Letter from Veera Hiranandani

April 10, 2020

Dear Friend,

You’re finding me in my office today, a refinished attic office with creaky wood floors and slanted ceilings. Near a window is my writing desk which is made out of old barn siding. I bought it at a flea market many years ago and I plan to use it as my writing desk for the rest of my life. I can’t explain why I love it so much. It’s the color of caramel and has lots of nicks and scratches and tree knots in the wood that make it perfectly imperfect. It’s like an old friend.

At the desk, I can look through the window and see the tops of the trees when I write, and in the winter, a slice of the Hudson river. It’s kind of like being in a tree house. My cat will often come over and sit on my lap and I always have a mug of coffee or tea next to me while I work. I’m painting a cozy, peaceful picture, I know.

Sadly though, as comforting as this space usually is for me, I’m not finding much peace in it right now during the Covid-19 pandemic we’re all experiencing. I’ve spent way too much time here lately, but not in a focused calm way like I normally do. Now my office is often shared with my kids who come to me frequently with their own worries and questions about their distance learning assignments. I want to help them, so I put my own work aside.We like the extra family time, but it also feels a bit scattered and overwhelming. Even when I get a chance to write, I can’t seem to concentrate for too long. Is that happening to you right now, too?

Last night I had a dream I was shopping for shoes, a pair of summer sandals to be precise. In the dream, I remember being so happy I could just casually walk around in a store, stand next to other people, pick up shoes and put them down. It was a strange dream, because shoe shopping isn’t the first thing I think about doing when these days of sheltering in place are over, but it was the feeling I remember most, the feeling of a simple freedom I used to take for granted.

What are the simple things you did before the virus that weren’t even all that exciting, but now you appreciate in a new or different way? I hope that’s something we can all come away with after this is over, a deeper appreciation for the “regular”things we did without thinking much about them.The pandemic will resolve, but I don’t want to forget this new gratitude and longing for the things I used to do all the time. We will be changed forever by this experience, maybe in some negative ways, but mostly I think we will remember all that we took for granted—a few focused and peaceful hours at an old desk, shoe shopping, going to the library, having extended family and friends over, going to the movies, the normal hustle and bustle of school, work, a café downtown, a grocery store, the post-office. I’m going to save a copy of this letter, so when things are back to normal and I’m complaining about some little inconvenience, I’ll remember what I was feeling on April 10, 2020. Be well, be safe, and I’ll see you on the other side. Maybe I’ll even bump into you at the shoe store.

All the best,

Veera

Veera Hiranandani is the author of The Night Diary (Kokila), which has received many awards including the 2019 Newbery Honor Award, the 2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Award, and the 2018 Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children's Literature. She is also the author of The Whole Story of Half a Girl (Yearling), which was named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book and a South Asia Book Award Highly Commended selection, and the chapter book series, Phoebe G. Green (Grosset & Dunlap). She earned her MFA in fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College. A former book editor at Simon & Schuster, she now teaches creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College's Writing Institute and is working on her next novel.