City Series – Megha Gandotra in Jammu, We the Isolationists (387th Corona Diary)

City Series – Megha Gandotra in Jammu, We the Isolationists (387th Corona Diary)

City Series – Megha Gandotra in Jammu, We the Isolationists (387th Corona Diary)

Our corona diary.

[Text and photo by Megha Gandotra]

I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona… and I see myself kneeling at the altar of hoarded books trying to read each one of them, tenderly unfolding their moth-eaten pages, breathing in their sodden fragrances and reminiscing all their metaphors that are so demurely buried in my subconscious. Swimming back in the ocean of notions I anchor back to my school days when I wrote imaginary conversations on the back of school library books leaving cues to the next book like a puzzle that needs to be solved hoping someday that those half-written verbose shall be perfected somewhere in the reverberations of the snow-clad mountains. I stroll on moonlit nights humming Ali Sethi’s ballads waiting for the answers to return only to find unfulfilled promises clouding my dreams at the light of the day. I open my eyes and see people complaining about the new normal as their vulnerabilities are slowly revealed one after the other. I realise how happy I am in this phase relearning nature’s essence without ever wanting to return to that rushed life where I was a little less happy and a lot more ruffled with all the surrounding facade. Swooning in the serenity of this lockdown I wonder about the concept of eternity in this moment of relativity and I hope mine finds me now.

“We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world to share a brief diary starting with “I close my eyes in my self-isolation from Corona… and I see…” Not more than 100 words. With a horizontal-sized selfie, along with your city name… please mail to me at mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com.