The document discusses the benefits of solitude and enjoying alone time. It provides several examples of individuals who find solitude rewarding, such as spending time alone in nature, dancing alone to work through emotions, and engaging in solitary activities like reading to better understand oneself. Spending solitary time is said to provide benefits like clarity, calmness, creativity, and understanding of one's identity. Examples are given of famous individuals like Einstein and Kafka who valued solitary moments. The conclusion encourages making time for solitude, even if just in small spaces, as it allows one to reconnect with themselves.

1. Home alone
February 2014
By Punya Srivastava
Enrich and nurture your life by embedding it with
pockets of solitude, says Punya Srivastava
There have been many cherished moments of
aloneness in my life. Once, while walking out in
the country, I veered away from the main road to
an untrodden path, and marvelled at the splendour
of the wilderness spread before me. Another time,
peering out of a ferry deck, I was overwhelmed by
the majesty of the vast ocean. Then there was the
time I became quietly intimate with a gurgling
steam, while sitting on a slippery boulder above it.
Those were moments of just being in my own
company, out in nature, thinking nothing and
doing nothing. Solitude has been my favourite
state of being. I grew up reading Ruskin Bond and
falling in love with his aloneness. His solitary state
had the power to transport me to the verdant
valleys and rolling downs of Dehra Dun and
Mussoorie. How wonderful to live alone in the lap
of nature away from nagging people, I enthused as
a teenager. His detailed narration of the hills of
Dehra and the beauty of Mussoorie had me craving
for a faraway space of my own, as I sat dreaming
in the confinement of a flat in a metro city.
Being on my own has been an insatiable dream of
mine that I have satisfied time and again, yet
crave to relive the moment I return to company.
Whenever I close my eyes and think about
solitude, I imagine myself to be the solitary reaper
about whom the great William Wordsworth wrote

2. ‘Behold her, single in the field, yon solitary
highland lass!’ Though Wordsworth’s poem talks
about the melancholy of solitude, solitude for me
has stood for freedom. The freedom to just ‘be’.
Solitude is not isolation
“Pleasures of solitude? The phrase is an
oxymoron,” commented a friend. According to her,
solitude is a state of loneliness and alienation. How
can anyone be happy alone? Where is the fun in
doing something which doesn’t involve others, she
asks.
Anupama Sharma: Meeting herself in aloneness
Anupama Sharma, energy healer at Yoga Prana
Vidya, Delhi, has the answer to that. “One should
not confuse solitude with loneliness. Loneliness is
unwanted aloneness, and solitude is voluntary
detachment from everything that is keeping you in
distress.” She further adds, “Solitude for me is a
space where I can confront myself. Be with the
whole that is me. No pretence and no prejudice.
Just a confrontation with my own inner reflection.
But where do I find it? In a moment of silence.
Utter silence that engulfs your inner space. The
silence that unites your heart, body, mind and soul
which otherwise are always in conflict, and keep us
away from our peace. This space can be found at
any moment of oneness be it a bus stop, a traffic
signal, a movie theatre, anywhere.”
Maybe that is why the famous German-American
theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich once said,
“Language has created the word ‘loneliness’ to

3. express the pain of being alone. And it has created
the word ‘solitude’ to express the glory of being
alone.”
Anjali Srivastava: Performs kathak in an empty
room to be with herself
Anjali Srivastava: Performs kathak in an empty
room to be with herself
Pleasures of solitude
Solitude is cathartic, and Anjali Ratnaker vouches
for it. A painter and homemaker from Lucknow,
Anjali has felt the sublime power of solitude.
Battling depression since years, she had given up
on her painting, and indeed on life itself.
“Depression had robbed me of the zeal to live,”
she shares. But then she discovered the power of
silence and solitude in an AOL programme three
months ago. Since then, she has made a point of
taking out some time exclusively for herself daily.
“I meditate daily. Those moments of aloneness fill
me with calm and tranquillity. I feel like a new
being. Not only do I get to introspect, but am also
filled with energy to execute my daily chores,” she
says. Such has been her turnaround that she is off
anti-depressants
Anjali Srivastava, a final year student of the Tata
Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, cherishes
her moments of solitary dance. Putting on her
payals, and performing in an empty room helps
this trained kathak dancer to go within, and know
herself. “Whenever I am alone and tense regarding

4. a problem, I dance. Whatever is going on inside
me comes out in the form of ‘bhav’ or expressions,
whether of anger or worry. This helps me manage
the emotion, and eventually find an appropriate
solution,” she says.
Samarth Bajpai, assistant manager in Sahara India
Parivar, Hyderabad, adds, “One can touch solitude
even in the midst of action by becoming aware of
one’s breath. Solitude is precious because it is
during this time that we stand the best chance to
be creative and constructive, device ingenious
solutions to our life problems. and differentiate the
gross from the sublime.”
“I believe that spending time with myself helps me
gain a better understanding of who I am and what
I want exactly in life,” says Vibha Sekhar,
researcher in a central government institute called
LaCONES, Hyderabad. “Solitude also helps a
person discover and maintain their unique
identity.”
Indeed, it is only in the solitude of our minds that
we can meet and befriend ourselves. It has been a
year since I joined Life Positive, and the most
significant takeaway for me has been of knowing
that who I am is a happy, whole and perfect being.
Whenever I feel down in the dumps, I spend some
time alone. And in those few moments, I allow
myself to just be. External situations stop
mattering. There is absolute oneness within the
self. And this experience is beyond any kind of
high that a drug can provide.

5. Moments of enrichment
Going for a swim or a walk helps you reconnect
with yourself, and brings clarity to your thoughts.
Albert Einstein’s penchant for long walks is well
known. “Although I have a regular work schedule,
I take time to go for long walks on the beach so
that I can listen to what is going on inside my
head. If my work isn’t going well, I lie down in the
middle of a workday, and gaze at the ceiling while
I listen and visualise what goes on in my
imagination,” he is believed to have said.
Franz Kafka, a noted novelist of the 20th century,
has waxed eloquent upon the goodness of solitude.
“You need not leave your room. Remain sitting at
your table and listen. You need not even listen,
simply wait, just learn to become quiet, and still,
and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you
to be unmasked. It has no choice; it will roll in
ecstasy at your feet,” he said.
The busier we are, and the more networked, the
more we need these solitary moments to recharge
ourselves, and tune out the din in our heads. Your
body, mind and spirit will thank you for these
precious moments of aloneness. You can indulge in
any activity to enjoy a date with yourself. Give
yourself a head massage, have your favourite cup
of tea nestled in a corner of your balcony, prune
your plants, or simply put your feet up and go
within.
So let’s ditch whatsapp for a while and enter the
zone of oneness with self. Even if we don’t have
access to vast meadows like that lucky lass from

6. The Solitary Reaper, let’s make do with our
verandahs and kitchen gardens. Even bus stops
and office cubicles would do. Because moments of
bliss do not need a physical address to reach us.
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