The most difficult days in lockdown abroad

I felt royally betrayed by the universe when Covid-19 hit the world the year that I had gone to pursue a Master’s degree abroad. What’s worse? The first Covid-19 case in the UK was reported in Brighton, the place I was in.

When things got worse, most of the university students went back to their families, classes moved online, procuring groceries became a matter of life and death, financial decisions became extremely critical and everybody thought this will pass in a week, max to max a month. Life would be back to normal and we will be able to fulfill all our dreams of studying abroad in the spring months to follow, and the rest is history. We all know what happened.

The most cherished decision

One of the most difficult, yet rewarding decisions I had taken in the month of March 2020 was to not come back to India. This will always serve as a turning point in my life. I went to the UK to do a Master’s degree in Development, instead I felt I was doing one in the school of life.

March and April 2020 were the harshest months. I was locked in my room, worried about my family, in a country where I had spent only half a year, with most of my friends airborne towards their homes. There were many bad days. Days when I would lay in bed all day, days when I would feel lost, days when I would rethink the decision of not flying back to India unable to study or cope. This was very unlike me, I was used to thinking I was good at this stuff. But with the pandemic, who was I kidding?

The biggest challenge of the day had shifted from being how productive I was, to can I get myself out of bed?

What made me get out of bed everyday?

Cherry Blossoms.

It might not make sense to you so let me elaborate.

March is the onset of spring in the UK and I was lucky enough to have a garden facing room. From my window, since autumn and winter, I had been staring at this dead bare tree. To be honest, I was sick of the view. See the picture!

The leaves on the tree had died. Just like the hope and happiness within me. Withered away day by day, moment by moment. When it hit the barest of patches, it was time for spring.

One spring morning, when I finally pulled myself out of bed, I saw signs of life in this tree. As if sensing the need for hope in my life, a few cherry blossoms had started showing signs of budding. I don’t remember how many days had passed since I had smiled. I immediately took a picture of the tree and sent it to all my friends, as if sending them hope!

Hope for a better tomorrow! Hope for life! Hope for newness, freshness and a new season!

The spring of 2020 as if gave me a new purpose in life! Purpose, that was what was missing. That was exactly what the pandemic had snatched away, what was there to look forward to? Death? Away from family? It was the first time that there was hope and purpose that I experienced when I saw the tenderness and freshness of the newly emerged cherry blossoms.

My Tree of Hope

Stupid though it may seem, I named the tree, My Tree of Hope! My single most important reason to get out of bed was to rush to the window and count the number of flowers that has emerged on the tree. I captured this journey on my Instagram. Here are a few glimpses:

As the tree reached full bloom, the signs of spring were everywhere! And then came the day when I stepped out in what felt like ages, for embracing life, hope and a better tomorrow— the biggest cherry blossom tree on campus!

This remains my favorite and best clicks from that March afternoon. I have lost count of how many people I sent it to and how many people embraced this cherry blossom to become their wallpaper. It’s my wallpaper even after a year has passed!

Power of nature

The revival and rejuvenation inherent in nature is powerful. After winter comes spring, no matter what. After the darkest hour comes dawn, no matter what. You never know which direction hope will come from!

You might call me overly optimistic, but hey, try to hang in there!