I write because I have the right!

[therighttoexpress]

DEFEATING THE VIRUS – MARVEL EDITION

Ever since the pandemic has struck us, our lives have been at a standstill. Numerous lockdowns, endless restrictions, a lot of covid patients, working and studying from home, playing ludo…. We have seen it all!

Just when we thought this was over, the number of cases started increasing again, and the sheer thought of 2021 being the exact replica of 2020 gives me chills. And no matter what we say, we all know deep down that our lives are never going to be the same post-pandemic. Gone are those days when you could freely breathe, now I can’t even imagine leaving the house without a mask!

The way I see it, this is a war. The Thanos of this war is the Coronavirus. And we, the people, are the Avengers. (For all those who might not know, Thanos is a fictional villain from Marvel Comics whose only aim is to wipe out half of the universe. Now you see, why I used this metaphor? Avengers are the group of superheroes who try to defeat him using 6 magical gems.)

In our case, the medical workers, doctors, nurses, government officials, social workers have all been doing relentless work to beat the virus, and they are the real heroes. But the effort needs to be from both the sides. We have to work as well, and only then shall we win this raging war. But what do we do? I have been asking myself this question a lot, and I’d like to share what I have found.

As I mentioned earlier, we need 6 magical gems to defeat our Thanos. No, I’m not crazy, I’m just trying to put to use all the movie-series knowledge that I’ve gained...! So, here’s what we need –

Gem 1: Patience

I know it’s difficult, but this is what we need the most. When we are kids, we are always very eager to grow up. But does that help? We need to wait all those years, no matter how many times we say ‘I want to be an adult’. The same applies here, think of this as an obligation. There is no other way. Only being patient, would help a lot to this cause. If your heart aches like mine does when I hear the ambulance, and if you too, like me, feel helpless in this situation, then this is for you. You can contribute a lot by just being patient. Just hang in there!

Gem 2: Care

Self-care is very famous these days. If you can pamper yourself to feel good, you can certainly take care of your body and stay fit. Even if you don’t have any covid symptoms, try to avoid anything that would result into a fever, or a cold. Consult your doctors for anything you need. If you have no option than to go out, then take all the precautions, wear a mask. Along with self-care, care for others too. Check up on your loved ones, friends, see if they need anything. If we can create a chain reaction of care, we could beat this virus, one step at a time.

Gem 3: Love

Show some love. Be considerate towards each other. Even if someone is not from your family, friends, or relatives, ask them if they need anything. Let go of all the grudges you might have for someone, because if we don’t survive this pandemic, all those grudges are going to be of no use. At this moment, we all are together and the only evil is the virus. You might be surprised how magically love works. It’s a strong emotion, and it can definitely help us cure ourselves from this.

Gem 4: Prayer

Everyday we hear news of people getting admitted, people needing plasma, the lack of beds. All of this is very depressing. And so, I ask you all to pray. We have to try our hand at every possible way to beat this. And I have hope that this might work. Just a two-minute prayer, you will feel relaxed. I promise it. Pray for every person in the hospital, every person who is struggling hard to fight this, every medical worker who is risking his/her life to save us, and for yourself, your loved ones…If you don’t believe in praying, then just close your eyes for a few minutes. Take deep breaths. Meditate.

Gem 5: Positivity

Turn off all the negative thoughts. I know, it’s not a switch that you can just turn off. But it’s a step-by-step process. If social media stresses you out, cut it off. Do something where your mind will feel at ease. Draw, sing, laugh, dance, exercise, do anything that helps you stay positive. Another important thing that is closely associated with positivity, is expressing yourself. A lot of people don’t know how to express, and even if they do, they don’t think of it as useful. But let me tell you, it feels great to express yourself. In this difficult time, if you put your thoughts out, you will be able to make room for positivity. Talking about your emotions is the only and effective way to deal with them. You might have your own way of expressing. Doesn’t matter how, but just, express!

Gem 6: Staying where you are!

Everyone has been telling us this. It is vital for the process of recovering from this. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, do not go out. Stay at home, it’s where you’ll be the safest. It has been tiring, staying at home and doing nothing. But a little more. A little more until we get there. Spend some more time with your family, with yourself. And imagine this: You’ll be able to tell the future generations that you saved the world and fought a deadly pandemic just by staying home!

