COMMENT | Discipline is a key requirement in life

COMMENT | The day-to-day work life requires discipline. What happens when it all breaks down when it is disrupted by the start of an international pandemic or a satellite falling to earth?

The first MCO was an unexpected, uneasy chance to think of other futures and possibilities, and externally there were many discussions on the opportunities for domestic systemic change. But for me, reading was more comforting, even if one of the most striking books that I read during this period was one which I had read many times before.

Tania de Rozario's Somewhere Else, Another You was a break from the silence of the neighbourhood streets, weaving together the sense of alienation from modern society. So far, so relatable, but several pages into the choose-your-own-adventure book, every decision made charting an alternative future, broader questions started to seep in: questions about the nature of life, the universe and the philosophical implications.

Another book that I read constantly was the memoir of the British neuropsychologist Paul Broks, in The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Stars, musing on grief, consciousness and existence in the wake of his wife’s death. On the surface, both books have seemingly little to do with each other, but they touched on a similar constellation of existential dread/acceptance/submission that was entirely fitting...