Quarantine.

28th September 2020: -

It has been One hundred and Ninety-Six days of quarantine

Wait, did I write the numbers right?

bleh. ( brb crying because I might be wrong and my thirteen-year-old sister might have to spell-check this one. )

Well; I would say that there was a reason why they used that particular phrase to name the movie and being a third-year media student, I have been bombarded with endless jargon and my vocabulary comprises name-slogan-tagline-marketing talks every day. My HOD would call this a Direct sell. haha, miss college:")

It felt relatable when Jai said "Mujhe aage badhna hai, career pe dhyaan dena hai, I have bigger dreams. I can't deal with this bull**!"

Most of us are standing in the same position right now, building a career, disappointed and ready to leave our existing lives to start new, constantly thinking about our future. It's the thing to do, I actually don't know if it's right, not claiming it to be wrong either. Some just go to the extent of forgetting life completely, lose people, and die alone. Might have exaggerated a little bit, but existential crises do happen. People forget to live their lives when they are mindlessly directed towards this rat race to secure their future. Quarantine has taught millions to value individuals, time, and space; things they took for granted previously.

Baar Baar Dekho

by Nitya Mehra, is a perfect blend of romance & comedy but also tells us a lot about emotions and feelings, questioning the very logic and learnings of life.

After my siblings promptly declined to watch the movie with me, I don't even remember how many times I made up my mind to watch it all by myself. I patiently sat there watching the movie with my water bottle (hydration is important guys) along with a live commentary session from my siblings "Pagal movie hai!" "Kuch samaj nahi aa raha!" "Mujhe bhi kal subah uthkar 30 ka hona hai!"

Surprisingly and successfully it got added to my "lessons from quarantine list".

It gives a shrug to the cliché phrases like "slow down, there's a lot left in life!"

Listen to your subconscious, it can reassure you that it is okay to take breaks; it is okay to take a step back from the decision-making, and it is okay to not know what to do tomorrow. This pandemic has been quite an example of how life can be uncertain, and cannot always be pre-planned. From people losing jobs and loved ones, to canceling year-long-awaited vacations and plans. Somebody got fired somewhere and somebody doubled the dose of anti-depressants to cope with this uncertain world. Amidst all this, life slowed down too. Families started playing ludo and having lunch together, working out, and refreshing old hobbies and habits. Where some took the Sunday - whole week concept too hard, others executed their YouTube channel plans after all.

The people who cribbed about having to travel for work started missing office spaces and train rush. Mothers who complained of not having anybody home, secretly miss the personal space that they got for themselves when the house was empty. Students wished they hadn't bunk their last lecture at college. Monotonous became a funny word. I should be taking classes for talking out of topic, even then I might go out of topic. Eww.

As I was saying,

Wait. What was I saying? Oh yeah!

Slow down, buddy!

"Learn from yesterday, live today, and hope for a better tomorrow"

That's what he said - he mhanje baapu.

Googling online reviews from critics with an IMDB rating of 5.3/10 for this particular movie turned out to be a bit disappointing. It surely gave me an insight into the number of impatient people. Hehe, Funny but they think like my siblings. I do respect people's perspectives and opinions, and at the same time, I believe in myself too. My opinions might vary from award-winning movie critics, but doesn't the 1947 Freedom thingy include Freedom of Speech?

Nevertheless, my point for this blog was to tell you it's okay to not be sure of what to expect. Media taught me numerous things but one crucial aspect was that people if add a little spice of drama, it WILL sell. Sad but kinda true.

"live today bro, kya pata kal ho na ho"

Until Next time,

XOXO, Aarya.