Dr A S Bhatia
From March 2020 to the March 2022, the pandemic which this generation has faced, made us realize the true values of life. In spite of all the miseries the pandemic has brought globally , whether in terms of loss of precious life, total collapse of global economy , seeing the most unfortunate scene of our life time when the cremation grounds were not having the space to cremate the new arriving dead bodies, the rivers having scores of floating bodies, the unfortunate incidents of very near relatives abandoning the victims of corona, people dying unattended, where money lost all its power ,as the most rich and influential could not get a lease of life from the wrath of deadly virus, inspite of having crores in their pocket.
But at last after facing it for two years, we could see the silver lining which this pandemic has, as it made us to revisit our life and its goal! It was 31st December 2019, life was going at its usual speed , the new year party , Drink and Dine , a lot of invitation from friends , Nobody had ever imagined that the life was going to take such an turn, that the meaning of being alive was going to change forever! It was during the lockdown period that many of us realized that our old ageing parents are also there in our homes! It was during the lockdown again that many of us came to know our next door neighbours! Sky became more Blue, The air became pollution free, Water more clear, Crime was falling, birds started appearing in large numbers on trees and stray dogs became all the important for many as new friends.
Before the pandemic, which engulfed the whole world, everyone seemed to be running hundred meters race, with full speed and without any break till the wheels of life were paralysed by the infamous virus. I was also among the runners, running for the past thirty years after my childhood was over, as was the case with most middle class families. No one seemed to have enough time to watch the rising Sun, to spend few hours on roof top on a full moon night, to listen to the beautiful chirping of birds in the early hours of morning. Corona , inspite of having caused havoc in this century, must be credited with giving a reason to mankind to rethink and revisit the way ,today’s modern man is living his life.
Aftermath of the pandemic, many new lessons have been learned, the pandemic has given rise to many new relationships, although the relation of humans were shattered and thrown to winds by many unfortunate incidents, but as a silver lining in the dark clouds, we must see the positivity this virus has spread! There were free langars, food and medicine were distributed in every nook and corner of Jammu, Many social organizations and even individual persons came to the rescue of poor and hungry. It was very pleasant to read news whereby the Lt. Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, had declared that let no one should go hungry in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir during Lock downs. It is was indeed a marvelous statement showing the concern of head of the institutional office of the state and showed the emotional linkage of the office of Lt Governor with the common masses!
The most productive positive outcome of the pandemic was that many of us developed love for stray animals and birds. During the earlier lockdowns ,when most of the eatries and Dhabas were suddenly closed, stray animals were badly affected where they were fed the left over food by the owners of eateries. I saw many people coming to their rescue and regular food was provided to these animals. Back to my home my daughter started feeding Stray Dogs in the month of March 2020 with only two or three dogs but surprisingly within few days, there were near about twenty five dogs fed by her on daily basis, and I had to hire a cook to prepare food for such large number of Dogs, till the restrictions on lockdown were lifted completely.
Virus drastically changed the way of life in Society. The social distancing concept became central in all personal relationships. One more important blessing this pandemic had was on the poor families of marriageable girls. As one of my acquaintance, a carpenter by profession and earning on daily basis, married two of her daughters in the pandemic and said this virus has come to my rescue or otherwise I couldn’t have married my daughters because of financial burden. In pandemic marriages were conducted under all restrictions with only few people allowed to attend the function thereby making marriages a less costly affair. I looked at his face and thought, “A pandemic is the horrifying way to improve our social system!”
There was reduction in travelling during the pandemic and subsequently fewer vehicles on the road and with fewer road traffic accidents, less pollution and it gave time to the blue planet to recharge and replenish.
Pandemic forced the families to spend more time together. Stay at home, work from home and closure of schools gave much required time for families to stay together. A survey conducted by MomPoll, where 2000 British parents were questioned, and four in five believed their families have formed a stronger bond than before. “Pandemic again gave us an opportunity to show our children how to make the best of even the worst situations in life” they further added.
People became more spiritual and religious. Ayurveda which was being overshadowed by Allopathic system got a blockbuster revival ! People looked towards Tulsi, Ashwganda, Haldi, Amla, Malathi to escape from the wrath of virus. More digitalization came into vogue. Online classes, work from home made all those to get themselves trained in latest Computer technology who were earlier reluctant to adapt to new technology. Another magical effect of virus was seen in the sudden increase in annual Health Budget and sky rocketing improvement in the health care delivery system! Oxygen generation plants were created even at district hospitals! Number of oxygen beds increased fantastically! If a pandemic is the driving force to improve the health care delivery system then a pandemic will always be a welcomed storm!
During lockdowns, I learned that there are very few among us who can celebrate both Life and Death. I got a great opportunity to read many mythological books including Srimad Bhagwat Gita, Vishnu Puran, Mahabharata among several others. But the ultimate lesson I got from all is that we should be able to rejoice both in victory and defeat! As humans we have to face many difficult situations, but we have to face it without any sorrow. Now as we are in deceleration phase of the pandemic, it is the time to come together, to restart our life with new concept, how this human life needs to be lived! It’s all about giving the best you can give to this world to make it more beautiful. Contribute in what so ever capacity you can, to make human life more comfortable, otherwise we will repent when the next natural disaster strikes our door! Otherwise as Mirza Ghalib said,
Ranj se khugar hua insaan to mit jaata hai ranz,
Mushkilen mujh par padi’n itni ki asan ho gaye’n
(The author is professor and head department of Biochemistry, Government medical College Jammu.)
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