Will we become better human beings after the Corona pandemic ends?
Economies have slowed down and there are these abstract thoughts about lockdowns across the world giving a chance to the earth to breathe and all this being God’s way of telling us to slowdown. I mean the pollution levels actually did come down, but does that really change anything? Will we humans change? Maybe not.
I am from India, currently studying in Berlin, Germany as my privilege allowed me to. A lot of my countrymen were quick enough to rush back to India as long ago as talks about travel bans started making rounds. While I chose to stay back, the situation can be overwhelming at times.
But to be honest, I do not know how to feel anymore. There’s this constant mix of emotions which sometimes makes me feel that my heart is going to explode. There’s a constant tussle between trying to make the most out of this quarantine, taking care of my mental health, my personal happiness and between the absolutely bizarre things happening back at home in India. I do not know where to draw the line anymore. I can rant over and over about how India has gone to the dogs. The India I knew, has been cleverly shattered into pieces in the last few years, pieces that can take forever to join back together. But I will refrain from getting into too much into it here.
This pandemic is no less than a war. While you can sense the good and bad in people almost everyday, life during crisis can just bring it out in extremes. Stories about people getting down on the streets helping complete strangers melts my heart. Some I know personally, and I feel so lucky that I had a chance to know them and feel so proud of the choices that they have made. I hate that there always has to be a but, but what breaks my heart is that the masses still choose to be on the selfish side.
After the lockdown was announced, thousands of migrant workers went out of work. They had to leave the places they were staying at and had to head to home, thousands of miles away, on feet. On feet. Some of them were sprayed with bleach. Sprayed with bleach. Life of the poor never really mattered to us anyway, they are just numbers in this whole population game. We’ve always excused ourselves by worrying about our lives. But when we have enough time today to reflect, we fail to do so again. We fail to acknowledge our privilege, or maybe purposely choose to ignore it. I do not expect everyone to go help on the ground, or to donate, that’d be stupid, not everyone has the capacity to. But I wish for empathy, to acknowledge other human lives, to just even try to imagine the situation they’ve been put into.
The Prime Minister has made calls for uniting people twice now, to thank our doctors and all the people working day and night to save us from a disaster that is on its way or maybe is already here. But there are still not enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. While we were hypocrite enough to applaud them, the medical staff is being asked to vacate their homes by people they’ve lived around for years because these people fear that doctors and nurses will spread the virus to them.
The Indian media lives for TRPs. It has been losing its credibility over the years, but at a time when we need it the most, the media still chooses to play on communal lines. It has reached a level that even the virus couldn’t kill the hatred being spewed in the name of religion. In fact, we’ve used it as a weapon to spew more hate. I would blame the people, but propaganda isn’t for everyone to understand and fight against. Although, it has fueled my belief that education could mean absolutely nothing. Even if we survive this pandemic, we won’t survive the violence that will follow the hatred that is echoing in our minds and hearts. Hatred always comes back to haunt.
I don’t know any better but when all this is over, let’s not go back to normal. Let’s not forget the things that are making us happy and keeping us sane in these troubled times. Let’s not forget those who didn’t have the privilege to be happy, the privilege of having a roof on their head, food on their plate and the intimacy of their loved ones. Let’s not forget the ones who risked their lives to save ours. Let’s go back with with gratitude, empathy and love. And let’s not forget that we have a long battle ahead of us to fight the evil that will remain.
