2020 was an
unprecedented year. We experienced a drastic change in our daily routine, and an
overnight upheaval in our freedom, luxuries, social fabric,
even livelihoods.
2021 is level
2 of this calamity wherein we are witnessing a closer impact to human life and
humanity. India has been hit harder this year and we have seen personal impact
in almost every family due to the deadly second wave of corona. The virus is
mutating rapidly and our readiness to handle this pandemic has fallen short
despite having had a year’s head start, even with burden of our dense population.
As a people
manager in an IT company, I’ve been privy to challenges faced by many team
members in 2020 as well as 2021, across multiple cities. The horror of this
year is unspeakable. I had given up following news in newspapers and TV long
ago. I am now scared to check the same on social media. Whatsapp has become the
bane of my existence – I hear of so many +ve cases of known people, deaths of those
I knew, as well as suffering of people due to scarcity of life-saving
resources. And then there has always been the impact to several industries, decline
of entire businesses, loss of jobs, insecurity in work and life.
No amount
of yoga, breathing exercises and meditation is able to contain the anxiety and
anger anymore. Tempers are flaring at the drop of a hat; people are either
walking on tiptoe with family, friends, neighbors and colleagues, or they are
getting into verbal or physical spats. Suppressed emotion, intolerable grief,
constant anxiety is giving rise to depression and mental health issues. Children
too are caught up in it now. Everyone is so busy trying to cope and survive
that it’s difficult to be there for others anymore. I read an article where
even the mental health experts and counselors were experiencing fatigue due to
the sheer number of cases they were handling daily.
The enormity
of this historic disaster in the intellectual 21st century cannot be
denied anymore. The collective human ego has been crushed into oblivion; our so-called
progress and limitless knowledge have failed us when we need it the most. The facade
of sophistication has been removed and the ugly faces of many have come to the
fore (nothing to do with lack of salons).
There are
still those that find fulfillment in helping the less fortunate, praying and
following the social distancing rules. But am wondering if their numbers are
enough to sustain this species or we are on the brink of witnessing the extinction
of the homo sapiens. If the disease does not take us, will our mental health
issues destroy us through suicides and general anarchy brought on by this calamity?
Will the disruption in formal education of the young ones cause them to rebel
and self-sabotage?
Survival is
the name of the game currently, but what comes next? Surely, it’s a long road
ahead to recovery. Or maybe the human species itself is mutating due to this
pandemic and we will never get back to whatever felt normal before. The outside
world may get restored to normalcy eventually, but our internal landscape will
be transformed for eternity.
This situation
reminds me of this difference between Hell and Heaven-
There is a kitchen where soup is prepared in huge cauldrons
and the only tool available to drink the soup are long-handled spoons. People who had landed in Hell were standing around the steaming pots,
starving but unable to serve themselves the soup due to spoons being too long to reach their mouths.
The people who were in Heaven did not give up. Someone thought of an idea. If I take soup in the spoon and
point it to my neighbor’s mouth, he can eat it at least. Soon, everyone stood
in a circle, fed their neighbor and survived the ordeal.
Let us try
to hang on to our sanity for as long as we can. Each of us will have to find his/her
own way of coping but know that we are all in it together. Let us control the
judgements, the expectations and the angst. Let us try to find catharsis through non-destructive
ways and support each other along the way.
God bless.
Children's
summer camps are so much more interesting - Anu attended a creative
writing and logical thinking class so far. They actually taught how to
write a story, and also how to think, via playing live, online games,
solving puzzles etc! The fact that it is virtual is hardly a barrier to
learning - infact minute nuances are being registered and applied by
the students. Anu amazes with surprisingly insightful opinions sometimes. I may not have aged much in last 15 months but my daughter
sure has matured by leaps and bounds! My colleagues, family, friends, neighbors, maids, and even acquaintances, have a much better understanding of who I am and vice versa. Socializing may have been halted but social life goes on virtually via social media, conference calls and online forums. 
