The indistinct voices
of the young boys playing in the playground are audible. They start playing early in the morning till
the sun rises to the peak, to return after noon when the heat of the sun is
more merciful. The boys who came to play
only during weekends come every day now that the schools and colleges are
closed down indefinitely. Sans classes,
sans exams, it is an early summer vacation.
Suddenly among the young boyish tones a new and angry voice of a policewoman
can now be heard. She charges at the
boys swinging her lathi, a couple of boys get a taste of the lathi on their
shins and behinds, and taking cue from this the rest of the boys run
helter-skelter scurrying in every direction like mice.
***************
“Any plans of
marriage?”, a friend pinged followed by tongue out emoji.
To which I replied “I’ll
probably plan it if we survive this apocalypse!” *eye roll* and put an end to
the undying question that haunts every eligible bachelor/bachelorettes.
**************
So many such
instances owing to the raging pandemic – Corona Virus.
The Prime Minister’s address
to the citizens on 24th March at 8 PM declaring a nation-wide
lock-down for the next 21 days does not come as a surprise. It was expected any day as the number of
infected persons around the country was rising alarmingly and
exponentially. Urgent decisions were to
be made.
The disease which
started inadvertently in China has crept out of its borders and spread
stealthily world-wide and before people could brace themselves, reality hits
hard on the face. Notification from my
news app informs me of the rising numbers of people getting infected, of people
dying, of lock-downs and quarantines. The
way the disease spreads is more mortifying than the disease itself. While people comforted themselves with “It’s
in China, it won’t affect us”, “It’s just a flu”, “It only affects the old and
the weak”, and also relieving themselves with the fact that it is news of
elsewhere, the reports revealed cases approaching nearer to us and before we
knew it, the news which we talked of matters in China, South Korea and Italy
has reached our own country, our states and towns. The promising advantages of globalisation
proved a major bane in the present situation and the containment of the disease
seemed nearly impossible. As people fly across
countries they transmit the virus like pollinating the germs all over. And sure enough travel had to be shut down
across and within the countries.
Given that every
human is a potential carrier and the spread is through air, the only solution
seems to be to get the hell away from one another – social distancing, washing our hands and not touching our faces, besides
there is no vaccine or medicine except to treat the symptoms until the patients
recover or perish. But our ways of life
have been so accustomed to the necessary hang-outs, the compulsory must-watch
movie at the multiplex, the new restaurants to be tried, the can’t-sit-at-home
attitude proves difficult to give up.
People simply cannot sit at home, more so when they are forced to it.
As I watched a news
report of a policeman literally begging the general public to stay at home as
they thronged the streets was distressing.
The people still do not realise what is coming. Several messages are circulating in social
media, supposedly put across by the people who had seen the worst of the
situation, warning the noobs of what lay ahead and not to repeat the mistake they had committed, were ignored as rants. And yet people roam free on roads recklessly
compelling the police personnel to resort to violent means making them blow a
punch here and swing a lathi there. Some
thoughtful policemen even went as far as making the loafing vagabonds clean the
roads. Purpose served!
Meanwhile there are some
other good fellow beings that are taking social distancing not only seriously
but also are taking it to the next level through their tremendous contribution of
memes for social welfare. There was
never a happier time for these brainy folks who got food for their creativity
and shared hilarious memes day in and day out to our pleasure. Whether the gravity of the situation was
diluted in humour or was it a means of comfort in times of terror and panic, I
cannot say for sure.
On a personal front, I could not be happier with all the reading time I got. It is an introvert’s dream come true situation. I believe there could not be a better time than this to lie back and reflect. Make the best of the time to take a step back from the outside world and take a peak within ourselves, figure out what we can do with our time when we have the luxury of spending it, discover ourselves and find the peace which has been so elusive to us.
It is like mother
nature is teaching her most notorious children a lesson. In all this we seem to have failed to observe
that she is being kind! What is needed
of us but to simply remain at home! When
the doctors, the police personnel, the vendors and workers are striving hard
for our sake, is it so hard to stay at home and try not to add to their burden? Is it not our bounded duty to make their
efforts not go in vain and act responsibly? We are blessed with a roof on our
heads, plenty of food and resources for our luxuries and entertainment at the
tip of our fingers. We are nowhere near
hiding in cellars, fearing terrorists, capture, air raids, with lack of food
and means. If people are bored and still complaining about being “stuck” at
home then it is time to question ourselves as to what are we without our jobs,
malls, multiplexes and restaurants. The lock-down seems to have stripped us of
the world we have created around us and brought us down to the bare necessities
– roti, kapda aur makaan (Food, clothing and shelter)!
The earth is
breathing easy, now that the teeming crowds are curtailed, the streaming traffic
is down, and the concrete forests are hushed to silence while the most
dangerous creature on earth is driving to hiding in his lair, chained by his
own misdeeds, enclosed within the walls of his bloating ego he has built around
himself and humbled by the taste of his own medicine. There is quiet outside as time stands still,
while the hum and roar of vehicles and machines is replaced with chirping of birds
all over, horse runs fearless and free on the roads and dolphins returned to
the coast of Mumbai!
THE EARTH IS HEALING!
-Nivedita
