A Breath of Fresh Air!

Posted on January 29, 2022January 30, 2022 by Ruchi

For the past two years, we all have been playing a cat and mouse game. Cat is the Covid virus and we are all rats trying to run away and hide. Yet, the virus is persistent too, changing its genome and is giving us tough competition. Most of us have become the runners, running away from crowds, parties, gatherings, hiding our faces with masks of all kinds. So it was me! I had stopped going where I would feel crowds to be. And then the rat was caught, and this January, I got sick with covid. Fortunately for me, it was a mild disease and after some days of fever, malaise and cough, I was up and about waiting to go out and feel the fresh cold air on my face. But then I was bound by the laws and the fear, and that solitude made me realise the simple things which I always take so much for a toss.

Do we value this fresh air when we get it daily? I had got into a habit of early morning or an evening walk daily for the past few months. I have been blessed that I live in a green community where I can take a walk every morning and enjoy the cool area. Yet, when quarantine pushed me in, i missed going out for the walk. I realised how I was never thankful for this simple pleasure in my life. Most of the things in life we take for granted. Like the ready-made food which our mothers would give us or the food we ourselves prepare when we are able to. Usually, our mouth will be in search of a better delicacy, maybe another order or a takeaway. When I could not even stand in my own kitchen to make a simple breakfast for myself, I realised how I take this simple skill of feeding myself and my family so for granted.

After I was free of symptoms, I ventured into my kitchen, to cook for myself. Yet, the only taste my tongue remembered was sweet. I felt the dish bland even though my husband was huffing because of the extra spices I had flavoured it with. Aren’t all these just the simple pleasures of life, which we overlook chasing the more complex ones?

Waking up next to your loved one on the same bed, the smell of the coffee or the spices, the ability to function without any help, the freedom to be able to go to work or to school, go for a walk or a run in a lush green area or a beach, the freedom to walk over to your friend next door or just hug your family. All these and many more are the simple joys we get each day, yet only a jolt makes one realise how complex we have made our own lives.

Happiness does not come from bigger things but these little moments which we call life.

The simple joys of life!