Cinderella and lessons on COVID-19 Pandemic

It was another sunny morning, most commuters were cursing the traffic, office-hours, boss, lack of leaves, spouse, family issues, need for a holiday, and other countless reasons for lack of time or work-life balance.

And, it came suddenly – like a wish granted overnight, just like in one of those fairytales we all grew up reading where pumpkins turn into a carriage for Cinderella!

So, now that we have our pumpkin carriage why is it that we don’t know what to do with it? Should we thank our fairy Godmother and accept the gift?

Wasn’t ‘lack of time’ the most common excuse for anything that wasn’t on our priority list? Be it spending time with our family, starting exercise, reading a book, painting, or pursuing whatever hobby we wanted, instead of cribbing that we don’t have time.

COVID-19 or the Corona Virus has created history for generations to come. It is the first-of-its-kind situation, which has forced people from around the globe to stay inside their houses. Countries are locked down and the world economy has taken a bullet. 

But what will happen when Cinderella has to return at 12? Does she forget the magic of the night?

Or will we, taking a leaf out of her book, learn our lesson on the importance of little things, our family, time and memories and cherish what we have, or go back to cribbing?

This pandemic has paved the way for a very different world, things that were considered ‘basic’ are actually ‘privilege’. We are privileged if we have a roof on our head and a filled stomach. We realise this as we look at so many around us whose jobs are critical to stepping out or manual.

While the governments, WHO, and other organisations strive to cope up with this pandemic, it is also up to us – the citizens to do our bit. Needless to say, in this current state of the world driven by fear, anxiety, and worry; staying in, social distancing and paying our house help (even if they are not coming) can be that small, but significant step.

Unlike Cinderella, we are privileged to have a real family, so let’s manage our routine in such a manner that we always take out time for those important to us.

We live in a digital era, where we the entire family gets busy with their own device, sitting in one room with pin-drop silence. Let’s break the chain on this too!

I am not saying that this pandemic is good in any way, not at all, with death tolls rising higher by the day, but I believe it’s up to us to learn what this difficult time is teaching us.

Just like Cinderella, remember the magic of love and hope and the importance of time.