home’ I watch my parents doing their chores. My father works from home till late evening, both of them busy in their own way, they talk to each other at night for some time and then both of them watch movies or tv series on Amazon Prime! I would not disapprove of it if I had been watching movies too but thanks to my maternal uncle who has put an end to it. For you see, he is a schoolteacher and doesn’t believe that mobile phones and children should go hand in hand. Now-a-days I am being scolded a lot, a big shout from my mother gets me all teary eyed. Sometimes I plead to God, “Why have you given me this life? Nobody loves me here !” A bit hilarious, really, when I think about it afterwards when I feel happy for no reason at all.

‘Stay at home’ and lockdown is new to me, and all of us but I suppose it is not that bad for sedentary people like me. This ‘time’ has changed me a great deal. I never liked mobiles and net surfing so much, but now I have observed that web browsing, checking YouTube feeds has become one of my hobbies! I know it’s not right. However, if my mother is around me, I dare not carry the phone two inches from my nose! But I am witty you see, sometimes I just trick her by saying that I am doing something related to studies! Now, I often miss my classroom, small chit chat with friends, school canteen, the ice cream vendor outside school! Though I never bought anything from the school canteen, I liked the ambience.

This pandemic has done disastrous things to our world. People are dying in millions! I hope all these evils go away soon. I wish to end here. I reckon I have told a great deal of things about myself. I have no idea what you are going to think about me after reading this gibberish! But let me assure you I am a very nice girl and I believe that anything can be achieved by bravery, wit, determination and of course with a bit of magic.