With the power vested in all these 6 gems, we will be able to defeat our Thanos, and live peacefully as we used to do before. Even I can’t wait for things to go back to the way they were, (it’s my favourite way of things being) but everything takes time. So, stay calm, stay at home, hang in there, and don’t forget to remind yourself that this too, shall pass.

[therighttoexpress]

A gentle reminder

While growing up, we are told that we should respect and obey our parents, teachers and elders. But does anyone actually teach us how? Clearly they don’t, or we would not be addressing this issue today. This has been going viral since a few days, a video of students disrespecting and abusing a teacher while online education was being imparted to them, and I take it as my responsibility to talk about it. Teachers are supposed to be inspirational figures but instead, they have become the victims of criticism. Due to the pandemic this year, the method of education has undergone a change. But does this really mean that we - as students are free to do and say whatever comes to our mind? Freedom of speech is a provision made for expressing ourselves, but it’s saddening to see how it’s being misinterpreted, or I can more appropriately say ‘misused’ by us. And that shows how little understanding we have of a few important words, and I am going to try to put into place their misapprehended meanings. 

1. Respect - It is something very instinctive. Or at least it should be. And it isn’t and shouldn't be restricted to the elders. The understanding that the person in front of you, has given their everything to be where they are, and that the person may be different from you, and that he/she has a different way of perceiving things, is what respect is all about. The things that you know, may not be necessarily of their knowledge and vice-versa. But that’s the purpose of all of it isn’t it? Sharing what we have and receiving what we don’t? But we keep forgetting this, and the outcome is that we end up insulting others. The significance of this concept has to be understood. 

2. Kindness - A very underrated concept. People don’t believe in the wonders being kind can bring, and that’s probably why we find a very rare bunch of people who truly understand it. This is again, like the precedent, something that should come to us naturally. And if it doesn’t, then perhaps you are doing it all wrong. It’s not that tough to understand what kindness means, but it takes every bit of effort to apply it. It simply means being considerate, and showing generosity in every thing you do, no matter with whom you interact. 

3. Acceptance - When the God created us, he didn’t use the same formula. No two faces and no two personalities are exactly alike. And the sooner we accept this, the better it would make our lives. There is variety in how each of us thinks and takes actions and carry ourselves, and that’s the very essence of being human. When a person appears to have different thought processes, different comprehension of some concepts, we should look forward to knowing more about his/her point of view. This in any way doesn’t mean changing our opinions, but it essentially means not assuming that the others’ are wrong. Instead what we do - we criticize those who don’t seem identical to our behavioral patterns. But that’s what, human behavior doesn’t work that way, and acknowledging this is called as ‘acceptance’. 

4. Morality - This concept, according to me, is not at all subjective. But we think it is, and that’s where the problem begins. People take pride in saying that they do what they feel is right. But it’s not entirely correct. Following your heart is a different thing. But while doing so, you should never forget to keep an eye on the ‘virtue meter’. Our aim should be to reach as high as possible on this meter. And being low here is not an option. Humans are blessed with the ability to choose between right and wrong, and we should make the most of it. So next time you want to do something you want, but if the virtue meter doesn’t reach a certain mark, it’s probably not what you deeply desire and it’s not going to be morally right.

         These 4 words (and many more) need to be imbibed into our lives, and that can be done in very early stages of growing up. But explaining only the definition is futile, we should be taught to execute it and make it a habit - for it’s very essential in this era. The fact that we need to be reminded of some values is very heartbreaking. But if it will change the way we look at things, then why not? May be we need to keep redefining some concepts time and again. 

[therighttoexpress]

The last day on earth

What if I told you, today was our last day on earth? What would you do? Can’t think one thing, right? You would want to –

Give yourself some time,

Hug your parents and tell them you love them,

Go and finally tell that one special person how you feel about them.

Tell your partner how lucky you are to be with them,

Play hide and seek with your kids,

Play one last game of pubg with your friends,

Eat panipuri at a stall and tell the bhaiyya that he’s the best,

Have that cup of tea alongside the daily newspaper,

Quit that job you’ve been struggling with.

