Tune in to Abhishta Gyanda's YOLO - You Only Live Once...her 2021 Reflections
Contestant for the Title of Young Thinkers 2021 www.rethinkindia.org/youngthinkers
Student of Grade 9 at DPS Ghaziabad, Meerut Road Site 3
There is always a new beginning and a fresh start to everything, and this holds true for life as well. Commencement of every new year rejuvenates us and endows us with the feeling of attaining a bright and beautiful future ahead.
The year 2021 also started with positivity and hope to get rid of the absolute menace faced in 2020 on a global scale. Unfortunately, the year 2021 emerged with many different thoughts, mixed feelings and immense loss in terms of life and economy.
After 2020, itself being an absolute threat, people were full of optimism and anticipation that 2021 would be somehow better. Thank heavens, as soon as 2021 started, people started feeling free of Covid-19, the coronavirus disease that started in 2019 and eventually became a life-threatening pandemic. It was just then the news came to the forefront that coronavirus again started to flood over the entire world, in particular, India was drastically hit by the second wave in March 2021. The whole world was again struck and life came to a standstill.
At one point in the year 2021, I was also absolutely terrified and fell down in the dumps. However, at that point, I simultaneously realised that the year was not completely a heart-breaking ride, but actually a rollercoaster of both sadness and happiness. I also came across a beautiful term
YOLO
, an acronym for
“You Only Live Once”
that was universalized over a decade ago, but has been adopted at the global scale in 2021, after coming face to face with the real aspect of life. After seeing sufferings all around, I decided to follow the YOLO concept, and then my hopes got strengthened.
My personal journey in the year 2021 is also a mixture of favourable and unfavourable events, cherishing and hateful memories, and negative yet lesson-giving positive attributes. The year caused several disruptions in my personal space as well.
My maternal uncle along with his family faced severe conditions due to covid-19. The entire family fell critically ill, and I was absolutely devastated when I heard about their condition. My state of mind became like an enormous snake that was engulfing my positive thoughts. The worst part was that my parents became absolutely helpless and were unable to help but to pray for their good health. The only thing my mother could do was to send meals through some external help to my uncle. At this point, I learnt that during such catastrophic situations, we want to help others, but unfortunately, we cannot.
My birthday was also not celebrated the same way it used to be. I missed my friends but simultaneously realised that safety is more important. Nonetheless, despite these disruptions, the year brought certain delights as well. Not only did all my near and dear ones become healthy, but also everyone became more health-conscious. We started consuming more healthy and nutritious food, we have actually developed a good habit of washing and sanitising our hands at appropriate times and the mask has become essentially significant. Most importantly, now I prefer eating fresh home-cooked food and following proper hygiene measures.
Although my birthday celebrations were not grand, they were full of affection and a sense of togetherness and love for family members. My family made my day really special. All throughout the year 2021, I had loads of fun with my family and most importantly, now I live my heart out and enjoy each and every moment as if there is no tomorrow.
Before the covid-19 pandemic, I used to play outside in nature’s lap, breathe the fresh air and have fun in the serenity of beautiful nature. I used to play outside in nature’s lap, breathe fresh air and have fun along with the beautiful nature. It was like a source of enthusiasm and I felt immaculate. In contrast, the situations changed drastically, we all got locked within the four walls of our home. Physical exercises, morning and evening walks and meeting with nature became like a dream. This made me feel that Covid-19 is like an evil cartoon character with a devilish grin on its face, whose aim is to ruin everyone’s life. However, at that point, I realised that we should not back off and instead fight it with all our hopes, strength and abilities. I always used to hope that nature should be pollution-free and remain enchanting with an exquisite array of colours and a beautiful home for animals. Interestingly, during this pandemic in the year 2021, nature got an ample amount of time to heal itself. Water bodies became clearer, animals started wandering on the roads, pollution levels surprisingly touched the minimum levels, and most exquisitely, dolphins were spotted in the water of the river Ganga. Thus, my hopes came true in the year 2021. Moreover, my belief got strengthened that if we want something from Mother Earth and nature, we should have a caring attitude towards the environment in order to avoid sufferings on both sides.
Coronavirus has simply harassed the whole world, and we just require enough strength to face it and overpower its consequences. The year 2021 initially made me a fearful person, I got scared out of my wits and I became sceptical about life. However, when I saw that doctors, nurses, scientists and cleaning staff came to the forefront as corona warriors, and they stood for us without actually fearing their lives, I also put on my brave front and my fears got allayed. Initially, people were sceptical about being vaccinated, and it is impossible to think positively when we are flooded with fear and anxiety. First, the doctors got vaccinated to prevent our warriors from staying at high risk. Gradually, some more people came to the forefront, and then many people started to get vaccinated. In India, over 1.44 billion doses have been administered that include both first and second doses. Our country has made the world record of vaccinating such a large population in a very short period of time; this title was given on the birthday of our honourable prime minister which in itself is a great glory for our country. Our country has won over its fear by actually facing it. These situations have now made me a brave person and a better person to face challenges and the reality of life. I have also become less fearful and more helpful, and I also gained a sense of happiness by being a part of this drive against corona. I tried to help the needy as much as possible. I contacted some pharmacies and with their help, we distributed medicines to the sick and suffering ones. I helped my mother in preparing meals for the needy ones. I think, the year 2021 has made me even more responsible towards life and duties. My fear of getting sick has been overtaken by my aspiration to stay a healthy and fruitful life, a life capable of giving and helping others.
