It’s a Double Whammy, it’s a Double Loss, and it’s a Double Jeopardy

 

The first and the foremost loss is the most tragic one: Losing one’s friends and near ones to a deadly invisible Virus casting a dark web of disease and death around us. No one is spared: Young and Old, Rich and Poor, Famous Celebrities and Common People, Leaders, and followers.  Imagine a school friend so full of life posting all kinds of photos on social media: with his own kids enjoying ice cream, visiting a tourist destination. One fine morning you read in a school group that he is no more. The Facebook wall is still painted with fresh likes and comments posted twelve hours back. Imagine the Brother of a young employee calling you to inform his demise.  This employee had asked for his sick leave a few days back.  Imagine, your parents informing you about the death of an aged uncle. This has been a routine for the last couple of weeks for those living in this part of the world. Imagine the real individuals, living persons with whom you have spent some time, shared emotions, shared objectives, and shared events turning into a set of memories. These friends are lost and they won’t return though maybe normal life will resume someday.

Each day comes with tragic news and is filled with worry, uncertainty, and anxiety. Feelings of helplessness add up to the misery for those separated to the battleground by continents.  The only thing we can do from here is to help monetarily to those known and through channels of charity. The superego of having everything under control is bruised and beaten and we are at the mercy of the destructive effects of this virus. But then let’s accept that this is war and we have to fight. We have to fight to help each other. As a society we still see profiteering, black-marketing, flouting of rules and norms that will help us find this contagion.  Let’s try to have a conscience not to indulge in these.  We need to remove the bottlenecks in the supply chain of medicines, oxygen, and Vaccines. Remember, each one of us is a soldier. We need to help our own people. Each one of us has to do our job to ensure continuity. Those entrusted with Governance and Healthcare, have more responsibilities. And all the bureaucracy and leadership across political divides should unite to fight. And with this collective resolve, we will fight. Our nation, our cities, and our People are suffering.

The second loss I was referring to is the loss of something I call friendships.  Here what I mean by friendship is brotherhood or cohesiveness of a collective resolve during this calamity.  We are not a society of connected individuals fighting a common enemy. We are stranded individuals on ideological islands independently fighting the storm. Our social and mainstream media is filled with fights between ideologies.  I have seen some intellectuals discarding an honest charity drive just because the organization is affiliated with a certain ideology.  But so long as these individuals contribute it’s immaterial how they contribute. With stakes and stress due to the loss of life and livelihood, these fights further result in bitterness. People have unfriended or shut out friends due to these ideology-driven fights. These are the friends with whom they have had a great time in the past. The disease is already killing friends literally. Let this negativity not lead you to end your friendship with a few more in these difficult days.

 Our only line of thought process is through our political leanings these days. Most are blaming those in power for system failure while some are defending. Criticism is also right as its job of government to ensure wellbeing. There could have been a couple of wise calls regarding election rallies and people gatherings. There could have been some proactive efforts on modernization and planning of the already dilapidated health infrastructure inherited. During the first wave, we were spared. It was maybe due to our genetic resistance power or something else.  Also, there were some tough decisions taken by those in power for which they were criticized for failing economic growth and inflicting misery on the poor. It’s a complex issue controlling a democratic country of our size.  We relaxed our guards, we picnicked, partied. I still remember our Facebook walls were filled with such stories as late as in March. The mutant nature of the Virus beat us during the second wave. And hell broke loose as if on an enemy design.

Yes, we were caught in a storm and we were unprepared. Now that we are facing it we should all be now focusing on only one thing: How we can be a soldier in this supporting the Government?  This is needed at a village, town, city, state, or national level whichever political dispensation the government may be headed by.  Our media is collaborating with International media to point out our failures as a country. I know this is not a time to defend the mistakes but this is also not a time to pursue political agenda which anyway people will answer democratically. The whole negativity and helplessness portrayed by social media and mainstream media further impact this collective resolve.  I have nothing against international or internal media to point us as a failure and sensationalize the pain and grief we suffer. It’s their job. But it’s our job to be convinced that we as a nation are not failures. Let’s take care individually and follow rules collectively. We will fight back and we shall overcome. Then we will learn from this and come out wise.

Let’s focus only on positives. Let’s appreciate those who help. We have various individuals, organizations in India and across the globe trying unconditional meaningful help.   Winning small battles will lead us to win this war. We already have lost friends close by.  Let’s be friends together in this.

