By Lissy Maruthanakuzhy
Panaji, June 10, 2020: In March this year when the government announced the nationwide lockdown to fight the coronavirus, we were at the peak of summer. In the enforced lockdown we could do nothing but accept a life within our houses.
The time at our disposal enlightened us to turn to works left undone earlier because of our hectic lives: cleaning of our houses, stockrooms, compound, garden and the list goes. It was all completed within two days. That is the beauty of teamwork.
Then what next? A big question stood before us. For some staying bound within a house for more than two days was maddening.
The varying situations brought home valuable lessons for me. We can all live through mental and physical adversities: with the help of God, with the support of those around us and with our own willingness to wade through the challenging scenario.
I see it in our garden in the backyard. Some who had no time even to look at the small garden earlier, now turned to it for succor and solace, We also took to cultivation: Tapioca or cassava, chilly, tomato, besides decorative plants in flowerpots.
I took particularly care of a delicate plant. Before sunrise, I would give it sufficient water to last the whole day, braving the scorching heat. Still it was found bent down at the end of the day because of the heat. I would submerge its roots in water so that it could gain strength at night. I was determined to make it grow and flourish.
And it worked. The determination and care paid off. Today, I rejoice when I see it gently dancing in the wind, with head high in the sun and rain, and the stem adorned with fresh leaves.
The plant convinced me that even humans would need tender loving care to live, flourish, and to tide over hard climates.
Our creator God has given us the greatest gift – life. All that we need is to nourish it, seeking help when necessary, because none of us can survive on our own. We have to seek help because we are brothers and sisters, children of one God, sent into this big universe-home with talents and strengths of varying degrees.
As Mike Dooley, a New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur, says, “Life is about the glory of living deliberately and crafting circumstances, magnetizing players and forging alliances, leveraging the Universe and engaging the magic so that we can have sun, moon and the stars.”
Lao Tze, an ancient Chinese philosopher. enlightens: “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”