Another important painful event during the year 2021 was the shutting down of schools for a longer period. Education was and is being disruptively affected by partial or full school closures. The pandemic has severely impacted our education system. Although, many students have adapted to the online tutoring system, in some places it still isn’t available which has put many children at risk of being illiterate. Nowadays, online tutoring is the best way for a child to gain knowledge. It has become a wonderful experience; we can simply take online classes with all the comfort of our homes. Nonetheless, according to my, online classes act as the best alternative but actually, it is not a good substitute for real classroom teaching. At this point, I am also missing my school tremendously, the wonderful teachers who would scold us for our mistakes and encourage us every time. I am missing all the mischievous things we would have done in school and most importantly I miss my besties. Though, because of WhatsApp, we are still able to stay in touch with our near and dear ones. This app has played a major role in helping people to get out of their anxiety and communicate with their loved ones and share their feelings with each other.
By 2021, smartphones have acted as both boon and bane. Smartphones have helped a large number of children by providing them with proper educational materials, but some children end up wasting their time on smartphones. In contrast, I took full advantage of it as a boon. I have always been fascinated with technology and during this period I have taken advantage and started exploring deeply. When I got more acquainted with the technological aspects due to online classes, I started exploring various apps, templates and editing apps. This guided me towards starting a YouTube channel. Staying at home did not stop me from fulfilling my dreams and aspirations. I have been mesmerised by different types of music. To me, music is a way to express my emotions. I am also a book lover and read many books. One of my all-time favourites is “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”. It is well known that “A Reader lives a thousand lives through books before he dies”. Books are magic and the best thing that ever happened to me during 2021. I am not a social person and have a small group of friends. My friends have been a great support during this tough period.
Although I have accomplished a lot during this tough year 2021, it made me miss something very valuable and important to me. The workplace of my father is far from our home and he is dependent on using public transport. As of government rules and officials, public transport has been prohibited for the welfare of all citizens. This led my father to stay elsewhere at his workplace, away from me and my family. We both share a strong bond with each other and it was really tough for me to be away from him. My father has struggled a lot so that I and my younger brother can have a better future ahead. Throughout this time span, I missed my father a lot. I used to worry about my father; however, if we see the positive aspect of this negative happening, my father has always encouraged us to be more independent and be optimistic in every circumstance.
The year 2021 has thought me how to make the best out of the worst situations. Earlier I used to think that family is the most important, but during 2021 I have learnt that family is actually everything. My family is wonderful and during this difficult span, they were always there to support and guide me. New Variants of Covid-19 have started to emerge again causing threats to the whole world. Covid-19 has now become a huge part of our life, and it will remain with us forever, no matter how many precautions we take. Sometimes we feel that life is very fancy giving a glimpse of glitz and glitter, but actually, it is messy and very fragile and we need to organise it from time to time. The year 2021 has given all of us a huge lesson that we need to organise our life without any fear and hesitations and we should be full of hopes, strength and aspirations.
Get the THINKING TURKS at your coveted Institution to Win the title of YOUNG THINKERS 2021 !!!
LET the Students of Post-Primary to Post Doctoral REGISTER for the ESSAY CONTEST at http://www.rethinkindia.org/youngthinkers
The United Nations declared 2021 as the
International Year of Peace and Trust,
International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development,
International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, and
International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour
Like 2020, 2021 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued in 2021. Most major events scheduled for 2020 that were postponed due to the pandemic were hosted in 2021;
examples include the
Eurovision Song Contest,
26th United Nations Climate Change Conference,
Expo 2020, and
sporting events such as
UEFA Euro 2020,
2020 Summer Olympics, and
Paralympics, as well as the
2021 Copa América
Tokyo 2020
How did the Year 2021 pan out in your personal lives?
What all
disruptions
it caused? What all
delights
it brought?
Your hopes
which came true; your
beliefs
which got strengthened.
Your fears
which got allayed and your
aspirations
which got fulfilled.
What LEARNINGS for LIFE
got consolidated?
What all you accomplished
and what all you
missed
and by how much and why?
What new skills you added to your arsenal? What new experiences you got introduced to?
Give a first person account of your very personal journey into 2021 in not more than 2021 words.
TIMELINES
Last Date for Receiving the Essays
National Youth Day 12th of January 2022
---
Felicitation Ceremony
Desh Prem Diwas, 23rd of January 2022
125th Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
Faculty Coordinators may speak with
Dr. Surbhi Vaish at 9910050597 for any query