 

Expérience De Mort Imminente (Near Death Experience)

 

Nothings appeal to us more than a French term to describe anything. In this case, it is Near-Death Experience (NDE). This French term was proposed by French psychologist Victor Egger as a result of discussions in the 1890s among philosophers and psychologists concerning climbers' stories of the panoramic life review during falls. They also collected subjective observations by workers falling from scaffolds, war soldiers who suffered injuries, climbers who had fallen from heights, or other individuals who had come close to death (near-drowning, accidents). This subject is a very serious topic that borders on Psychology, Science, and Philosophy.  But I am not a proponent of each specialty but wanted to share my own experiences of NDE. And incidentally, I had two of them. The only purpose of sharing is to be able to help others navigate through this and come out of it.

The first NDE happened when I was in my last year as a teenager. Gotten into the most premier engineering institute in India, life was ahead with full of promise. It was the first DurgaPuja festival of our hostel life after the start of the first semester. To reach home for the first time leaving it for education, we got into Geetanjali Express unreserved for thirty six hours journey till Pune. We got into a sort of stability sharing seats with few friends who were lucky to get reservations. I was on the top berth.  Geetanjali was galloping at very high speed after midnight. Suddenly there was a bang and the entire bogey got thrown off track. Inside there was a complete blackout and we at the top tumbled on below berth.  There was a burning smell and a lot of dust sprung around. The total blankness, while I was fully conscious, was the hallmark of this NDE. The darkness was scary and sill I remember as I tried to comprehend the situation. Soon noises started around with few torches here and there, and finally, there was a sense of movement of people around. Nothing was as assured as I felt that day through the existence of life around. Then we got out of that bogey sprung six feet above the ground on the space near the track. We assembled around, collected our luggage, and waited in the middle of nowhere for someone to rescue us. We saw the first light of dawn and witnessed scenes of a derailed train and injured people around us.  Gosh, it was really a narrow escape from the inevitability for every person Numbed as we were; we just waited for the next train to go home. We endured 40 hours of delay but to reach home alive was itself a celebration. But at that age, we were so unaffected that I remember enjoying the rest of the journey as if nothing had happened. But the lesson learned was to look ahead without getting sacred and scarred.

Life moved on for decades and the second NDE came as part of ailment which led me into hospitalization. Things deteriorated so drastically that I had to be admitted to another hospital for advanced care.  The only memory I have about this entire episode from being at home feeling drowsy till waking up inside an ambulance for this transfer is of two very strong people lifting me up on a stretcher. I mistook them for being much-dreaded Yamdoots. Oh, this is what happens when you die!  I was thrilled then despite being weak and helpless. I felt I had a chance to know and experience what happens when one dies. But then I realized that I won't meet my people again. No, I did not want to die. I don’t recollect anything later but inside that hospital bed, I remember thinking to myself. I have to live and survive to complete my agenda. And to Survive, I need to toss myself from one side to another myself without any help. If I do that, I will live.  I had to move. It seems the nurse tried to hold me. But I later came to know that I resisted her and finally tossed. The entire life span of mine flashed during that movement from one side to another with all achievements, failures, happiness, sadness. I remember my victory then. After taking that first step to surviving, I was confident that I will fight every step and I did.  

Hospitalization offered me an opportunity to reflect upon and recalibrate everything in life.   Lessons were learned from every failure. Each Victory was analyzed. Positive sets of memories were cherished and each sad memory was locked in encrypted storage. NDE is a good teacher. The immense amount of pain I endured, taught me to celebrate every moment of existence as a festival, value every relationship like a treasure while discarding everything negative as trash.  I still believe that after an accidental exit from the stage as an actor on the theatre of life, it was that small movement of mine that led me to the escape route to reenter the stage and continue the act.

Experts argue that the general features of the near-death experience include impressions of being outside one's physical body, visions of deceased relatives, and religious figures, but for me, two things stand out: assurance given by movement around in that pitch darkness and sense of survival given by one voluntary movement.

As we see a lot of people fighting against a disease, it’s very important for everyone to believe that you will overcome it. No point getting scared by disease whatever it may be. You need to get through it and yes you can turn over this page and write your story next page.

Similarly, our nation had the first wave and now the second wave can be compared to NDEs in terms of collective functioning. We survived first and we will survive the second. Let’s stop blaming everything and try to help each other as we can and we will fight this invisible enemy.