(Re)Connections

Yet another day in Lockdown and I receive a call from a long lost friend. The voice sounds exactly as it did more than a couple of decades back. Does Time not touch our voices as it does everything else, I wonder. We talk about old times, when the kids were just babies, when times were simpler, happier and friends were the only family we had in the far flung areas that we all lived in as a community. Like a quick replay button, all the memories come flooding back. I tell her how I still gulp a spoon of Jam as an instant energy booster, a quick-fix solution she had suggested (or so my memory claims!). She promises to get me a bottle next time we meet, but a gourmet homemade one this time! We laugh. We tear up. We reminisce. We become wistful and we exchange pictures and hope that we can continue to stay in touch. Life has taken us on a roller coaster ride, barely giving us time to pause and think and build and work on our friendships. Yet, here we are today, thousands of miles apart but connected just like before.

This is a recurring theme for me in the Lockdown, either i have reached out to people I've lost touch with or they've reached out to me. The other day, we got a call from old family friends. We hadn't 'connected' in many years though we did share and forward the usual WhatsApp messages of social greetings for festivals, New Year's and such over the years. This time it was different, it was a video call. The call took us back decades and we relived memories of childhood pranks and innocence and the solid bonding that became the foundation of friendship for generations. Memories come flooding back again.... The funny thing about these video calls is, they also make us realize how much we all have aged! Sometimes our glances flicked from looking at the images of our friends to our own images on the screen and the wrinkles became more apparent, the greys appeared whiter, the faces all looked a bit jaded and weathered, but time couldn't dim the sparkle in the eyes and the brightness of the smiles!

They say any crisis teaches us a lot about ourselves. Our core character takes center stage when we are confronted with crises of this kind I think. We all are learning our own lessons during the times of Covid-19. If we have always valued relationships, we will focus on them, trying to rebuild neglected friendships, trying to reconnect with people that mattered. I've learnt that Communication and Connection are vital to sustain meaningful relationships in our lives. I have learnt to reconnect with myself and with family and friends.

That is what this Lockdown did to me, infact, did to many of us. It helped to reconnect and bond with friends, extended family, neighbours from years back, house staff who were part of our households...everyone who played vital roles in our lives at different points in time. We all have used technology that was at our fingertips to better share, care and show our love, appreciation and concern. Pre-Covid 19, we somehow never mustered enough determination to re-connect however much these people who mattered were on our minds and in our thoughts. This Lockdown surely broke those silent, indifferent, self-built walls around us. And we reach out and realize that nothing that matters, changes. That Time does not tarnish the strength of these bonds. That re-connections can feel like 'Yesterday Once More'!