“The plants around us not only give oxygen to our lungs but also to our souls”

Anonymous

Continued from Part 1

Our neighbourhood 

Let us look at our green neighbour – the plants around us. These species of organisms scattered on the earth’s surface spend their entire lives confined in one single place. They are, by nature, immobile. They cannot change their geographical location at their whims. They stay still and static in the same place throughout their life. And they keep displaying their vitality and exuberance by growing green leaves, branches, blooming flowers, fruits and seeds. They go on writing the tales of life by spreading their roots underground – out of the reach of human sight.

That’s why in the philosophy of plant life immobility does not always mean an absence of vivacity. Though the aquatic plants float with the current of water and do not settle down or anchor their roots anywhere. They neither entangle themselves to a particular place nor develop any bonding with any point of location. Their positions always keep on changing.           

Human beings and plants         

Human beings perceive vitality as synonymous with variation and dynamism; change is perceived as the mark of life. But variability does not mean change of place or location or movability only. A life confined to a certain location is devoid of change and stagnant is not an acceptable proposition. This is the wisdom that comes from the life of plants of land that are immobile, static.

Each of them is the initiator of such a fundamental and major change in the form of a transformation process called photosynthesis which is directly or indirectly indispensable for the survival of all animal species of this planet. These green, self-fed species embody various kinds of change and transformation to supply provisions for subsistence to other organisms, including human beings. They have been imparting all ingredients of life – from oxygen to food – unconditionally since the very dawn of this creation.

It is a ubiquitous sight that the wanderers pick up and collect flowers, fruits, branches and leaves from the trees on roads or open fields indiscriminately without any hesitation or sense of guilt. Why should they not do that either?! Where would they go to seek permission? Even if they would desire for a nod, the plants are not capable of giving the same.

However lively and self-dependent for producing their own food they might be, the plants do not possess a mind after all. If they do not have a mind, then how can they have memory? Is it at all possible to find out any trace of historical awareness in plants? As per human logic and understanding, it is obviously not possible.

However, though plants do not have the kind of mind humans possess, they can have a mind of their own kind. And why should we assume that the history of human evolution and civilization is not inscribed on the walls of the vegetable mind? Who can say that the narratives of the different parallel episodes of the timelines of human history are not recorded in the annual rings of a tree?

Let’s learn from the plants around us

Truly speaking, our green neighbor sends out the signals of self-reliance of an entity and the height of freedom enjoyed by it. Many realizations derived from the experiences of human life seem unrealistic then. The reality of plant life can show a completely different direction to human philosophy of life. The secret password of feeling vigorous despite being denied any locational movement can be learnt from this set of silent green organisms with whom we have been co-living for so long. Despite being static, one can feel free of bondage – this insight also comes from plant life.

On the other hand, the floating aquatic plants teach us that flowing and moving do not always come out to be rootless. The wealth, greatness and shortcoming of human life are defined according to specific criteria constructed by the human mind only. Thus they are not eternal or fixed once and for all. The motionless state is not necessarily stagnancy; novelty can be sought, and creativity can be cultivated even by remaining still at one singular place. Therefore, stagnancy is not a shortcoming or failure at all as it is often perceived in the human context.

At the same time, we can have a variant outlook towards life if we realize that being in a floating state is not always being rootless or uprooted. Then it would seem feasible to float with the stream of life while carrying our own roots. This insight helps us to overcome the peril of refugee sentiment. Both stability and variability ambivalently attract the human mind, and this probably creates various existential and psychological crises and tensions for us. The plant wisdom can throw some light to get rid of them.           

There is no motivation to prove oneself as benevolent; there is no expectation of getting recognition or honor as a generous soul. These self-reliant, self-contained species spend their entire lifespan by unconditionally giving away their surplus, by providing shelter to others in their own body, by silently tolerating plunder of the goons, by not complaining about their fate of immobility. Perhaps the self-dependence of survival has given such insight, a rich philosophy of life to this species that can enrich the life of the self-proclaimed greatest species of earth. This makes the life and living of plants appealing on various grounds. Each and every nook and corner of human life is filled with the presence of plants – from birth to death – in each moment. The co-living and co-dying with green corpses are mingled with the different layers of human life.

সহমরণ

আকাশে পঞ্চমীর চাঁদ, নিচে আগুনের লেলিহান শিখা

গাছেদের মৃতদেহ পুড়ে পুড়ে সেই শিখা ঊর্ধ্বমুখী হলে

দূরের পাহাড়ে কান্নার ঢেউ

আছড়ে পড়ে কাঁদায়!

