How Quarantine Brought Out Skills I Never Knew I Had - Part 1
- Arooba Kazmi
- Dec 6, 2022
- 2 min read
It had only been a few days since I arrived in San Jose, California from New York City. I flew on Saturday, March 14. But in the span of three days, all coffee shops, shopping malls, cafes and restaurants had shutdown. There wasn't a single car on the road. All in-person meetings and hangouts turned virtual. Handshakes, hugs and side hugs were no longer the norm. Elbow taps took their place. Face masks were required. Food deliveries were halted. People were prohibited from traveling. Everyone was required to stay at home under all circumstances.
By this time, the coronavirus was officially declared a pandemic. Cases were surging and deaths were escalating. There was uncertainty. And silence. An eerie silence. It felt like a blackout. But a long one. Life on earth had suspended.
But internally, I felt relieved. I felt I could finally breathe. I didn't have to commute. I didn't have to get ready. I wasn't rushing for time. I wasn't crunching on deadline. I could attend all my lectures, meetings and webinars from my 13-inch Macbook. I didn't have to physically be anywhere. Above all, I had time. A lot of time. And I wasn't going to let any of it go to waste.
On a random Tuesday morning during quarantine, I woke up to my dad playing the keyboard. I think he was playing some Bollywood tunes. Instantly, I also felt compelled to play. The keyboard had been sitting in our garage for over a decade and no one had touched it since then, let alone take it out of its box.
After my dad was done, I told him I wanted to give it a shot. My fingers were itching to press down on the black and white keys. But before I could start, I wanted to learn the basics. I searched up some music notes. There were "flats," "sharps" and "naturals." The flats and sharps were the black keys. The naturals were the white keys. The piano notation began and ended with "middle C." It was "C," "D," "E," "F," "G," "A," "B," "C." Just like the alphabet...sort of.
After about a good hour or two, I felt like I had a decent grasp on the piano notes. I searched up music notes for Bollywood songs from Shah Rukh Khan films on Google. I started with "Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam" (When I saw you, then I realized) from the movie, "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayengay" (The Big-Hearted Will Take The Bride).
The song wasn't too hard to learn. I set my right hand on the piano keys and began to play. At first, my clumsy fingers fumbled over the keys. Instead of pressing down on "E," I pressed "D." I repeatedly played the first part of the song a few times. I played slow but I played well. Once I felt I had it down, I played it again. And again. And again.
Comments