Bonding over Togetherness

The day break seemed to be perfect! From my window I could see everything bathed in the buttery light of the glowing orb which appeared as golden and bright as a field of ripe corn. The sky was painted a canvas of hues that blended smoothly into one another. Until that day, I had never really appreciated the plentiful bounties of Nature. Rejoicing at the mesmerising morning, I hurriedly took a shower and got ready quickly. As I yanked a brush through my hair viciously untangling the knots, my mother entered my disorganised room.

”Come down for your breakfast, dearie, ” she commanded and then glanced at me from head to toe, ”what are you so decked up for?”

I informed her that I was planning to go out cycling to enjoy the lovely morning and capture some moments of unspoilt and pristine sceneries with my new camera. I wanted to make the best use of the sudden declaration of holidays by all schools in the city as we were bracing to prepare to deal with the outbreak of the novel Corona virus. She chuckled mysteriously as she tied up my chocolate brown curls in a pony tail and then shoved a newspaper The Wall Street Journal in my hands.

”New York City has been locked down?!?” I shrieked, my voice went up two octaves high. I groaned as I stood rooted to the spot, paralysed with disbelief; all colour drained from my face, my blood froze and disappointment and disillusionment illuminated my face; my eyes widened, my heart raced at the speed of light as my post apocalyptic life dawned on me.

I trudged downstairs entranced like a zombie. No hanging out with friends, no playing soccer, no walks, no cycling, no cinema trips - just staying home or quarantined. My parents seemed a lot worried at my reaction.

My mother started to pacify my frantic nerves, “We have an excellent proposal for you.”

”Yes,” my dad continued, concerned, “we are going to start tonight with ‘Game Night’ - Monopoly, Clues, Tag, Scrabble, Snakes and Ladders, the Game of Life and so on and so forth.”

I carefully contemplated the offer as my parents scrutinised my varied expressions. I bit my rosy lips twice, scrunched my eyebrows, narrowed my gaze and darkened my eyes as I weighed my options which I didn’t have many.

After some careful analysis, my baby blue eyes widened in glee and my face lit up like the Fourth of July fireworks. I was after all quite exhilarated by the idea of ‘Game Night’ and my parents for once looked relieved. Keeping me occupied was the need of the hour for them.

The long wait began now. I tried to busy myself with the mundane activities in anticipation of impending enjoyment, but the wait seemed way too longer. I struggled hard to find numerous ways to while away my time. I spent the morning hours chatting with my besties - Julia and Sophia - over a video call. Then I read a couple of intriguing novels that I had planned to read for a long time but hadn’t got the time for it. I managed to lick the pages of two of my favourites : ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and the ‘Da Vinci Code’ by lunch time.

Lunch was simple yet delicious - my mother had especially prepared some tofu and spaghetti, the aroma of which diffused throughout the house and alleviated my senses. I thoroughly enjoyed my interaction with my parents over the meal. What next?!? I decided to ‘Netflix and Chill’ and watched the series ‘Friends’ which is one of the best shows from prehistoric times. I binge watched two seasons of the same. Time seemed to fly somehow. When the clock struck 7:30 pm, it was dinner time. My mother made me my favourite chicken clear soup which I gulped down in a jiffy! I bounced in my seat until it was time for ‘Game Night’.

Due to pandemic issue, my father grabbed some healthy snacks by our side for us to munch on as we started the fun part. We cracked jokes with one another and shared some funny anecdotes from our routine life. We truly bonded with each other. As we began to play our games, the things charged up. My dad tried to cheat when he was losing but he chickened out once my mom and I outsmarted him.

I turned out to be better than I expected. I didn't win everything but I did quite well. As we played more and more games, I realised that all the stress and dismay nearly vanished from my mind. It no longer felt like I was home quarantined and my worst fears vanished in my parents’ protective bubble.

Finally, I managed to win Monopoly, Tag and Snakes & Ladders; my mom won Clues (no surprise) and Scrabble ; and poor daddy had to be content with winning only the Game of Life. He seemed surprisingly upbeat about it! The living room ended up in a mess with the boards lying all over the place, but we had a merry time! The hours flew by, but our spirits were on an all-time high. We had a fairly jolly good fellow time before we retired to our rooms all exhausted and drained out, promising to continue the fun the following night.

I realised that in our otherwise busy schedules, we hardly have time to bond with one another even in a small family but a small microorganism has been able to open our eyes to reality and humble us like never before. In the face of a crisis, we need to be each other’s support rather than remaining glued to our gadgets. While it may seem tempting and the lazy way out, but the best thing is to spend time with your near and dear ones and make the best use of the free time. Bonding time should be a much awaited time that frees us from the manacles of technology that we are bound to all the time. Like the way I realised tonight that game nights are awesome, engaging and wholesome experiences.