Hello readers,

Here it is – our second wave of the pandemic has knocked on our doors and is on an uphill climb, creating havoc all around us. The experts predict it to peak around June and we need to brace ourselves for it. With a country of a 130 crore+ population, it is very clear that we are headed for some tough times ahead. There are measures and mechanisms being implemented at all levels and if we, as citizens, comply to them as well as do our bit we can address this and flatten the curve fairly early.

Last week, a candid social media post by a multinational bank employee who had a heart attack went viral and got a lot of us thinking on what our priorities are. It enabled us to do a quick deep dive into what drives our life, our core needs and what matters at the end of the day.

A clear call to take a step back and redefine what we want in life.

In many ways, this pandemic has brought to the fore many many issues that we have never given a thought about. And as the wave two is raging, it is time for all of us to sit back at home, pray for good heath for all and control the spread.

Times are tough, but we need to be tougher to sail across this phase. In this issue of Eyra, we bring back to you some perspectives that we published in our past and are confident will help you see above the chaos and clutter around us.

Keeping a sane and balanced mind while not getting highly demotivated by the negative news all around is a tough task. It is a known fact that – Positivity Always Wins. While easier said than done, it is time we ration our media browsing and consume or share information with a higher sense of responsibility.

While we are already in, and are heading towards, state level lockdowns and curfews, here is a piece – Rediscovering Work Home Balance – that gives you some tips to manage your home and your work smoothly. This piece was extremely well received by our readers when we published it last year. I am confident it will help us all once again as we get back to a complete indoor mode.

Lockdown tends to bring in a sense of frustration. The article Are you on a Mental Lockdown gives you some pointers on how to address these issues and allows you to do a quick dip stick check.

An increase in Domestic Violence cases was noted last year. As we brace ourselves for a second phase of being restricted to home, we have chosen to re-run this article that gives insight into the issue while highlighting the places to reach out for help.

To fight this second wave of pandemic, there are many things to do – yet the first step would be staying home and staying safe. Yes – staying home is tough and does raise a lot of emotions and thoughts within us that tend to be claustrophobic, yet address them we must. There are umpteen number of avenues to channelize your mind and pick up hobbies and activities that can be pursued – joining a book club, exercise classes, learning music, exploring cooking classes etc. In this issue we bring back a piece that showed us how to use art for nurturing our mind – Handle Emotions with Art.

Brutal problems often have simpler solutions. Responsible citizens have been asked – by convention – to do many things in the past. For once, that thing is simply to sit comfortably in your own home.

Isn’t that convenient?

Stay safe, stay home and fight back this pandemic.

Cheers

Swapna Narayanan

Chief Editor, Eyra

*All images used in this article are either Eyra’s own design or widely and freely available on the internet.*