Lockdown Diaries Nominee#4- Starter to a Gearless Life by Karan Veera

Joints are aching. Head is always heavy these days. The lower back is giving up in the mornings, making me feels like its gonna break. Sleep is uncertain. Day by day, I am deteriorating physically.
It’s been 40 days since the lockdown, possibility of an extension due to the severity of coronavirus pandemic.

Eyes are numb. I am losing weight, I could feel it. There is a longing for warmth like never before, just want to sit beneath the sun for hours. No, I haven’t contracted the virus, I am sure of that. Maybe it is the effect of the change, the effect of calmness.

This lifestyle, this sedentary one is taking a toll on me. I am a man of chaos, always restless and impatient. Sitting idle was my last priority and this lockdown was making it my first. Its like am back to gear 1, which I had long lost to gears above it which were more thrilling and more adventurous, or that’s what I used to think.

Now I have no alternative than to accept this gearless life of mine till the lockdown is lifted, and unfortunately, or fortunately, the lockdown is extended for 20 more days. Yes, you heard it right, I said “fortunately”. As somewhere down the line, though even the proportion may be meager, I am embracing this period. No, I am still sulking for the loss of my physical health, but there is some silver lining that is more profound and intrinsic.

I have grown calmer than I used to be. I have started embracing life in smaller activities. There is no hurry. No hurry of doing something useful, no hurry of being productive, no hurry of feeling guilty of wasting your life. Playing cards, reading, drawing, cooking, talking with family, doing silly things, and doing some work. All this has formed part of my daily lifestyle right now, and there is no guilt. There is only content.
It feels like I was a river earlier, always restless, always in a hurry, always flowing. And now I have just entered the Ocean which is calmer, more soothing, more composed.
Finally a life without gear.

ReachIvy.com organized an online blog/vlog competition to provide people the unique opportunity to share their lockdown stories using their creativity. The competition met with a fantastic response from participants across 4 continents, and our jury has handpicked the Top 50 entries from them for the Popular Choice Award 2020!

The above entry has been submitted by Karan Veera from Mumbai, India. He is a 26-year-old MBA aspirant. Kudos to Karan for this beautiful piece!

Show your support and help Karan win the contest by liking this blog post on all ReachIvy.com’s social media platforms!