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.
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