Coro? Nah !!!

After my routine early morning meditation, I was enjoying the silent moments before the sun woke up. A star far away winked at me, the moon in its waning crescent phase smiled at me, the bats waved goodbye as they flew back to their homes, the dogs stretched and wished me good morning, the signing birds made me smile, and the humming mosquitoes made me frown, cold wind kissed my face, I held piping hot coffee in my hand, and its vapors smeared my specs. I sat down to journal; the sound of flipping journal pages and the movement of pen trailing the semi-wet ink made me feel blessed to be in the moment. I tilt my head towards the overhead lamp, and warmth of yellow light greets me with affection, like the divine itself saying_ Stay Blessed. I closed my eyes and basked myself at the moment.

After a while, I opened my eyes to the sun shining on my face. It was indeed a beautiful morning. I headed out for my routine run, greeted the people on my way. However, I was unable to catch their reaction as they had covered more than half of their face. Never Mind, I continued, and I joined my 75-year-old friend to play badminton. Our discussion later led us to the hottest topic on the planet, The Corona.

I returned home, only to see my dad glued to television screen speaking about Corona, my brother glued to his mobile screen and complaining about Corona and my mother is concerned about me going out of the house due to Corona. I freshened up and opened my WhatsApp, only to see the corporate work instructions in the wake of Corona, I checked my emails only to see precautionary emails on safety measures during Corona, my friends and relatives discussed Corona and what worst, I called one of my colleagues and even the telephone operator greeted me with a Corona caller tune. Phew!!

As human beings, we have progressed a lot, we have built huge dams, and we have sent the man to Moon. We have revamped our modes of communication, and we have invented countless machines. Yet, we haven’t learned to control our minds. The fear of the virus has consumed more than half of the world, and again we fail to realize that we are blindly consuming everything that comes our way, in the form of forwards, emails, news, and social media. The earth never experienced such a phase, and the press never got any sensational news in its history. Why do the most evolved beings on the planet fall prey to their fears? Why do we tend to produce thoughts at the speed of light with no control of its origin and its end?

Corona came as an eye-opener to us humans, who are consumed by our ego.

We built countless constructs OUTSIDE of us like the temples, mosques, churches across the globe to show that “my” God or “our” God is the strongest. We failed to believe in the strongest superpower that lies INSIDE us.

We believed in predictions made for us by the OUTSIDERS. We failed to go INSIDE and believe in ourselves.

We made OUTSIDE rituals so that the gods can keep us safe in times of trouble. When the real pain came in the form of a virus, we shut down the temples, mosques, and churches and decided to stay INSIDE our homes.

We invest money in buying missiles, tanks, and weapons so that we can protect ourselves from the OUTSIDE world. When the virus knocked our doors, we realized that these weapons aren’t enough to safeguard us and we chose to quarantine ourselves INSIDE a closed room.

We often believe that going OUTSIDE our current location will bring us good fortune. When the virus danced at its peak in the unknown lands, we flocked to the airport to return to our origin, INSIDE our homelands.

We believe money is the greatest asset that can buy anything OUTSIDE of us. The Virus proved that no currency in the world could stop it from getting INSIDE us.

Our Governments try to prove the OUTSIDE world that they are the superpower. The virus mocked the power of 186 countries combined and showed its INSIDE power to conquer the world.

We believed that the most significant things are the OUTSIDE creations like the monuments and human-made discoveries. The Virus taught us that an invisible entity is enough to break through anything from the INSIDE.

The precautionary measures also taught us a lot. Washing hands was never on our to-do list. Virus taught us to SLOW DOWN with the process of washing and to do it regularly. Usage of masks was proposed to safeguard us from the OUTSIDE. The ones who wore it preferred to be silent INSIDE. We, humans, judge too quickly based on our appearances. When these masks covered three fourth of our faces, we found it difficult even to identify the fellow humans.

Our ego sometimes towers the heights beyond our reach. We, as the most evolved beings on the planet, tend to exploit everything OUTSIDE so that we get harmony INSIDE. Only to realize that an invisible force that we label as the virus is enough to break our ego and break all our mental constructions.

I looked at the animals that roam around freely without the fear of poaching, the flowers that bloomed without the fear of getting plucked, and the birds that flew high without the fear of being shot at. I looked at the sky that is devoid of airplanes, seas that are devoid of oil tankers, and forests that don’t fear the sound of the hacksaw. They also exist along with us on this planet. Human life may have come to a standstill; other life on earth is expanding and living to the fullest. The Universe always finds a way to balance its creations.

Did Corona scare you? Contemplate on the lessons that it gave you. In a way, it taught us to turn INWARDS, SLOW DOWN, REFLECT on our lives. In a way, it taught us to be mindful of our daily life.

The OUTSIDE factors are not our reality. It is what we hold INSIDE of us that makes us who we are.

As I unwind my day, flipping my journal pages, under the lamp, I hear crickets partying outside, I see the stars smiling at me, the moon playing hide and seek in the clouds, the dogs sleeping peacefully, and the mosquitoes….Well, some beings are designed to make me frown.

Always remember: When everything OUTSIDE goes for a toss, you have to take one simple turn. Turn INWARDS. Stay Mindful.

Coro?.....Nah!!!😊