Comma

I wrote an article a couple of weeks ago, Timeout. This in a way is its continuation. Our lives are made up of moments - some in which we are engrossed, and others that make us stop, think, and wonder. It is the latter that I want to touch upon.

Ever spent time waiting at the traffic signal and thinking about really random things? That is because it is not much you can do at that time! You certainly can't use your phone to get back to your pending social media commitments. In today's age where we keep our friends close, our enemies closer, and our phones the closest, that moment is probably one of the few instances that we get when our brain really gets time to not merely assimilate but ponder.

With the threat of Coronavirus looming large, this right now is that moment when you have the time to think. To wonder where you are headed. To finish your sentence slowly, and not rush into them. But look at what we are up to! With work from home days galore, we are straining our eyes and minds more than ever being hooked up to the computer screen! The fact that you are reading this right now instead of enjoying a cuppa with the family is a testament to that. Isn't it?

I missed the last flight back home, not because it was expensive (that it was I assure you) but because I was worried it would throw me off my routine. We all have created routines we are too scared to break free from, haven't we? Starting the day with a cup of tea or coffee while checking emails and making a list of things to be done, or perhaps you are a late-night worker and now is the perfect time to keep bickering at the keyboard at night in your PJs and a loose t-shirt. Working was never this comfortable ever, and hence we are bound to be working more hours than fewer.

A couple of days ago I started to make a list of things I would have rather done to kill time. This idea actually came up during a binge-watch session (Malay Sharma, roomie you get special mention :P). We were watching one of those movies where the guy was playing the guitar (don't most of the rom-com heroes play it anyway?) and both of us desperately longed for one. If you are stranded on an island with little supplies and no idea when you would be getting off, why not pick up a new hobby, right? But since neither of us owns a guitar, that was the first item on the list. Next in line was a basketball, and then lightsaber swords, skateboard, coding manuals, and so on. The list became crazier as time passed.

Over tea that night, as I was surfing through the stories my friends had posted, I realized what this time presented - an opportunity to get away from the routine and rekindle the life that we once had, or work towards what we wanted it to be. Initially. Not all bucket list items are about exploring the world outside. Sometimes it's about unearthing the treasures within. Things we once boxed away, hoping to return to them sooner than later. Pokémon and playing cards and not mobile phones. Old RC cars and not the day-to-day traffic we have become accustomed to. Computer games and carom boards, not excel sheets and daily standups. Long lost friends and now distant family members, and not merely social connections.

Now is the perfect time to get back working on the crazy imagination you once possessed. The same demanding 24 x 7 has become slower and provides a chance to turn things around. There is no need to rush into decisions anymore, no panic of completing work EOD with perfection. After a very long time, you now have the luxury to start things anew and not be worried about finishing them in a hurry, or finishing at all!

Utilize this time, don’t haste to finish your sentence with a full stop.

Leave it on the comma,