Dr A S Bhatia
“Hungry man is always an angry man”, was the favorite piece of advice of my father in early seventiee when I was about ten year of age, I did not give much importance to this saying of my father untill I encountered the first severest pandemic of my life in 2020.
“Babu Ji , Kaya Phir se Lock Down Lagne wala hai??”(“Sir, are we heading towards another Lockdown?”). I looked towards the direction of the desperate voice. Radhika , a daily labourer with her four kids surrounding her, was standing in front of me with sign of despair and fear on her face. She is a migrant labourer from Chatisgarh living with her family in a vacant plot next to my house. I looked at her, her dry, lusterless eyes were tearing me apart, and her kids were pulling the dirty piece of cloth with which she was trying to hide her body. I could not gather the courage to tell her, “Yes the situation is going out of control and another lock down may be in the offing!” She belonged to a poorest of the poor family, whose husband is a dead drunkard man, a daily labourer earning their meals on daily basis “Sir Madam Nahi aye?”(Sir Madam has not come?”). She was asking about my wife Harleen, who in the previous lockdown took care of the family in providing them food. I understood, this was the unhidden fear in the mind of Radhika about the impending lockdown. Now I could gather the courage and said, “Don’t worry she will come here if the lock down is imposed again.” And I could see the changing impression on the face of Radhika in a minute. She smiled at me.
Who is responsible for the recent spurt in cases of the pandemic after we successfully fought the first wave? The administration did the best on their part in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir in containing the pandemic with best National figures in term of death and recovery rate. But what we as general public did? We threw all protocols to wind in this year. Wearing a mask was forgotten thing. Partying in hotels, in restaurants, crowded markets, no social distancing’ as the pandemic had vanished. We are responsible for the sudden spurt in cases. We cannot blame the mutant and double mutant virus for the resurge. But the impact of the pandemic is again going to be borne by the poorest of the poor. The fear of spending hungry nights with children asking for food was hounding the daily earners. We by genetic constitution are borne as humans but are very fragile as compared to animals who are biologically stronger to survive the adverse impact of nature.
Back home, I was confronted by my daughter Sapneet, a staunch dog lover, waiting for me at the door. “Papa, is another lockdown being enforced?” I looked at her, Radhika the poor labourer from Chatisgarh, seemed to be staring at me through Sapneet’s eyes. I was taken aback by Sapneet. “But dear Sonu (nick name of my daughter) How come you are concerned?” “Yes! Now you and your friends are going to have another opportunity to get yourself photographed in selfies while handing over a bag of five kg of rice to young poor women. Just think Papa, what brutal murder of self respect Radhika and women like her must had faced in last year while taking ration and getting themselves clicked by a camera!!! The fight was between the self respect of being a women and trying to escape the agony of being having hungry children at home without a food! Obviously, Papa, Hunger won over the self respect during the first wave of pandemic!” I felt miserably suffocated in front of my young beautiful daughter with glowing face indicating the effect of protectiveness in her life as compared to the dull and lusterless face of Radhika reflecting the helplessness and hopelessness.
The flash back of March 2020 started rolling down by my memory lane as of an old movie. The word of my daughter had jolted me from inside. I recollected many news items published in news paper and many videos clippings running on the TV channels showing poor hungry people, feeling the agony of being hungry standing in long queues, getting a bag of ration and being forced to face the camera to get them clicked while receiving the ration! My humble request to all social organization during the second wave of pandemic, not to morally murder the poor , the poor do have self respect, please do distribute medicines, food, clothes as without the help of social organizations it will not be possible to win this second wave and do click the photographs while distributing the ration and capture your charity in camera for your official record or for sending it to your big bosses but for GOD sake don’t send it to media houses for publications or running in the channels without the informed consent of the recipient of the charity, and the Media also owes a responsibility of not showing the face of recipients of charity as they cannot show the face of a rape victim, showing the face of young women receiving charity without her consent, in my opinion contributes to moral and social rape. Publicity to the acts of charity is important as it may encourage others to go for further acts of Charity, but charity for the purpose of publicity is not at all acceptable. I was amused to see a picture on social media where eight to ten well build persons were seen handing over two bananas to an old and fragile man. All the donors were looking towards the camera and the old man with extended arms was staring the two bananas.
I could not forget the words of one of my laboratory technician , trained by me in Government Medical College Jammu and working in a private laboratory and was shown the door during the first wave due to lockdown, coming to my office and crying with tears rolling down her cheeks, “Sir the training you imparted to us is of no use, as I am unable to feed my two kids and am also unable to go and stand in the queue to get free ration for the fear of being getting photographed!!”
The Media also has a role in this second wave of pandemic, Do show the photos of persons distributing food, doing social work but resist from showing the faces of recipients of charity. The poor is already most severely affected, don’t further humiliate them by showing their face on print or other media especially pictures of young children and women as it may be a wonderful pleasure to the persons doing charity but may not be a welcome step for the youngsters receiving the charity or otherwise we will be sowing the seeds of inequality and resentment in the young minds as had been witnessed in French revolution which was mainly as a result of the ancient regime’s failure to manage social and economical inequality.
By projecting this social and economical inequality in the guise of corona pandemic, are not we going to produce the rebellions among the young generation of poor population? In this pandemic some people are struggling for one meal in a day while others are stock piling on pasta. As all businesses are shuttered, unemployment is on the rise and the feeling of helplessness in this unprecedented situation; we owe to behave in a more responsible manner to protect the dignity of the poor. Or otherwise as Mirza Ghalib said:
Unke Dekhne Se jo,
Aa Jaati Hai Mukh Par Ronak,
Vo Samajhte Hain ki,
Bimar ka Haal Accha Hai.!,
( The author is Controller Examination J&K Paramedical / Nursing Council Jammu and professor and Head Department of Biochemistry, Government Medical College Jammu.
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