Yell at your boss the way he has yelled at you number of times earlier.

Visit your gym or do yoga for the last time,

Watch one last episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S,

Scroll through Instagram one more time.

Update your Facebook status for the last time,

Take your dog out for a walk,

Experience the cool breeze touching your skin, and your hair.

Take a walk with your grandparents and read the newspaper to them,

Drive your car one last time,

Watch the sunset and fill your eyes with the beauty of it,

Thank all the people who make your life easy by just being in it,

Read your favorite book once more,

Pray to god, and thank him for a beautiful life.

Help the people in need and experience the power of empathy.

Tell your siblings you love them,

Help your mom wash the dishes,

Clean your desk one more time,

Be grateful for having a roof over your head and for the food you eat.

Meet your friends, crack stupid jokes together, laugh, fill your gallery with pictures!

Be sad about India not winning the world cup (or RCB not winning IPL)

Watch DDLJ one more time,

Listen to your playlist one more time,

Dance to the song you love,

Take a long, deep breath and let go slowly

Let go of the obsessions with the things or people from your past,

Step out of your comfort zone,

Gather the courage to break the stereotype,

For once, don’t think about what others will think,        

Do what your heart tells you,

Experience the sweet taste of liberty!

Ask yourself what your passion is,

Be brave enough to stand for yourself,

Revisit all the moments of your life,

Fail, and see how the first step to success feels like,

Have faith in yourself,

Don’t be afraid to imbibe a change in yourself,

Realize how important your life is,

Try to find inner peace,

Try to find your truer self,

Tell yourself, “You did good!”

The list doesn’t stop. But there’s the point. You shouldn’t have to wait for it to be the last day, to finally do these things. Why not today? If you do at least one thing from the above, you’ll know what being alive feels like. And it doesn’t have to be the last day, it can be the very first.

              When I sleep, I set alarm for the next day. I don’t know what tomorrow may bring, but I am sure that I want to get up and experience the day. Why do I do that? Because I have hope, that the next day is again going to be like a blank paper, which will be mine to fill. If there’s one thing no-one should take for granted, it’s life. Live every moment to its fullest, seize each special moment. That way, when it will actually be the last day on earth, your heart will be filled with pride, and not regret.

[therighttoexpress]

True meaning of Selflessness

When was the last time you did something for yourself? Today morning, having that cup of coffee for yourself, yes, that counts too. And when was the last time you did something for someone else? It’s been a while isn’t it? The time gap between these two shows something that we deep down know is true, but don’t want to admit. We haven’t been selfless. Not in a long while. If we ask ourselves “Why?”, we can’t exactly get a response. But what I think the reason is, is that we don’t realize how petite our existence means in the whole wide world. .                 It’s the human tendency to fulfill our own needs. There isn’t anything wrong in that. But what about those who can’t do the same? If we don’t think about them, who will? While scrolling through Instagram, I came across a video. It was about a dog, called Roo, having a deformed leg and about how he got adopted by two women. That led me into thinking whether we will be able to do something like this. But I realized, it takes a lot to actually go through with this. We need to have guts! I know many of us might have given it a thought, but were we able to successfully make that work? No, because we never took the first step!                

                   It breaks my heart to say this, but we all know it’s true – Our society has classes. It’s like a pyramid, the higher class on top and the poor at the extreme bottom. The day that pyramid is demolished, will be the day when our society can truly progress. But then if not a pyramid, what should the structure of the society be like? If you ask me, it should be like a straight line. Everyone on the same page. For that to happen, we have to elevate those at the bottom and lower the position of those at the very top. Only by doing so, shall we attain what is commonly known as ‘equality’.  But the sad part is, we only consider humans to be a part of the society. The other species are a part too. But humans have never been able to look past themselves. And that goes against the very idea of being human. Humans are supposedly the smartest creation, but where are we putting that to use?                   

                  The whole point revolves around one very vital aspect – Empathy. The moment you put yourselves into the shoes of others, you realize how much you owe it to them to help out!