Probably, this
is one of the most unprecedented situations witnessed by humankind. We have
heard that some countries, due to disease, war or terrorist activities, had to
face some form of lock-down in the past. But, hardly one would have ever
imagined that a submicroscopic infectious agent called
‘Virus’ could cause such misery for humankind.
Surprisingly, every billionaires, every rich nation,
every militaristically powerful nation, seem to have surrendered in one way or
other. No nation could claim to have successfully tackled the crisis. Some of
them would be expecting that new ‘season’ could help in killing the virus, in
the absence of much concrete scientific data.
However, as the phrase goes, “Every cloud has
a silver lining', we also need to sit down and think for the positives
in this situation!! As humans, who have the unique ability to think, it is time
we use this ability to understand the situation and evaluate ourselves. For, it
is this evaluation about our way of life which will help us to prepare better
and make our lives more live-able, post this COVID-19 crisis.
In my personal life, I have thought of the following
things. It’s not that we do not know these ideas and values. However, till the
time we don’t come across a situation like this, we fail to realize the value
of so many important things in life.
Firstly, it is amply clear that ‘Simple Living’ is possible, and even
desirable. What I understand by simple living is that- we can survive, and
survive with dignity, even without not-so-necessary material things. We have
seen that in India, people are surviving with bare minimum items and somehow living
their lives.
The sad part is that we fail to give a thought
towards them. We become so selfish, sometimes, that if we do not get what we
want in our lives, we start cribbing and complaining. By virtue of being rich
and privileged, we generally take things for granted.
Secondly, we invest most of our resources in
becoming further rich, famous. No doubt, this is not something to be critical
about. But, in this process, sometimes, we compromise on utmost important
things in life- relationships, which are not, literally, ‘things’.
We generally see and hear big businessman, administrators,
managers, CEOs, professors or others saying to their family members, “Sorry, I don’t have time to meet, as I
am having business meetings”. When business meetings become more important
than “family meetings”, we can imagine our attitude towards the important
aspects of life.
Thirdly, I also learnt that “all humans are equal”
in terms of everything. It is we who differentiates for our selfish reasons.
For some Christianity is best, for others Islam is the best and so on. However,
Virus did not leave any section untouched. The simple reason is- Nature never
differentiates. It is we who does!!
Entire humanity has become one in this situation. It
is not possible to tackle this situation alone. But, why don’t we follow this
in normal times? How come some people guide the entire humanity and they are
able to create fissures among our own people. It is a pertinent question to be
pondered over. This situation provides an opportunity.
Fourthly, the situation also taught me that we must
help the less-privileged ones in the society. The vulnerability of some people
does not get revealed during normal times. But, it is not that they are not
vulnerable. In the process of acquiring wealth for ourselves and our family, we
must not forget the larger section.
Most of us belong to very humble family. But,
overtime, we do well in life and become successful and enjoy all the privileges of life. Is this because we are the gifted one? Or, it
is because we have done greater hard-work than most of the other people? The obvious
answer is NO!
Then, what is the reason? The simple reason is that
many people in society have helped us in one way or the other. Some gave us loan
to complete our education. Government of India gave us scholarship to study in
one of the premier institutes of this nation. Many others gave us emotional
support. Some other helped us with academics. It is the collective effort of
society which helps in preparing its member. We would do great injustice to them if we don’t give back to them in one way or the other.
Last, but not the least, it teaches us to be humble and grateful in life. Life is
highly uncertain. The UK Prime Minister is admitted in ICU. So, unfortunate
things can happen to anyone. Hence, life is impermanent. This fact needs to be
remembered every day. We must pray to the divinity to keep us, our family and
the larger society healthy. And, we all have a role to play in this regard.
