Have a hobby; life is good!

Adesh Grover

Though I have been quite accustomed to the concept of Work From Home (WFH), in such situations it can be quite nerve-wrecking. Over the last few years, I have been trying to reach out to more and more people, especially kids and get them familiar with the world of trains. No, no. Not the real, big ones. But ones where you get transported to Gulliver’s land – a miniature world, in 1:22.5 scale. Well, I am a hobbyist who runs the country’s first garden railway museum, NeverEnuf Garden Railway in Gurugram. With a hobby like this, there is always something to create.

Life has changed due to this lockdown. I have ran out of spirits — like the one they used in instant adhesives! Elfy has vanished, soldering iron has gone bad, paint bottles are drying up… And there is no way, right now, that one can get more of these and work on creating more. So each day, I repeat the phrase — Givens and Druthers — to myself. Weigh what you have and what you wish you would rather have; and make a life with the Givens.

While isolation has taken away a lot, it has also given peace. Very importantly, a silent door bell. In the last few weeks of containment, I have kept myself busy constructively — a building called Isolation, a tug boat called Covid, a circus ride and a figurine in G-scale have come up. On the personal front, I indulge in a 45-minute evening exercise routine on the terrace to get aching muscles in order and have a good night’s sleep.

But then there is anxiety, stress and trepidation as to when everything will return to normal. Perhaps taking everything positively is the only way we can get our lives back on track.

Grover runs the country’s first garden railway museum