text: There is no dearth to the surprises Corona has hurled on to the human race. A huge scale lockdown across most parts of the world, many sectors running out of business and the option to work/study/teach from home for such a long time. This pandemic has not just pressed a pause button to lives but also forced us to resist from experiencing small delights.
  My hometown has been offering me variety of places to please my taste buds since 25 years. My favorites among those are Pani Puri on a cart close to my home, Nagnath Chuduva near Andhra Bank, Gandhi Ganj and a juice point beside that which offers badam grape mixed juice. No trip comes to my mind when I haven't visited at least two of these three places. The succulent food available at these places never allowed me to abstain from visiting those. I cannot come back from my hometown without gulping a piece of the food, is what I thought. But Corona forced me to believe in the inverse of that statement.
  I cannot stay home even for two days without hitting the nets is what Rohit Sharma would have presumed. But destiny has something else for him, not just for two or three days he was walled for four months. I have to watch a movie in theatre at least once in a month. I cannot live without tasting Paradise biryani at least once in 15 days. I cannot live without going out for shopping at least once a month. I cannot restrain myself from going to Dominos for long time. I have to visit beauty parlour once in a month. I cannot live without meeting someone. Once perceived as most critical parts of life have taken a backseat to enlarge the image of basic needs such as health and food. The pandemic has proved that you can live without many things. The biggest surprise must be to alcoholics, who are addicted to drinking. They had to stay indoors for two months without a drop of alcohol to sip. It has been proved that many of them can live without that and it is not tough for them to leave the habit forever.
  My advocacy is not against any of these, indulging yourself in eating tasty food, going out for shopping, watching movie with your friends and going on a trip are some of the greatest feelings. Equipping ourselves to lead life even with basic stuff will help us cope up with any situation. Deprioritizing instant gratification when going gets tough should not be seen as toughest of all the problems. Letting depression take over you when things don't turn out as anticipated has to be obscured. Let the austere in you take charge to please yourself with the fact that you are blessed with a decent and comfortable life when many in the world are struggling for food and water.
  Accommodating life with only basic needs felt like a social responsibility for the first few months and precaution for the next two months. Those were now being suppressed by the desperation to see the tide turn down to let us appease the movie-goer, traveler, chowhound and the shopper in every one of us. My recent trip to my hometown has raised the desperation levels as I had a very tough time pacifying the food lover in me. On the other hand, I am pretty much relaxed that we are not evidencing as many pandemics as the people born a hundred years ago. Hoping for pani-puri, chuduva and badam-grape mixed juice very soon :)