5 things I really miss during the lockdown

Did any of us see this coming?  Without a doubt, our answer is a big NO. Amidst all this uncertainty and gloominess, our daily lives have gone topsy turvy, a whole lot of our plans are out of our control and the whole world is gripped by the fear of this microbe.  It may take a lot longer than all the forecasts for our lives before lock down to return and I feel social distancing can even become the new way of life, moving forward.

Some of the the ordinary things that we all took for granted certainly looks like a luxury and we all have a list of stuff that we miss everyday.  Right from the first day of the lock down, there are a few things that I miss more than others and as always, this virtual space looked like the best place to jot down those little delights that had to bite the dust, in the last few weeks

1. Walk in the trail -  The Joy of walking a good 5 km in the trail, motivating me every single day to  wake up early. A snaking mud road, along the Adyar river, crossing the OTA run by Indian army and along the rear side of the airport was an happy place.  Surrounded by lots of trees and songbirds this one hour walk, used to be my time of planning, introspection, prayer and self-talk.   I drive a couple of kilometres to reach this place and then I am transported to a world of my own away from traffic and the hustle of a city, drawing immense strength from this simple activity.  Lumowell and Leslie Sansone with their impressive power walking routines these days couldn't impress me as much as my walk in the trail.  

2. Church -  A sunday mass is a rule written in stone at home. There was no question of skipping the weekly mass.  Even during those non GPS days of travel, I could find a catholic church to attend a sunday mass, in any part of the world.   An online mass was for  the older people and never attempted participating in one all these days.  Forced into live streaming mass from our syro-malabar church (that's a rite I belong to), the only sunny side is Dennu sits with us and we go through the mass together.  In a real church, he would refuse that and considers it very juvenile.  A blessing in disguise, but, I do miss the ambience a church creates and the peace it brings.

3. Cabin at office - Never thought I would miss this little space.  I work for a team, that does not insist on working from office. And moreover most of our sessions are facilitated online and if the network bandwidth was good enough, the digital medium could be accessed from anywhere.  Belonging to the old school, I loved working from the space assigned to me, networking and engaging with colleagues from other teams.  That little white board, the draws, cupboards, books on the table and strangely I seem to be missing all that and the space itself. Thankfully, plants are taken care of by a few who drop into office once in a while.  Yep, I have plants in my cabin - I am a plant mom you see!

4. Driving - It could be the fact that I started driving late, I truly enjoy driving, even within the city.  when most people of my age are looking at depending on drivers or taxi services like Uber or Ola, I would prefer driving on my own. Even to some of our offices 25kms away from home, I would drive rather than take a taxi. Driving is a sign of  empowerment which cut my dependencies on others, precisely why I loved it, even the daily commute and yes, its in this list.

5. Babes trip - If not for Covid 19, we would have been finalising our Babes trip, by now.  Usually starts with a lunch meeting outside office,  and the entire process of finalizing the dates, ensuring we have the cognizance of our families about the destination, breaking it down into places of visit everyday, the logistics, collaborating with our tour operator, filling up excel sheets, forex, visa, the list looks endless and ahh the shopping!  I wonder if we will make it this year.  Like Sudha was saying in one of our group calls, if not this year next year we will make that as two trips.

Not cribbing, but just reminiscing some of the bits and bobs of life that added colour to life earlier.