Re-Imagining Hope
Dear Hope,
I always HAVE LOVED and WILL LOVE you sooooooo much!
Sorry for writing late this time. The last time we met, was on New Year’s Eve.
TOGETHER, we bade farewell to 2019 and hugged 2020.
You told that 2020 is going to be a FANTASTIC YEAR.
I always HAVE BELIEVED and WILL BELIEVE you sooooooo much!
Snowy January and frosty February were spent gaily in the cosy warmth of friends like Lakshya (Aim), Vikas (Growth), Garv (Esteem), Harsha (Joy), and Shakti (Energy) in the theatre, in the park, in the subways, in the malls, in the cafeteria, on the roads, on the flyovers.
Come March and the LOCKDOWN came along. We got LOCKED within the confines of HOMES. The doorbells STOPPED ringing…the vehicles STOPPED honking…the hawkers STOPPED ferrying on our streets.
I called you and you said “THIS TOO SHALL PASS”
The milkman, the laundryman, the newspaperman, the vegetable-man, the postman…all DISAPPEARED.
I called you and you said “THIS TOO SHALL PASS”
The schools got closed. The office premises got closed. The parks got closed. The gyms got closed, the swimming pools got closed. The markets, the malls, the metros…all got CLOSED.
I called you and you said “THIS TOO SHALL PASS”
Binayak was benched. Romesh was retrenched. Farooq got furloughed. Brave-hearted Baijayanti accepted her salary curtailment with a broad smile (though forced on her face). Ravishing Raveena had to start feeding her kids with thin-layered jam rolled in the dry chapatis (in dearth of expensive green vegetables). Feisty Fatima started understanding what FEAR feels like!
I called you and you said “THIS TOO SHALL PASS”
Old Shashtri uncle took his last breath in his bedroom and not on the hospital bed. Young Sushant took to the noose. Designer Diwakar drowned himself in the creek. Funny Bone Firoza flung off her penthouse.
I called you and you said “THIS TOO SHALL PASS”
Now, I HOPE that we come out of it before any more PASSING AWAY
…
Rumi, in his poem poem Green Ears wrote,
“ There was a long drought. Crops dried up.
The vineyard leaves turned black.
People were grasping and dieing like fish
Thrown up on the shore and left there.
But one man was always laughing and smiling.
A group came and asked,
“Have you no compassion for this suffering?”
He answered, “To your eyes this is a drought.
To me, it is a form of God’s joy”
Who is the man Rumi is referring to? What do you think he would look like? How do you think he would respond to the increased suffering that COVID is causing? Do you think he would often say, ‘this too shall pass’? Could the man in the poem also be a woman? Or a group of people? Or a community? Country? Or a reference to an internal light? A spark? Hope?
Lead Author: Shalini Verma
Prof. (Dr) Shalini Verma, is a Lifelong Learner, Author & Serial Entrepreneur, Founder — ShamvaadShaalaa & Books33India. She has coined a word that describes her attitude towards life — ‘LIFOHOLIC’, who DRINKS ‘LIFE’ Sip-by-Sip. She hails from the LAND OF SATYAGRAHA (Satyagrah is a Sanskrit word which means “insistence on truth”). She considers herself to be among the fortunate few to have been blessed with ADVERSITY — an opportunity that has boosted her EQ (emotional quotient), CQ (creativity quotient) and above all AQ (adversity quotient) that has led her to SELF-EXPLORATION, SELF-EDUCATION and SELF-REALIZATION.
She has been a Communication Professor at several reputed B-schools across length and breadth of India and few others from outside India.
Her areas of Interest are: storytelling, teaching, writing, screenwriting, Acting, modelling, independent filmmaking and social entrepreneurship
Anchor Author: Daniel Rudolph (Rumi poem and final paragraph)
Daniel Rudolph is interested in exploring alternative, experiential learning opportunities for people of all ages. He is passionate about forming community, and building public spaces for meaningful, transformational gathering. Currently he is spending a lot of his time learning juggling and facilitating gatherings. He also enjoys writing and sharing poetry. Daniel is a very curious and playful person and is always open for creative collaborations.
Dan is also a member of the advisory board for one of the organizations that Shalini founded, Books 33.
