Letter from Siddhartha Sarma

Hi everyone,

I hope you are safe and taking all the necessary precautions. These are difficult times, but such times in the past have also been turning points in history, and this might be one.

It is difficult to stay cooped up in the house without friends or seeing the outside world. There are only so many things one can do around the place (with or without the internet), and only so much time for which one can tolerate the parents.

I grew up during some difficult times in my homeland. There were frequent curfews and shutdowns. So I know how it feels to be forced to stay indoors. Children in Kashmir have had to face a terrible time. At least the countrywide lockdown is meant to protect us from the virus. But please do spare a thought for those who do not have food or money during this period, and may not have a job in future.

I spend my time doing household chores and attending to various domestic tasks. I try to read when I get the time. I check the news online when I can. Lately I have not been on social media much.

Sometimes, the best one can do is find joy in just being alive. Please do not feel under pressure to use your time indoors ‘productively’. You might get this kind of advice from well-meaning people. If you want to read a book or something, you can. But only if you want to, and only those genres you are interested in. If somebody comes along and hands you a book you don’t want to read, tell them. Otherwise you will feel forced to read it, and might dislike the book, even if it is a good book which you would have liked under different circumstances.

There is no harm in just letting things be, slowing down and spending time with people you don’t talk much with otherwise, or your dog (I will not say cat because cats are already experts at taking things as they come). There is no harm in letting time go by without much to show for it.

The world is going to start its engines again soon. Till then, just follow the news, see if you can help somebody in need, talk to people around you and listen to them. And when there is some peace and quiet, listen to yourself.

I hope we all reach safer, saner, kinder shores.

Love,

Siddhartha

Siddhartha Sarma is an author, journalist and historian. His most recent novel is Year of the Weeds (2018). His most recent non-fiction work is Carpenters and Kings: Western Christianity and the Idea of India (2019)