Last week I was gently reminded by a friend that many days had passed since any new posts on Irvinekar.com. Hubby sweetly chided me too and shot down my excuse that my eyes were hurting from too much Work-From-Home screen time. Sure, my eyes hurt, but my fingers could easily hold a pen to glide across old-fashioned journal pages that did not glare back at me : ) And so I did – pulled away from my work computer in the evening, fought writer’s block and let the words flow!
It is about a month now since the “stay-at-home” order in California. The novel coronavirus has affected thousands the world over, but thankfully for a lot of us it has been no more than an inconvenience. It is a strange feeling to experience there is no place to go other than home, which otherwise is where we all want to come back to. We will remember this time for the rest of our lives and the memories will depend on how we react now – having a normalcy bias, patience, anxiety, fear, loneliness, finding ways to keep busy, finding new connections. We will recollect years from now that many workers lost their livelihood, how first-world problems included toilet paper hoarding, how handshakes and hugs were discouraged, how the use of video apps like Zoom soared and how airfares dropped to the ground.
This “quarantine” was the time folks attempted to hone their culinary skills, developed new interests and discovered their limits of hanging out with family 😉 My quarantine memories will include a nasty lingering cough which I willfully ignored to continue my work much to the concern of my thoughtful co-workers. My geographically distant family who checked-in every day and friends who kept up their online presence offering humor and home remedies when medication didn’t help!
My stay-at-home time has been enlightened by reading the story of Karna – a dashing, benevolent warrior and unsung hero from the epic Mahabharat. It has taken me weeks to read the 700+ page book[1] written in a language that I grew up speaking, knew the alphabet but have never learnt formally. The story telling in Marathi is excellent, the descriptions vivid and the characters feel real. Of course, knowing the backstory of the Mahabharata gleaned from the inimitable Amar Chitra Katha books of childhood is a huge help as I am transported to a time a few thousand years back. It is profound book, and to reflect on that will take time and a potentially a future post! 🤞
It has dawned on me that the ability to read another language (other than the one I think in and prefer to write in) is such a blessing! It has given me the opportunity to enjoy the richness of thought, expressions, nuances in a whole new way. For those of us who grew up in India knowing three languages is commonplace and yet we may not realize how unbelievably fortunate we are. Sure, nothing is ever perfect – the flip side is the overly melodramatic sappy stories, TV shows and movie songs! However, there is an option, to choose content in this language or that, which just does not exist for many. We also have the choice to enrich the next generation in more ways than one. I have come to appreciate that there is so much more out there to consume, absorb and to build up on, beyond the little exposure in school to a foreign language.
For now, can’t wait for the “shelter-in-place” to end, meet friends and also make time to pore over another amazing book!
~AK Irvinekar
[1] Mrutyunjaya by Shivaji Sawant https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6369447
Very well written Archana!!!! Kudos to you to pick a 700+ pages book as your first one!!! Mrutunjay is my favorite book, glad to know you enjoyed it…..
Thank you! The book came highly recommended and I enjoyed reading it as well.
Very well written! You captured the life during the shelter in place really well. It is going to be interesting to see how everyone behaves on the other side of the curve.
This snapshot is going to be important for the history books. It’s hopefully a once in a century style event (after the 1918 Spanish flu).
Thanks Aalok 🙂
Human perceptions and reactions are varied, hopefully relative sanity will prevail!
Nicely penned Archana!! These times are indeed challenging! Feels good to pause and reflect!! Kudos on reading Mrutyunjay!! Looks forward to more posts!!
Padmini
Hopefully this unexpected worldwide event resolves soon 🤞
As for the book- thanks to you for helping me navigate it! 😊
Glad to see that you broke your silence 🙂 I read Mrutunjay when I was in college and Karna is one of the most intriguing characters in Mahabharat. Reminiscing hostel days which exposed me to the most of marathi literature and culture.
Deepa, you beat me to it by over 20 years 😀 Nothing quite like those hostel days…
Kudos! Wow, I can’t believe you read 700 pgs in a language you are no longer accustomed to. I find visiting a paragraph daunting till I put myself to the task. That awesome! True what you said about being blessed to take away from dual culture/languages:
Richer for it!!
Would love to hear your ideas on enriching the next generation. How is is best shared? Will they receive it watching us enjoy it? Will it be a concerted effort?
Enjoy this fleeting time with your family!
Thanks Shabnam! Actually since I know a lot of Marathi speaking folks in town, it has been easier to practice the verbal skills!
The local Maharashtra Mandal has done an excellent job in keeping the community engaged and teaching the language to the kids as “Sunday school”. We have played Hindi and Marathi songs driving around town and on long stretches of I-5 as well which seems to have helped! 🙂
Very well written Archana! Already looking forward to your next one!
You say your hubby chided you to write something- now it is time for you to chide him back to write! He is immensely talented- chide him until he yields! 🙂
Archana – i was waiting for this one from you! You have shared many aspects of this unprecedented time so well. The circumstances leading to unique emotions and choices indeed. Family time, health is wealth, richness of marathi literature, nostalgic culture, advantages of being multilingual… So many reflections and inspirations Archana. Thanks!
Thanks Shilpa, a bit overwhelmed to know there is an expectation😅! Glad you enjoyed reading this. Hopefully the uncertainty will end soon!
Wonderfully explained. It is nayee kahani ghar ghar ki. Glad you found time to explore Arts and humanities among this chaos. Arts and humanities is what binds is all together. Cheers for wonderful post.
Thanks Sudhanwa! And yes, finally attempted to do something that I did not in “Vidyeche maherghar” 🙂
Very well written 👍. Covid 19 will change our lives forever. It’s been a blessing to spend so much undivided time with family. This lockdown had helped us reflect on our priorities. “Health is Wealth”
Indeed good health is precious! The quiet time has allowed us to slow down some.