By Ahmet Abdulaziz ….
In these days where there is no news except the Covid-19 pandemic, the news regarding Mauro Morandi, the Italian who is about the leave the small island of Budelli, after living there alone for 31 years, has succeeded to attract the attention of many. As the news regarding surging deaths in India, and some other countries, is keeping people very much concerned and worried, we all perhaps are looking for something different to reduce that persistent stress on our minds. I am sure many like me have found the news of Morandi helping us in that sense.
The stories regarding Mauro Morandi had been taking place in the media, and had attracted the attention of the readers, but only to some extent. But this time the twist in the story has made it a real scoop in social media at least. People are watching videos about him, and are 
reading the stories emerging in the international press. The point is that his stay on that tiny island for so long a period was one news, and his ultimate decision to bow to the pressure of the authorities to leave the island has added a lot to the original story.
Right now people are trying to approach the authorities to let him stay there for the rest of his life. Time will tell whether he would be able to spend rest of his life alone there, with nature.
There must have been many other people like him, who at one point in their lives decided to leave everything and go to some other place to live all alone. Some of these go to the jungle, and spend their lives along with animals, whereas some go up to the mountains. However, what is common here is that all of these people decide to leave human society and adjust their lives with pure and raw nature. That’s very important.
So I ask myself, why some people opt for loneliness, instead of being part of society? I think these are the people who either have suffered in the hands of other human beings or just simply wish to be away from everything. In other words, at one particular time of their lives, they believe that they would be far happier when alone in natural circumstances, away from others, rather than living with other human beings.
Psychologists list out many reasons why someone opts to say goodbye to the world and start living in the wilderness. However the case differs from person to person, and we cannot bracket all of them under one single umbrella. However, what I am certain of is that they believe that living in solitude is the best solution to all their worries. If we look at the period of 32 years tha
t Mauro Morandi has spent on that tiny island, one thing that becomes very obvious is that his “needs” have shrunk to the minimum. His basic needs now are food and shelter. Nothing more than that.
However, lately, he has started using the internet, which has ultimately connected him to the world, but that has not in fact changed anything on the island. His life is now sleeping, roaming around, eating and sleeping. At times he comes across the occasional tourists, and guides them. At time he collects shells, tree husks, etc etc. That’s all his life now is. I am sure each person who opts for isolation, living away from other humans, does not have many different needs to care about.
Living alone though is not a very appreciable decision, since humans are made to live in groups, and not singles. However, personally, at times I want to go away, leave everything behind, to start living on some island, all alone, with no worries at all except eating, drinking, and shelter. I wish I could do that.
