As always, it has been a while since my last post. I do realize that if this keeps happening, I might as well make ‘Its been a while since my last post” my opening line.
So, Story so far…
It’s 2020. The glorious new year. And like everyone else, I started my new year with a lot of hope and resolutions.
The year started off great. I was back in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the land I am most familiar with. Getting here wasn’t easy though. Like everything in my life, I always get last-minute surprises and hiccups before any good thing. The journey was quite eventful. From purchasing last-minute return tickets to finding that my flight actually had a layover only after collecting the boarding pass. (No, I’m not a clumsy flyer. The e-ticket was misprinted. Their fault.)
I stepped foot on the Arab land at the beginning of the new year. I was quite grateful as it was the first time all my family was together here in a very long time. Loved every second of it. From finding out how expensive fuel had gotten, to the newly minted coin denominations, to seeing the latest pattern on the mobile recharge cards.
Everything was different yet familiar.
It was still winter so it was time to break out my winter wear. Have you ever felt the energy and vibe that comes from touching things from the past? Old books, diaries, desk, inkpots…..No?
I felt it.
Everything here, was mine. It was familiar. I felt them turn alive again in my hands. After all these years, seeing these things that I wasn’t sure I’d ever see again was eclectic. Memories flooded my head. Things I had done in the past, books I had read, cards that I had collected; It was like I was getting a message from the short-tempered, determined 13-year-old nerdy me.
The memories were like therapy. And after the hell 2019 turned out to be, I think I needed it. I was reminded of all the things that I had forgotten. Old projects, model arc-reactors (I was gaga over the scene where he makes it in the cave), and books, and my crazy ideas and goals. It was the fuel I didn’t know I needed.
Meanwhile, months were going by pretty fast and 2020 was starting to get labelled ‘The year the world ends’. From the deaths of beloved superstars to drastic climate change consequences to something about a virus from China that had no cure.
But I was at HOME. Finally Home. I was working on new ideas, fixing past mistakes, figuring out how to find a niche here.
We went out to the malls and the markets and the footpath and the beach and the Friday group. Met some new people, met some old friends, and the highlight of all: got my hands on a proper, large, stuffed shawarma (If your eyes went ‘awwww’, you know its magic). I was at ease.
I even met with people who could give me pointers for my app and what direction it should go in.
February went by quite fast. I was quite in the zone. Even rediscovered some stuff that I could use for my current projects from my diaries that I had kept as a nerdy teen who knew what he had to do.
I. Was. Working!!!
The past wasn’t bothering me anymore. This was instant relief. This was magic.
By the end of February, 2020 was picking up pace as the year of chaos. Market volatility was starting to show. But I wasn’t slowing down. I was refactoring some of the hardest pieces of code I had ever seen or written. Meanwhile, Corona had started to cross borders faster apparently.
Now. As some of you may know, I share a sweet spot for March in my heart. It’s the month I was born, it’s the month of Aries, it’s the month Greymore was born and so…I am very relaxed in March. I don’t fret much about anything in March because I know the almighty in the heavens is looking out for me in March.
This March hasn’t been any different. I was safe so far, from any harm or illnesses. However, my stay here was almost about to end when Corona got a visa of its own and started travelling around the globe.
Something that started in China, was now all over the globe, claiming victims and leaving bodies behind. Countries were shutting down borders, governments were scraping together all the reinforcements they could spare as more and more people are being diagnosed every day.
People were in panic mode. Supermarkets and stores around the world were being wiped out and some people in some countries have started hoarding toilet paper? Like that’s the thing they need the most and can’t live without? I don’t know what to say about it except…..Come on…Seriously?
Last week saw the introduction of complete lockdowns and self-quarantines. ‘Social-Distancing’ is now the buzz word. The new trend.
You know things have become serious when Trevor Noah decides to do ‘The Daily Show’ from his couch at home and call it ‘The Daily Distancing Show’.
As an introvert, it was nothing new to me. Sit at home, don’t go out, avoid human contact, work from home….all the things I normally do (Man, is this guy a bore or what?)
As of today, Saudi Arabia and most other GCC countries have implemented curfews and yesterday night, India was going on full lockdown until April 21.
And as I stay in quarantine, I implore you all out there to please stop being idiots and to stay at home. If not for your sake, do it for your loved ones.
I bid adieu for now. I will write about the wonderful things that have happened to me in March in the next post if the world hasn’t gone through some unexpected apocalypse like those messages on Whatsapp and Facebook say.
Ciao.
