I am a Guitarist

Previously on I am: I am an Office Worker 

Life during Covid19

 

It's been 24 days since I am no longer working. I am feeling good about myself. For the first two weeks, my schedule was waking up at noon and sleeping at 5 am. Seriously, I was having the best time of my life. I was also working on some new tunes. Some of those tunes irritated the crap out of my wife. The thought was always there, that how am I supposed to feed my family with this; I cannot just abandon them. My money is about to finish. Despite all that, the reality is yet to hit me. Because, like every other Friday night, I went to watch football with my buddies. We drank beers & got wasted.

After the second week (after my resignation), reality finally started hitting me. All the wasted time didn't help me in any possible way. It ruined me, but one must never lose hope. Finally, I managed to get one gig. One of my buddies set me up with an NRI wedding planner. They booked a band in advance, but their guitarist was sick; he had that corona thing which is on the news lately. At that moment, coronavirus was not that common; thus, people didn't really take it seriously. But soon that was about to change. Take this particular instance for example, that wedding planner asked each band member to take the test. Whatever, I am finally able to perform in front of an actual crowd. I was happy to do what I loved, which was following my passion.

My attitude towards life is pretty simple. I never wanted to be a champion. I know I am good enough to survive in any situation. I rarely gave my 100% in pretty much anything. Even my kids have got more accolades than me, but it will not change their life in any way. They will eventually go into a cubical around thousands of employees. Also, people will not leave their jobs because of some virus. They have families to feed. Just as I do, the difference being, I am doing a job that can make me happy. My academic deficiency is unable to stop me from getting what I want. I wonder when are my kids going to figure it out?

In the same month, I am sitting on my sofa, sipping chai. I casually switch on my TV before practicing for my gig. There was news, Tomorrow onwards, the entire country will Shut Down. Apparently, we all are going through some tough times, and we need to support each other, help each other, and stay home to break the chain (spreading disease). That is a difficult task, but the only solution is right now to be safe (staying home).

My entire world turned upside down. Tomorrow I am supposed to give an audition, and if I passed that audition, I was going to be the next guitarist. A couple of weeks ago, I was listening about an increase in coronavirus patients in India; Italy suffered the most, excluding China. Since they are the ones who started it; However, it never bothered me because I always thought that virus might not spread in India. Clearly, I was living in a lie. The lie is tempting for those who only prefer running away from the truth. Because Lie is the only thing that makes sense but the truth is the biggest lie in the world.

All my life, I have been bending the truth to get my way. That is the reason why the previous quote resonates with me. I am aware, no one else would agree with me. It might be a narcissistic thought, but I kept it. Coming back to the present, when Modi Ji announced the official lockdown, my phone started ringing. I picked up my phone and heard (probably the most painful words), “Audition cancelled. We will get back to you as soon as possible.”

I am broke, no savings, with no real job, and responsibility of two children and my wife. That audition was the only good that happened to me in a while, and now it was gone. The first time in my life I was living in the truth!

 

To be Continue…