How the Pandemic Helped Me Write Two Poetry Books!

The Covid-19 pandemic affected every nook of our lives with unprecedented changes in public health, business, transportation, and even our day-to-day life.

The lack of social interactions and the dilemma of coping with the ‘new normal’ was a giant upheaval both emotionally and physically.

I remember how many of my colleagues, friends, and acquaintances expressed their struggle with mental health issues.

Fortunately, I ended up writing the first two books of my literary career! Here’s how!

A woman’s side of lockdown

I won’t say that women were the only victims of the pandemic, but they were certainly the most affected ones. Our society tries to advocate equal opportunities for men and women- hardly recognizes women’s struggle to balance their work and family.

Most women, like me, felt more freedom and authority in their own lives in the office than at home, where they had to cook, clean, and fulfil the demands of family members while working for extended office hours.

For most family members, a woman’s work from home was a boon as she was available throughout the day. But, it wasn’t a blessing for them, especially for women in a joint family.

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I had a similar story where I constantly struggled between work and household responsibilities and sought some space. That’s when poetry came to me as a rescue.

My exposure to the digital world helped me write poetry

The monotonous life at home and lack of social interaction made me explore and learn new things online. I learned about book formatting, publishing, marketing, etc.

The digital world also made me familiar with ongoing international issues, whether it’s the condition of women in Afghanistan or the Amazon tribes.

The positive side of the lockdown helped me unveil different layers of feminism around the world and learn how it meant different things to different meanings.

Thus, I decided to transform my learning outcomes into poems to help people around me expand their horizons.

Minding our minds with self-reflecting poetry

Most of the early days of lockdown, back in 2020, went in contacting old friends and relatives and watching TV shows. However, soon boredom took over.

Things went monotonous; there was hardly anything new to talk about. That’s when I decided to connect with myself than the outer world. I started meditating more, observing more, and writing more.

I watched birds returning to their nests, roads turning into an empty canvas, women trying to find a balance, and sunlight piercing through my window differently every day.

I also got a chance to discover my inner child, my desires as a woman, and my power to create.

Writing poetry has been the adventure I yearned for!

I have always loved adventure! Camping, trekking, canoeing, and exploring lesser-known places! But this all came to an uncertain pause when Covid-19 came into our lives.

Poetry, hence, became my newest adventure as it helped me explore new terrains without travelling. I could discover a lot about human emotions and interpersonal relationships.

When I wrote ‘Fireflies and Yama,‘ my words were more spiritual. However, when I began writing ‘Another Myth of Sisyphus,’ my words were more practical.

The bridge from my first collection of poems to the other- was an evolution as a writer and a person as I learnt to accept and learn things.

Both ‘Fireflies and Yama’ and ‘Another Myth of Sisyphus’ are the reflection of my journey as a woman and are rewards that I gifted myself.

If you are a woman and decide to read any one of these (or both), I am sure you would be able to connect with my journey.

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