#SaraReads #GratitudeDuringCovid: Essay-Grateful for freedom

Well, one thing that always used to fascinate me on the 15th August was about independence. I wasn’t quite aware about it until I got to 8th grade, courtesy our curriculum. Now that I am a ninth grader confined to my house, I realised that it is surely something important. 

As I started with the social science subject, I got to know more about my rights, entitled services and most importantly, freedoms. The freedom to travel, the freedom to express my thoughts and the freedom of something as small as going out of your house for a morning walk. 

We have enjoyed this freedom for over 73 years now, but did we ever realize it?

Me, I definitely did. 

This covid-19 lockdown, which has become stressing and sad for many, has taught me the importance of freedom. I now understood what it truly means to be free. We have always taken for granted the fact that this freedom makes our lives easier and worth living. We never realise how it affects our lives. It is quite simple for us to blame people, saying that our rights are being denied. But, is this really denial? 

Today, when we are advised, in fact when we our told to stay indoors, we get to experience a life without basic freedoms, like movement. This is the first lesson I take from these circumstances.

Another thing that I have noticed in this quarantine is that the content portrayed by the so called “NEWS” channels that are supposed to provide us with the right information, is more often than not very pessimistic. In these conditions, all we absorb are these pessimistic paradigms. Throughout the day, we look at and listen to people getting infected, covid-19 cases increasing and the world on the verge of catastrophe. But what about the positive aspects of this pandemic which everyone overlooks?

Since the beginning of the 21st century, and the beginning of our journey towards living an advanced life, we have distanced ourselves from each other, from our own inner selves. We have become so busy with new inventions, work, and social media that we have forgotten what it feels like to be together, to spend time together, to be idle. However, Covid-19 has provided with us a chance to experience all these feelings. We have come closer to our families, understood what significance they have in our lives. We get time to enrich our bonds that may have weakened.

Many people feel that they have been bound by this lockdown, but I don’t feel the same. I believe that this lockdown may have bound me from going out of the house, but not from going inside. I think that this is a good time to meditate and go within oneself.

According to me, in the times of a pandemic we need to be socially connected and not distanced. Rather, the term used should be interpersonal physical distancing. I think that this virus has given us a golden chance to improve and become better human beings.