Lockdown Diaries Nominee#47 The Last Sunset- Jainee Shah

An ear-piercing sound broke the little sleep, I had gotten. Groggily, I sat up and made my way to the washroom. After quick shower, I jumped into yesterday’s jeans and was out of the door. The day had begun. I was at the speed of 50km/hour, hands full of multiple tasks until I fell asleep on my desk as the clock struck 2 am. As days turned into weeks and weeks into months.

Suddenly, one early spring morning, this routine broke, life did a front roll on one hand and I landed back home. When your day is full of deadlines, assignments and little sleep, what do you when there is nothing on your to-do list?
You immediately add tasks, make lists of skills to learn, courses to attend and resume’s to build. For soon you are going to be back on track, racing for a podium finish. I had time to improve myself, to better my skills, to set the foundation for my ambitions and I wasn’t going to let a second to waste. Being in a design college, among bright and creative minds, I often suffered from inferiority complex and this was the perfect opportunity to be on par.

With the lockdown being extended, I continued on my ‘craze fest’ of things to learn and accomplish. Until one evening as I set the table for dinner, an orange-pink glint caught my eye. I turned sideways and walk towards the window, prying it open. As I looked outside, my voice got stuck in my throat. I was stunned for before me was one of the most magical sight ever. The sun was setting into the ocean, reflecting hues of orange, pink, purple and blue, as both the sky and waves wore an ombre garment that evening. With no soul in sight, it was vast stretch of colours getting lost into a small speck of white. The birds cawed overhead, as I took in the sweet ocean smell.
Never had I fully understood W.H Davies’s poem ‘Leisure’ before this moment. I had only read and analysed it to write it down in an exam. In 21 years of living across the ocean, I had never actually looked it. Not even stared at it for hours, let alone felt it. It just lay there as a background wallpaper.

I rushed to my room, grabbed my watercolours and paper and sat down near the window sill. As I dipped my brush and placed a stroke onto the sheet, a smile crept onto my face and into my eyes, until I was grinning and laughing. I sat there for an hour, painting and capturing the beauty in front of me. It wasn’t for an assignment, or a competition nor was it for my portfolio, this painting was for me, for my soul, for the artist who had forgotten her art. I gazed as the last rays disappeared, my mind in the state of eternal bliss.

ReachIvy.com organized an online blog/vlog competition to provide people the unique opportunity to share their lockdown stories using their creativity. Jainee Shah from Mumbai, India is a 22-year-old student of the National Institute of Design. She pens down how her life came to a standstill and how she had the time to appreciate the little things in life during the lockdown. Here is a little snippet for you to read. ‘An ear-piercing sound broke the little sleep, I had gotten. Groggily, I sat up and made my way to the washroom. After quick shower, I jumped into yesterday’s jeans and was out of the door. The day had begun. I was at the speed of 50km/hour, hands full of multiple tasks until I fell asleep on my desk as the clock struck 2 am. As days turned into weeks and weeks into months’.

The above entry has been submitted by Jainee Shah from Mumbai, India. She is a 22-year-old student of the National Institute of Design. Kudos to Jainee for this beautiful piece!

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