The Silver Linings, by Laldinpuii HK Fente, Aizawl
Amy Hill
Born, raised, and currently residing in Aizawl, Mizoram, Laldinpuii is an introspective person trying to be humble everyday.
Lockdown!
So Peaceful. So quiet. So nice. But only for a while.
Never-heard-of-before cases came tumbling in, and all I could do was tele-counseling, quickly updating my skills thanks to the websites and WhatsApp groups and handholding amongst the psychologists around the world, ever so eager to pass on to one another what little we knew in a circumstance that we never foresaw coming.
The new situation demanded new skills that I was barely equipped with, but also brought insights and invaluable experiences. Like the time when I tele-supported the raw withdrawal of a substance user, en route to his remote village, who took the lockdown as a challenge to kick his addiction, and tele-counseled family members of a beginning user whose efforts were well-supported by the lockdown disconnections.
Or the times I listened and prayed ‘til late at night with the moms and their brave little children who had to be taken by the ‘robots’ (frontline health workers wearing PPE), cases that became such a blessing for all our other kids in COVID-19 care, because we learned what education was needed.
It was quite an experience, too, to prod a proud, ‘positive’ father under COVID-19 care to deal with his negativity. He would never have become my client, had he not been ‘positive’. Many clients were able to understand better the needs for space and gadgets for the young Gen Zs, and the special care of elderly people at home.
Oh! The motivation and perseverance of my students in the interior villages, where many must climb the hills to get a signal for their online classes in this era of a great digital divide, is most commendable.
Of course, the negative fallout of the pandemic is much more pronounced: the domestic violence, abuse, and the like; the economic downturn- all bogs one down, especially a counselor like me in a strongly collectivistic culture, where “we” relate to others’ experiences too well.
Spirituality and relaxation have helped a great deal. For the first time ever, we have a relaxation therapy video doing its rounds in Mizo, the local language. Ah! It's one world! We are all in this together. Perhaps we needed this pandemic to introspect about our lives, our families, our societies?
The air is indeed fresher, and the hills are greener. I am sure many more people were saved by the pandemic, in some way. What an irony. I keep looking for the silver lining, strengths, and resilience of people.
‘For when I am weak, then I am strong.’ (2 Corinthians 12:10)
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(This story was prepared for an “Imagine Another World” online storytelling workshop held October 28, 2020.)
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