Yesterday, the 24th of March, 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, PM Modi announced a complete lockdown for 21 days to ensure adherence to social distancing. My thoughts and opinions on the matter might be for a later post or at minimum for a later paragraph.
Rightly or wrongly, last evening, 21 days seemed to be a significant amount of time. And for no reason that I can think of, I suddenly declared to myself and two buddies that I will commit to two things:
21 push-ups each day for 21 days minimum.
700 words each day for 21 days minimum.
Why? No idea. Maybe because I subconsciously feared that I will be bored. But knowing me, that's quite close to impossible. If the internet and electricity are available, I'm good. If there's no internet but just electricity, I'm good. If there's no electricity either, I'm still okay. Plenty of books collecting dust at home. So clearly it wasn't the fear of boredom.
What then?
Possibly a subconscious recalling of a theory that a habit can be formed in 21 days, and not having to travel/commute meant that I just ran out of excuses to create a habit of doing some form of exercise. At 32, I can't say I'm getting younger. Also, 21-days-to-a-habit is disputed, but for the purpose of this lockdown, I am implementing a voluntary suspension of disbelief. Also also, look up diffused learning. It is a thing that I am sure all of us have experienced. There's a good chance it had something to do with the ideas popping in my head.
So there we are. 21 pushups and 700 words.
One of the guys asked me why 21. I replied with a "shrug" emoji and said: 21 days, 21 pushups. I was mentally prepared for him to ask, why 700. I probably would have come up with something even I would find ludicrous like 21x100=2100 but 21 also means 3 weeks, so 2100/3=700. Because 21 is too low of a count for a day and 2100 is too high.
He didn't ask.
This afternoon, I saw a ping on WhatsApp where an acquaintance was asking for ideas to doodle for - yup, you guessed it - 21 days. That made me think about stuff that can be done in or for 21 days. The first thing that came to mind was the 21-day complaint-free movement started by a former church minister named Will Bowen. Whatever your religious preferences, there's something about this challenge that, well, challenges you.
Having recommended that to him, I got an idea of posting a few activities that can be done in or for 21 days, for fun. And since WhatsApp statuses are lost forever after 24 hours, I shall preserve these links here. Just because.
21 days without electric light (interesting but not feasible)
A friend asked me, "why C?" All I could come up with was, why not? Well, look now, I'm bored too. Cut me some slack. Learning C is better than not learning anything! But think about it. If this is all the creativity I've got, then it is quite boring. Especially in comparison with some of these videos that are coming out after the lockdown's been announced. Some brilliant graphic designs and posters too. No, I don't have examples. Too much of a hassle saving them from WhatsApp. And I'm not on any other social media. Too much of a hassle saving myself from the hate.
Word 600!
See? A tiny flicker of a talent. Making 600 the 600th word.
Jokes apart, these are really serious times. It made the Indian Railways stop. That's saying something, considering this never happened in the history of its existence. I feel countless blessings. Being locked in for 21 days is a luxury compared to some of the lesser-lucky souls who would have to constantly worry about feeding themselves and their loved ones. There's hardly anything for me to be worried about.
And in such times, it is worth remembering, as it is in the happiest of times as well, that this too shall pass.
Good luck for ur new venture.