Love is in the air

For me, quite literally

Here’s a little account of how my love affair with nature started! (I don’t want to jinx it so touch wood.)

When I came home from Mumbai a couple of days before the nationwide lock-down was imposed, I was absolutely free. As a typical north-Indian would call it- ‘velli‘. All I could think of doing was helping my brother with studies (yes, this was the extent of my joblessness) and clean my cupboards. Till date, both things remain undone.

After a couple of weeks of doing almost nothing and watching my parents get sloshed with their respective work, I decided to step in and help with little household duties- the primary one being watering the garden. Now, Dad was extremely particular that it has to be done before 8 am by all means. So even though I had my reservations, I gave in. First couple of weeks were tough, thanks to my messy sleep cycle. But oh, when I got a hang of this beautiful routine, there was no going back.

I would wake up to birds chirping and leeches racing to enter my room. Fellow Gurgaonwallas would agree to how much of a blessing this is. The garden was on its way to becoming a forest because we couldn’t have called a gardener and I was too scared of bees meandering in the grass to have done some maintenance myself. This waking up early, watching birds sit and shit on clothes (that I washed with tonnes of hard work) and shooing them away became a valuable part of my routine. An early-to-bed regime would follow inevitably.

As I would spend my mornings in the backyard, watering plants, talking to them and humming them songs, I came to have a thing for nature.

*blushes*

I started following people and pages on social media and learned about ways I can shift to a more eco-friendly living. Spending time in the kitchen also had me a little bogged up because of the food waste generated. With more time and mental space, I would think twice before any action to see if it has environmental consequences.

While I was at it, I hadn’t realized that I was actually inculcating things into practice. It was when I came across a two year old bundle of Down to Earth magazines and started reading some bits of it. I laid down a mat in the garden (with overgrown grass) on a beautiful evening and read bits from one of the editions. As I sat there, I could feel the presence of different insects that I couldn’t immediately see. I focused my eyes at a point only to see some translucent-white, tiny insects. A week back, I would have stood up and went inside but this new me wanted to get acquainted to their presence. With more alert senses I could then hear buzz sounds and see almost invisible beings.

This reminded me of the concept of coexistence which, before this, was only a term I used in my environmental studies examination and had little meaning. Well, this was the day I took in a deep breath, told myself that whatever it takes to do my bit towards environment, I will. As cheesy (and impossible) as it may sound, it has been a good few months and my love and commitment is only growing.

Just like any other millennial couple, I decided to make my relationship with my new-found love public. Through an Instagram post, obviously.

I feared if I’ll jinx my sustainable deeds by making things public (I am superstitious this way) but things have only gotten better. I feel more obligated to continue the aforementioned habits and inculcate news ones. I read up more, share little tips with my inner circle and encourage them to adopt an eco-friendly living. I’d like to spell out my latest short-term goal so I feel more committed to achieving it.

My grandparents are living with me for a while and I hope that by the time they go back home, I would have changed my dadi's habit of buying vegetables in plastic bags.   

It is almost 6 months, including my courtship, and I get up early and sleep on time. This major change in my sleeping cycle also reflects into my professional self. I am also more content now, finding joys in pretty skies, quarreling birds and blooming flowers. Looking forward to sustain this one with personal and joint efforts 🙂

#environment #nature #sky