Quarantales

Introduction

When we lead busy lives, working full time jobs, managing a household, family, friends and have business and social commitments, there are times we wish we could walk away from it all, inhale deeply and relax for a few moments.

How many times have you wished you could have a break? Wake up in the morning on a weekday and then have the luxury of crawling back into bed?

Well, talk about manifestation. The universe just conspired to grant our wishes, in a magnanimous, opulent and virulent ( yes, pun intended) sweep. Corona virus hit us just as we were all celebrating the onset of a new decade. We were excited about creating new beginnings. 2020! We claimed it as our year.

A new beginning it sure was! But, perhaps, not the kind we wanted.

At first, most of us just followed the news. Was it just another outbreak? The world has already gone through a few - SAARS, bird flu, Ebola - this too would come and go. We were complacent till the television screen started throwing alarming numbers at us. Thousands of people began succumbing to the virus each day. Google searches for ‘pandemic’ and ‘çorona virus’ were soaring; the medical fraternity was scrambling to find ways to cope with this pandemic and governments were setting up policy responses, applying travel restrictions and deploying special forces to cope with this miniscule, invisible virus that was now ruling the world.

In March 2020, most of the world went into lockdown.

Human beings are highly adaptive. Even when going through extreme change, we adapt quickly and make it our new norm. Life becomes normal. We are okay to work from home, it's okay to home school our children, we put up with food shortages and a lack of commodities, we rethink our way of doing business. It hurts us, but we do it. Because - what other choice do we have?

And so, it came about that in this time of lockdown, with so many of us in quarantine at home or in hotels, we started our writing sessions. It started out as a means to get our creative juices flowing again. Put our writing muscles to use. This was the perfect time. We had more time on our hands. Technology stepped in to help us. Zoom rooms were zinging across the globe. We were happy to be up at all hours of the day and night to fit in with various time zones.

I started a writing group called Write With Me, teaching people who were new to the writing world, how to tell their stories. We spent an hour each day writing, helping and inspiring each other; there were yarns, laughs and we shared our failures and successes. We created a community. We became friends. We learnt from each other. Nineteen people shared their stories. Guatemala, India, Dubai, Croatia, Poland, London, Italy, The United States, Australia, Belgium….we were congregating together from around the globe.

The result of those few weeks of fun is this book you are holding in your hands or perhaps reading on your device. There are nineteen stories, essays, poems and personal pieces in this compilation. Each piece speaks from the heart. Some are thoughtful introspections, others are more light hearted and fun to read and there are others that are intense and personal. The book has been divided into three parts - essays, poems and stories. But each piece of writing is unique.

The book has been titled Quarantales - stories written during a time when so many of us were in Quarantine. But that quarantine is not just about the pandemic. Sometimes our souls need to go into isolation. To preserve our sanity or to hide from the hurt, we sometimes need that space into which we can recede, contemplate and come out whole again. It is part of the healing process.

These stories come from our writers who have gone within and searched their souls. This time in lockdown gave us time to reflect and the thoughts poured forth into essays, short stories, poetry and personal pieces. Some are intense, while others are more light hearted, but they all send one message - no matter where we are on this earth, we are one. This pandemic has united us in a way that no pre- meditated elaborate plan could have done.

I am incredibly honoured to have been able to work with every writer in this book and I am deeply humbled that they have chosen to share their lives with me.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have done putting it together.

Shoma Mittra

I

Essays

1

What if?

By Nerissa Lobo

Beneath the quiet calm of what was once a busy, bustling world lies an uneasy feeling of uncertainty, fear and apprehension. We hear that the animals now roam free, and by a twist of fate, humans are locked behind closed doors.

Locked down and with no end in sight, people worldwide are feeling tense, anxious and worried. Are you?

I wish it need not have happened in my time, said Frodo.

So do I, said Gandalf, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

(J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring)

Gandalf's words couldn't be more real in a time like this! When crisis strikes and our world turns upside down, some may choose to question why - wishing that this hadn't happened in their time.

Indeed, there has never been a period in history when not just one or two countries, but the whole world was locked down; when time stood still and life as we knew it came to a halt.

In January 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO), declared the coronavirus, COVID19, a pandemic, after it spread to more than 150 countries globally, affecting tens of thousands of lives within a few months. This is not just a public health crisis where millions have lost their lives, but a situation that has affected every segment of society.

It is inevitable as the death toll increases, job losses escalate, financial burdens intensify, and life plummets like never before. Undeniably, its far-reaching repercussions will not only turn life into turmoil but the very core of humanity - every man, woman and child will feel the tremors physically, emotionally and mentally. This traumatic, unprecedented time in history will exacerbate fear and anxiety, even for those who have never suffered from it before.

