My two weeks leave is coming to an end and I am not sure how/what I am feeling about going back to work. A part of me is excited about having a routine and brain simulation and a part of me is sad about additional stress and disruption in these strange times.
We have been watching the Hindi tele-series “Buniyaad” since yesterday. I was a young child when it was initially telecasted in late 80s on Doordarshan. Those days, there were fewer things to watch but they were rich in content. After “Hum Log”, this was the next big soap on Indian television which had us glued to our screens every Tuesday and Thursday night. There was no binge watching – you had to wait every week to know what happened next.
My initial memory and impression changed now that I am watching it as an adult. As a child you only see shades of black and white, good and bad. As an adult you recognise that people have grey shades and a lot of people’s reactions are circumstantial.
My memories of certain characters from the series like Raliyaram, Shanno, bhushan, lochan were that they were villains. Now that I am watching the series as an adult, I can rationalise a lot of things.
Raliyaram was a dutiful son who felt wronged by his parents as they always favoured his younger brother even though he barely cared for them. Shanno was so grieved by her multiple stillbirths that she became paranoid about everyone. I have met people like her in my life. It is a kind of mental illness that needs medication.
Bhushan was a dutiful son but he wanted to live his own life. It was ironic how in the series, he is chastised by his parents for following the same path as them even though they were put on a pedestal for it. Lochan was brought up in a different environment and was married in a house where she was expected to blend in which is hard. I fully empathised with her.
The series is based in early 1900s and they were different times but people remain the same across time. Over the years, I have learnt to look at a situation through others’ lens to be empathetic. I consider it my biggest learning in life!
The weather was cooler today and so we had Poha for breakfast and I craved poori for lunch. So we had that with my already cooked “Gobhi Aloo”.
I caught up with an old friend tonight. It was so good to see her (on video of course) and remember our carefree days when we were young and single. COVID has certainly helped in connecting across boundaries and time zones now that we are all home.
Yash and I were in goofy mood today, so our pic is the same – a little bit silly but still full of love!
