In poetry | An ode to the pause button

(Representational image)

An invention that’s not new, and was hitherto

Relegated to anonymity, taken for granted, a zero,

But during the pandemic blossomed into a hero.

Two years into the solitude, I’ve learnt to appreciate,

The Pause button, and bow to whoever did create (it).

Remember the times when your lives were chaotic?

Ruled by the office, commuting and calls transatlantic?

Even though you wanted to see where Stranger Things went,

You wanted to know if Neo in The Matrix kept the spoon bent,

It was the life of a salaryman you lived, or maybe you were boss,

If you squeezed a social life out, exhaustion is all you got.

But then came the Pandemic, and as Covid ran rampant,

I proclaimed in joy, the introverts will emerge triumphant!

We had no problems being asocial, I like my own company,

Away from the tyranny of clubs, I prefer the silent symphony.

‘Press Pause,’ life demanded, ‘No going out’; I happily obeyed,

With my loves: movies, shows, music, at home I stayed.

But that’s not the Pause button I’ll have you know,

It’s that humble button on the TV clicker, on your computer,

that deserves all praise, ‘cos it’s the top of the pop,

The cream of the crop, the best of modern inventions.

It’s the lightsaber to my Jedi, my lone gunman’s trusty steed,

When deliveries are at the door, that’s the button you need.

When the Robovac is going nuts, and sourdough’s rise is berserk,

Hit Pause on Netflix, and get your life back on clockwork.

If they’re showing the Duke’s derriere again, hit pause quick,

Switch shows and watch murder or high fashion that’s sick!

Those of you slaving away on Zoom calls, will also see,

How important it is to let arguments be, just press Pause,

Walk to the kitchen, make a cuppa joe, join back the convo,

Nothing really changed, see! It’s all one-up and me, me, me.

If your kids walk in when you’re watching Sex Education,

Press Pause, and with ice-cream divert their attention.

Alas the joys of pausing regular life are now a sweet dream,

Two years have gone, people are missing me, it would seem,

I look at the Pause button and wish I could use it in real life,

On gossipy relatives, chatty cook and ease my daily strife.

Should your crush call, don’t you wish you could pause it all,

And hear him say. ‘Hmm’ to everything, hold you in thrall?

Husbands and wives will betray you, lovers will leave you,

Children will roll their eyes and make themselves scarce,

Parents will lament, how you wasted your smarts, your talent,

You could have been IFS but beta, put ginger in tea not mint.

Friends back making plans on Whatsapp got Goa with the Girls,

Will post Insta vacay pix with jaanu! See his body, and his curls!

All this is nonsensical, my sidekick Pause button tells me,

They will leave you one by one but I’ll stay, I’m loyal you see,

You make yourself tea, and I’ll keep the universe waiting for thee!