Saipablogs

I am back to writing after a long break of more than 20 days. Things have changed a lot in this period. Things have started to get on track slowly and steadily. The relaxations in Lockdown 4.0 came as a relief to a lot of people. Markets are now allowed to open for a specific time. People are permitted to get out of their houses for work in non-red zones. But such is not the case in major cities. Me being from Maharashtra, the worst-hit state in India, I feel a bit worried. Things are not improving in our major cities, making it difficult for the government to end the lockdown. Mumbai has been severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Mumbai accounts for about 80% of the total cases in the state. But why did this all happen? A lot of people are blaming the government for mismanagement, including the opposition parties. But my take on this is that we as citizens failed to recognise the seriousness of the issue. Our CM Uddhav Thackeray came out several times and warned people now and t...

Today is May 3rd. Today also marks the end of what we call Lockdown 2.0. Yesterday, the Government extended lockdown by two more weeks which will be Lockdown 3.0. This is the effect of watching too many news channels at home. I have started getting restless now. After completing 50 days, I can't just continue living with my parents for another 14. Before Lockdown, I used to lie on a bed or sit on a chair doing nothing. Yes, with nothing, I mean literally. But today, sitting idle on a chair makes me feel bored. Afternoon sleep is like heaven to me, but I was not able to do that as well. Relaxing was my thing, and I have lost it in this period. I am hardly able to sit in one place. I have a feeling that Coronavirus is going to haunt us for a long time. Even after everything gets back to normal, our life won't be the same anymore. We won't be having functions or gatherings at least till the vaccine is found. I don't know why I went so deep but this is what ...

Today is May 2nd. For the last two days, a lot has been in my life and around the world. To begin with, my Ajji passed away the day before yesterday. We celebrated her 80th birthday just two days before that. She enjoyed it a lot that day. It never appeared to us that she would be leaving us soon.  Even when we admitted her to the hospital, we were confident that she would overcome this and come back home. But the doctor was not as optimistic as we were. He said her condition is critical, and that is when we started to get worried. An entire day passed. Looking at her medical history, it looked like a minor issue to me. At night Dad gave me the news on the phone. We were all sad.  Personally, I felt that it was good for her because she had been suffering a lot due to prolonged illness. We performed all her final rites at her house in our village. Not all our relatives were able to attend her funeral due to the Coronavirus lockdown. Also yet another sad news for...

Today is April 28th. I got up in the morning thanks to the conversation between my mother and my sister. The first thing that came to my mind was that it is my grandmother's birthday. She turns 80 today. Remembering birth dates is not my thing. But I remembered that today was my Aajji's (Marathi for grandmother) birthday because of my mom and sister. They ordered a black forest cake yesterday. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and went to Aajji's bedroom to give her best wishes. Turning 80 today, she can hardly sit or walk. She looked happy as both her favourite grandchildren were with her. I still remember she used to play cricket with me when none of my cousins would. She used to scold all my elder cousins but never shouted at me. They say a grandmother remembers all of your accomplishments and forgets all of your mistakes. I hope she does the same.  We had a cake cutting session in the evening. We clicked photos. On such occasions, my mom loves showcasing her ...

Today is April 27th 2020, and I spent my day exactly like the image above. Today I had no interest in doing any sort of work at all. I didn't read or do some software practice on my laptop.  I was feeling so lazy today that I thought twice about taking a bath but then it is so hot and humid here that I forced myself into it.  I watched a series on Netflix, chatted on  WhatsApp , liked pics on  Instagram , Facebook. It is one of those days we all have now and then when we just don't want to anything and lie on the couch the entire  day.  The only thing I did with no hesitation today was workout. I have decided that no matter how bored or lazy or tired I am feeling in the near future I will never skip workout. I have started getting in shape and I don't want to lose it ever again.  There's nothing much to talk about today, let us all hope tomorrow will be a more productive day in my life. 

I am not a book reading kind of person. Frankly, this is just the second book I had read in my entire life. I started reading books in this lockdown period as I had nothing much to do. I downloaded Kindle and began searching for books. This book caught my attention because I am one who has a lot of thoughts in my mind at one point in time. I immediately bought it and started reading it.  Author of the book is Darius Foroux, is a productivity writer and trainer. Reading 'Thinking Straight' gives you instant motivation. It tells you how to prioritize your thoughts based on the situation. It helps you to control your mind to improve your life, career, relationship and business.  The author has made use of beautiful quotes by philosophers, mathematicians etc. to explain his point in this book. The author says, and I quote "You are the only one who knows your strengths, values, skills and desires. Don't think about what has happened in the past for too lo...