It was an ordinary morning at the Shrestha household. Mrs Shrestha woke up earlier than the others for some quiet time for herself. But unlike most days, she didn’t feel calm in spite of the stillness of the morning. This morning, her mind was racing and she felt she had lost her centre. She decided to make herself a cup of tea, but so far away was her mind that the boiling milk spilled over, which added to her agitation.

She started questioning herself. Like millions around the world, who are going through anxious spells due to Covid-19, was she too getting confused and worried? Or was it her unexpressed dissatisfaction over her relationship with her husband or the in-laws? Or was it her age that was catching up? She had surely gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, as she wasn’t the kind to be quiet and carry on with the day’s chores in such silence.

Because Mrs Shrestha is usually full of life. She’s the kind of lady who always has something interesting to talk about, and is full of new, exciting ideas. A people person through and through, there’s never a dull moment with her around. Her buoyancy of life and the radiance of her personality always shines through on any normal given day.

But this morning, she was extraordinarily quiet, and in complete silence, she made her tea. One could even be mistaken that she had decided to practice mindfulness and treat her daily tea-making as a sacred ceremony. There were certain rituals that she practised in the early morning hours. Being the lady of the household, she would start making the day’s menu well before breakfast time. She would decide whether to do the laundry or not or what tasks the part-time maid would do on that day and a whole lot of other tasks that needed to be completed around the house.

But this morning, it was different. She even did not ask her husband if he would like to be served his bed tea or not. Her thoughts were elsewhere, where exactly she did not know, and even drawing her mental to-do list seemed so hard.

She called out her helper boy and mumbled some lines, “People should try to be as positive as possible from the inside as the external situation isn’t that bright.” The poor boy didn’t understand what she said.

Call it a sixth sense, call it a premonition, Mrs Shrestha sensed some impending doom in the air. Just then came the announcement of a nation-wide lockdown.

A lockdown would mean no movement and restrictions of all sorts. She had seen many strikes and bandhs in the country but this was different. The coronavirus has come to surface as a deadly enemy that has not only made thousands sick but has taken lives as well. The problem is that there is still no cure for it and it’s extremely contagious and the news of how the virus is spreading is enough to frighten anyone.

Millions have lost their jobs, children can’t go to school, people can’t socialise. There’s fear everywhere. Like the rest of the world, she too, was feeling extremely anxious but nevertheless, she decided to do her usual morning pooja. The chandan incense permeated her entire pooja room and the light from the ‘diya’ seemed greatly comforting to her. She prayed and prayed and when she came out, she seemed calmer and relaxed. Suddenly her low spirits seemed to have been toned down and had been replaced by rays of hope. The coronavirus had turned the whole world upside down and she knew that the world would never be the same again but she was now ready to face the world.

She took a quick shower and decided to don a bright top with her favourite trousers. She dabbed on some perfume on her wrists, put on some lipstick and went downstairs. She instructed the cook on what to prepare for breakfast and lunch that day. She walked out of the kitchen, with her shoulders strong, confident and ready to brace what was to come. She fancied herself as a commander leading her battalion on the battleground. She decided to take a stroll in the garden.

She had always acknowledged the fact that a human is partly physical and partly spiritual. This morning she told herself that she too had an indomitable spirit and that she stood ready to take on what might come. She knew that her state of mind was in her own hands and it was up to her to set the compass. She decided that she’d focus on the positive. She would use this time to do some spring cleaning around the house. She could learn about past pandemics, plagues and outbreaks from the pages of history and see how civilisations came out triumphant at the end and she could catch up on her journal writing. Suddenly, great ideas started flooding her mind!

The smart and sensible woman that she was, Mrs Shrestha knew the power of choices. So that morning when there was an announcement on the national television about the lockdown in the country, she chose to be happy and full of gratitude for the precious gift that life was.