In 2019, my entire maternal family decided to take a trip to a place that was very sacred to us. I had never been there, so I decided to go along with them. We were touring the place and visiting temples when we reached a small lake. On the side of the lake was a temple and after visiting it, we decided to sit there for a while. The entire place was so peaceful. There were not a lot of people there but you could hear this melodious voice singing songs. A woman in the blue sari was sweeping the banks of the lake across from us. She was the keeper of the lake and often used to sing Bengali songs while she was sweeping, the priest told us. Everyone was so mesmerized by her voice that we forgot that we had to leave. We stayed there for a while listening to her old Bengali songs. My mind escaped to a 3rd place for a while before I was jolted by my mother. Even though it has been almost a year since we visited the place, I still dream about her, and her beautiful voice. It was the most peaceful I had ever felt in years.
During these hard times, we all need to find some calmness and peacefulness. Let us all find our 3rd place and escape for a while, leaving all the troubles behind before reality hits us.
Eunoia 