Nostalgia : The art of yearning

As I sit here, in the confines of my room, busy as a scribe, I write this article. It isn’t an article, nay; in fact, this is a letter from me, to each one of you, who reads it. 

This year has been a rather unusual one. A lot many things can be said about this year, I reckon. But having said that it has been an unusual one, says it all!

With so much time on one’s hands and with a worldwide lockdown, one cannot help but ponder over life’s mysteries. I, for one, have devoted myself to learning more about the Language of the Soul—namely, Emotions.

Emotions prove to be delightfully paradoxical. They amuse me.

I prefer to envision Emotions as the contents of a pot.

And just like any other pot:

1. It may be kept open for passersby to peep in.
2. It can be kept tightly sealed
3. It can be broken
4. It can be kept on the mantelpiece as an ornament

OR

It can also be buried deep down in the Earth, in an unmarked spot.

Now you see, each one of us comes with a pot. An empty pot.

Which we fill- with what we feel!

Some of us may prefer not to fill anything in the pot, while others may have an overflowing pot. 

It’s all very relative, you see?

Now one may wonder, where does Nostalgia feature in all of this?

Nostalgia is indeed, a remarkable exponent of Emotions.  

Allow me to explain.

Analogically speaking, Nostalgia is what you feel when: 

1. You stumble upon the aforementioned buried pot, purely by chance.
2. You grab a shovel and frantically dig to find the pot.
3. You have a lot of time on your hands and nothing better to do than search for the pot.

The lockdown has afforded many of us a rare chance (and a shovel!) to dig deep and unearth our Emotions. 

Most of us have escaped this tedious task by citing the paucity of time. But for some of us, we have been wearing our ‘fast-paced lives’ as a shield, an armour of sorts. To protect us against the swirling torrent of emotions- that is Nostalgia.

If you have ever felt a lump in your throat or have gotten dewy-eyed while reminiscing over a memory, or leafing through old photographs, you have had a bout of Nostalgia, Mon Ami!

And the best way to deal with Nostalgia?

Embrace it. Feel it. Cherish it.

Do not try to push it away. 

By my reckoning, Nostalgia is a wonderful melange of sentiments. Like a gourmet dish, sample each morsel thoroughly. Let each bite introduce you to a new flavour, a new sensation. And when you are done with your meal, when the sensation goes…you will feel satiated yet lighter. Yes, there are certain flavours that you may not like. Yet. You will feel fulfilled. 

Let not Nostalgia, have free reign over your emotional constitution. It is only too easy to succumb to her Wiley charms and drown in the comfort of the Past. 

Nostalgia is neither something that can be induced, nor can it be avoided. 

I know that many of us feel nostalgic with regards to our childhood, our college life and so on. We sit in the respite of our homes-fretting and worrying over nostalgia. But someday, when life returns back to normal, mark my words- we shall be feeling nostalgic for these days. We shall miss the time we spent with our families, the epoch that afforded us the ability to just relax and rewind!