গাছেদের নির্বাক বেঁচে থাকা শেষ হলে

একদিন তারা চলে যায় সহমরণের পথ ধরে

মানুষের সঙ্গে চিতায়।  

(As a half moon rises up in the sky, the fire dances below;

The mountains open up the floodgates of their tears,

The trees die when they had lived up silently

burning with the pyre of a man.)

The post Pandemic thoughts (Part 2): Life with the plants around us appeared first on KolkataFusion.

Politics, on the other hand, was moving at its own pace. Central Government declared Janata curfew on March 22, Sunday. And from Tuesday midnight, a nationwide lockdown was imposed for 21 days. In the absence of prior intimation and sufficient window period, mayhem broke in every household!

And our lives….

Work-life balance or work-life amalgamation

As a work from home mother of a nuclear family, Neha was expertized to balance her work, kid, love, and “me-time.” However, the sudden closure of schools and daycare hit her hard on the head. And the cherry on the top has been – no househelps!

On the other hand, Parna has been quite in a soup with no nanny for her toddler and no househelp. She has calmly decided to reduce her freelancing projects, even if it means curtailing the few hours of what she enjoyed the most – writing, to manage the increased chore load with her family members. And even if that meant compromising with her BI career.

Payment cuts have started, clients’ complaints are increasing, mom-guilt is on a new journey, taste buds are at peak. And the married life – that’s also not taking any back seat. But, a day still had 24 hours only!  

Makeup and masking

Being pathetic with makeup, Neha’s friends have always chided her. But none could impact her the way COVID-19 has – she is dying to put on makeup. Mask suffocates her and sanitizers give her sneezes! She badly wants to show off her lipsticks!

Parna is having her best run now. She always enjoyed being socially reclusive, abhorred dolling up and the COVID-19 era has helped her in more ways than one.

COVID-19 Shopping or hoarding

Once again, our educated minds said not to hoard, but Neha couldn’t stop herself from panic buying! On 23^rd of March, she bought grocery supplies for another month and stacked her fridge with sufficient eggs, meat, fishes to last for 15 days. For the first time, her 350 ltr refrigerator started being optimally utilized.

On the other hand, Parna guided by her mother, started planning meals in a foolproof way so that the stocked supplies last them for longer days. The wise managerial skills of her mother had saved them from the initial crisis.

Rekindling the old hobbies

While Neha has found new love in TV, Parna has rekindled her old love for books.

Neha was fortunate enough to receive the Fire TV Stick before the nationwide lockdown started. And it has been her family’s companion since then.  With popcorns and french fries, every weekend is a movie weekend, and she’s catching up on all the missed out web series and movies!

Parna used to be a bookworm during her student days. The present situation gave her chance to read books, both e-versions and physicals, that remained stored in her laptop and almirah.

Virtual world – new way of socializing

“We are from a different generation and we are not comfortable with video calling” – something Neha used to often say proudly before lockdown. And now, her parents babysit their son virtually, schools are held online, her son and his friends play hide and seek in a video call – the new normal!

While Neha’s still learning to be comfortable with this new method of socializing through video calling, Parna thoroughly enjoys it.

Though Parna’s cynical about screen times, but at this present condition without the nanny to look after her kid when she does the chores, there’s no other way to make her sit for some time. Her take – “monitored and quality screen time can be beneficial. So, we need to be positive.” On the other hand, for Neha – the tug-of-war between screen time and no screen time has become her life’s integral part.

Yet…..

They are trying to stay focused – to stay ALIVE as the virus spreads like wildfire. Neha’s TV which wasn’t used for a year or so goes abuzz with COVID-19 headlines every hour. Whereas, Parna has shunned social media altogether as well as TV News Updates. And with COVID-19 as their ringmaster, they are walking on the tightrope. 

Four months have gone by; how many more to come; we don’t know! But, COVID-19 teaches us the importance of independence, discipline and integral values of humanity. No boss, or client hovering over our head, no hurry to rush to school, no help to do our household chore – and we are still surviving and we will continue. With each day, we’ll be more resistant and we will learn to live our lives in a better way.

So, how are you all coping with this current pandemic phase? How are you welcoming the new normal? Please share your experiences with us in the comment section below.

The post COVID-19 Era: Our journey towards the New Normal appeared first on KolkataFusion.