Stories by Preetam

“Life’s a page that is already written with many overlapping texts, lines and stories on a single page. However, my book of life consists of pages without even having a single dot of ink, at the moment.

Hi All, this is Sameer here. Live from home after almost getting selected for a job; while eagerly waiting for a confirmation from an esteemed company, I realised that my offer letter was put on hold because of the crisis in today’s market due to Corona. Although, I am at home doing nothing apart from participating in speeches organised by Toastmaster’s International, while I can see the entire nation participating in other outdoor chores, roam around even in the lockdown…

We get a lot of time to prepare for what’s already going on and regretting what’s already lost. We as human beings forget that there is a phrase stating – “Plan ahead. Well in advance.” Many of us, have forgotten the way around crisis handling. Many of us, have gone past the fact that anything bad can also happen to them. There are some, who think that there is everything wrong with the world.

From where I stand, I can infer that either of the extremes is a problem. Perhaps, we were not really prepared for the COVID-19. As always, many of us warm heartedly welcomed COVID-19, as they would do for any other guest. Sometimes, it’s something that we forget to address. What’s more important? Why is it that the rules and the steps taken by government weren’t followed. Many of you may cross question me or question me for this brutal honesty but my only question is – if everyone followed the social distancing, how is it that the corona cases have increased even after having a lockdown.

If this were normal, then new zealand may have ended up becoming a Zombieland and we would have had a far better condition than this. Maybe this is the beginning of the end. Maybe 2020 is a year that needs to be skipped. Maybe this is a life threatening extinction phenomenon. I guess we will never know.

All these disasters, pandemics and other threatening thoughts that may fuck up your mind, the only enemy that we have as of now is – mankind. Neither do we listen to the cry of flora and fauna nor do we respect any other human’s thoughts enough to make way with them. To be honest, it’s not the 2020’s fault. It’s more or less the humans, that are the responsible ones, who are too afraid to take up ownership for anything.

All we can do now is hope that we get past this alive. All we can do is hope that the recovery rate reaches 100, before the death toll crosses a number, that cannot be recovered in any of the history books. Let’s just hope for the best and prepare for the worst… Because, all we can do is hope; Try to stay at your homes for God’s sake!!

Sometimes, we tend to fill up a page with nuisance just because we are asked to do so or because everyone else is doing it. But, remember this for future references, the first page of the book is always blank. So, just let it go blank even if it means- a year of your life with no accomplishments. It’s just stagnant. But, at the end of it, your book won’t end. It’s gonna start again. So, just turn the page and wait for the beginning…”

A huge round of applause made an effect of reverberation in the Microsoft teams connect after my speech ended.

Sometimes, we are too eager to achieve everything at once and we forget to understand the importance of halting for a while. It's not a race. You can actually have a pause and resume again.