Our corona diary.

[Text and photo by Najma Shamim]

I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona… and I see myself sitting; aloof, lost in my own world. As I try to conjure something from my brain, a fragment of my memory perhaps, I fall asleep. Before I know it, my mind takes me to places long forgotten, it makes me encounter people who, alas, no longer are alive.

Dreams can be quite interesting; mine hardly ever make any sense. At one moment, I may be happily talking to someone and before I know it, I become a spectator of my own life. Today, I see my grandmum smiling that warm smile of hers at me. The sun looks beautiful on her face, illuminating her countenance. I am merely looking at her from a distance when she looks back and waves at me, as if calling me but before I can go to her, I am jolted back into consciousness and I realise how our brain is a repository of all bygone things; old, new, happy, sad, embarrassing-everything. And I go about my monotonous life, with the hope that this hard time also becomes something I only see in my dreams one day.

“We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world to share a brief diary starting with “I close my eyes in my self-isolation from Corona… and I see…” Not more than 100 words. With a horizontal-sized selfie, along with your city name… please mail to me at mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com.