The day of Janta Curfew was an amazing one for me. The large public mass of India stayed at home, voluntarily. As soon as I woke up that day, the deep silence in the neighbourhood was palpable. It was not a day just like any other.

People were tweeting pictures of how birds and other life on the planet had become more active and visible than before. In some parts, the skies were cleaner. So on.

I felt it was a really strong event taking place.

From noise to silence. From crowds to solitude. From external to internal. From social to home-bound.

An extrovert world getting a taste of introvert life.

I was moved.

As it became 5pm, it was time to cheer for the people on the frontlines of this pandemic. I headed to the terrace because I wanted to see the empty streets. As expected, it wasn’t that empty. People had come outside to their building gates. Some in their balconies. Some in their terraces. And enthusiastically they cheered. Plates were clanging, bells were ringing, clapping, whistling. Some over enthu folks were bursting crackers. Conch shells were blown.

After that, I sat a little longer in the terrace, soaking in the evening sun. I had already been in self quarantine for a week now. There was the joy of being in the sun and in the open. The deep emotion of the world having gone silent. And the fact that I was in a new city, surrounded by a language I barely know. But I was not worried about anything and trusted the recently made friends around me.

A wave of gratitude washed over me. For the concerned and well meaning people around me. All the lovely people I had met in my life.

Later in the evening, another Isha meditator messaged me to check how I was doing. And he said, that he was going about thanking each and every person that had made a difference to his life.

On enquiring further, he too had experienced a deep sense of gratitude wash over him that evening.

While we are battling a pandemic,

This lockdown will be a tremendous experience for a lot of people in very different ways.