If you have felt stressed or anxious, know that you are not alone. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety is one of the most common mental conditions affecting more than 40 million people in the US alone. Women are twice as likely as men to suffer. While it is not uncommon for someone suffering from anxiety to experience depression and vice versa, what is alarming is that almost 75% of depression goes untreated. Shockingly, approximately one million people take their lives. This statistic was pre-pandemic, and psychologists are warning about an increase in post-pandemic mental health deterioration.

It is in times like this that we tend to contemplate life more deeply.

Have you ever questioned what the purpose of life is? Or stopped to ask what are you going to do with the time given to you?

'What if,' we ask ourselves, 'each of us was here for a reason, then what could that reason be?'

It is testing times that bring to our awareness the fragility of existence when time, purpose, and meaning take on a twist in life's kaleidoscope.

A group of aspiring writers from different parts of the world gathered together online during the COVID19 lockdown …. to write, connect, and express. Sitting in my garden, listening to the birds chirping, pen and paper in hand, a cup of coffee by my side and a warm summer breeze gently blowing, I contemplate, yet again, the purpose of life.

For as long as I can remember, I have pondered this question in every stage of my life. Each time I do, it seems to take me deeper and allows me to uncover yet another layer of unconscious patterns that I have become habituated to. It appears to be a never-ending process of uncovering, unfolding, insight and evolving. The more I seek, the more I find. The more I find, the more I grow. The more I grow, the more I realize how little I know. The more I realize how little I know, the more I seek. The more I seek, the more….

You get the picture!

In one of our sessions, as our writing group leader led us on a journey of creativity and imagination, I closed my eyes and brought my awareness to my breath. Connecting to my inner 'self' at that moment, I contemplated the purpose of life as I have come to understand it. And as I continued to connect with my innermost thoughts, I was transported deeper and deeper into my being. I can only describe feeling at that moment a deep connection to what felt like my soul. She then asked us to turn off the video on our laptops and start writing. In this surreal moment, my hand started moving, faster than I could allow it, thoughts flowed through me, through my writing, onto the paper…

And I wondered….

What if…

What if there was a purpose for everything in our lives?

What if each of us were on this earth for something more than ourselves, whatever that may be, however big or small, important or unimportant, who were we to judge?

What if everything that was, was there for a reason? And only when we left this earth would we be able to see the bigger picture, the grander scheme of things, the greater plan that we were once a part of.

What if our desires, degrees and possessions were an illusion? What if our whole life was an illusion? What if the material things that consume our minds and that we chase after, are not the purpose? Then why bother doing anything at all? What is life then?

Could it be who we become or un-become in the process that leads us to the truth of who we are? Not being attached to the goal, but learning to enjoy the process? But how do we become who we are meant to be and not get attached? Could the answer perhaps lie in being connected to our innermost self and being aware of the present moment?

One of the greatest journeys we would ever take is the one within. But to go on this journey is not easy. We have to confront our fears, beliefs and the stories we have sold ourselves.

What is fear? Fear is the ego's underlying emotion. It masks itself in a myriad of ways, such as possessions, attachments, wants, pleasures, accomplishments, money, titles, external approval, anger, worry, anxiety and more. This mask, the ego, gives us a false sense of identity, safety and confidence, though ultimately hiding us from who we truly are.

What if we could see through the illusions of this world and the ego, who would we see?

Then who are we without all the possessions, titles and roles? Who are we within?

Paradoxically, the masks we wear are not the ones that shield us from the virus, but the metaphoric masks that we hide behind. They are the roles we play to perfection. Some keep up appearances and conceal our perceived imperfections and others are created through past conditioning and unconscious living.

But what if we could remove the masks and see through the deceptions? When you remove layer upon layer of outer appearances, worldly possessions, fame, money, titles, you are left without any external form to cling to. You are with nothing but your 'self.'

Who do you see without the external attachments and material things that you once clung to?

Who do you see within?

Of course, it is easier to hide behind the masks than to accept who we are because that would mean having to confront ourselves and the metaphoric ‘viruses’ in our life. Viruses such as fame, fear, lack, hatred, anger, jealousy, wants, desires, possessions (and the list goes on). To root out these viruses is a lot of hard work! Who wants to do all this work!

It is much easier to find fault in others and situations in our life to blame than change our thinking and behaviour. Our thoughts determine our reality. Our outer world is but a reflection of our inner world. Changing how and what we think is where our real power lies.

Take a look at yourself in the mirror and ask, what are the masks you wear? Who is the real you behind the masks? Do you accept who you are without the worldly illusions? Do you love who you are within? Do you see who you were born to be? Are you worthy?

Psychologists inform us that by the time we are adults, our identity is completely formed. All the conditioning from our childhood of behaviours, attitudes, beliefs, habits and perceptions are programmed into our internal hard drive,