WE make plans, don’t we? Dinner plans, holiday plans, life plans. We don’t usually plan against death. Or, indeed, against the upsetting of our plans for ourselves. Plan Bs are also just more of the same—plans that will allow us to envision success or indulgence or celebration or growth in a particular direction. Some of us even have plan Cs and Ds. Few of us have the heart to plan permanent farewells to the people we love, or indeed, to our own recognisable selves.
In all innocence, the poet (Mirza Ghalib) asks— Maut ka ek din mu’ayan hai/ Neend kyun raat bhar nahin aati The day of death is preordained / Why do I lie awake all night?
As if he didn’t know! The thought that death is sure to come for us is not what keeps us awake at night. It is not knowing whether we will be able to survive and acquit ourselves well in the time that is given to us. It is being afraid of wasting time, and of losing the people we love, or failing to give them the best version of ourselves while we can. What keeps us awake is grief, regret, and plans for salvaging and restoring something while we may.
What do you do, though, now that all plans are off? All hopes are replaced by the one hope that you will survive, and so will your beloveds, and hope is all you have because cure there is none. The novel coronavirus has stripped us down to the basics—food, shelter, clothing, including masks, gloves, shoes. Ambitions and acquisitions from two months ago feel hollow in confinement. That smart linen jacket, all that jewellery in the locker, that colleague you were jealous of, that invitation you were so thrilled about, that destination wedding. At this point, a wedding at the registrar’s office with ten people in attendance seems like an impossibility.
Bu hikaye Outlook dergisinin May 11, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Outlook dergisinin May 11, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Soft Ruins
'Soft Ruins' is a chapter within the long-term ongoing project \"When Spring Never Comes\", an expansive exploration of memory, identity and displacement in the aftermath of exile within contemporary global politics. It reflects on how the journey as an asylum seeker in Europe mirrors the instability and threats of life under dictatorship, amidst rising right-wing movements and shifting power dynamics, where both certainty and identity are redefined
Building Beyond Homes: Provident Housing's Transformative Approach
Provident Housing leads in crafting thoughtfully designed homes that cater to modern homebuyers' evolving needs. With a focus on timely delivery, sustainability, and innovative, customer-centric solutions, the company sets new benchmarks. In this exclusive interview, Mallanna Sasalu, CEO of Provident Housing, shares insights into the company's strategies, upcoming projects, and vision for India's housing future.
Syria Speaks
A Syrian graffiti artist-activist's tale of living through bombings, gunshots and displacement
The Burdened
Yemen, once a beautiful land identified with the Queen of Sheba, is now one of the worst ongoing humanitarian disasters of modern times
Sculpting In Time
Documentaries such as Intercepted and Songs of Slow Burning Earth grapple with the Russian occupation beyond displays of desolation
The Story Won't Die
Is Israel's triumphalism over its land grab in Syria realistic? The hard reality is-Israel now has Al-Qaeda as a next-door neighbour
Against the Loveless World
In times of war, love exists as a profound act of defiance
Soul of My Soul
What does it mean to continue to create art during a genocide?
in Dancing the Glory of Monsters
By humanising the stories of those affected by war, poverty and displacement, Buuma hopes to foster empathy and inspire action
All the President's Men
Co-author of All The President's Men and one of the two Washington Post journalists (the other was Carl Berntstein) who broke the Watergate scandal that brought down the President Richard Nixon administration in the United States in 1974, Bob Woodward's recent book War was on top of The New York Times Bestseller list, even above John Grisham.