India and it’s COVID journey
It’s 7am and my alarm goes off. I wake up, pick up my phone to check on the happenings in India. Some headlines read – ‘People are dropping dead like flies’, then, I turn to social media frantically and I read tweets where people are sending SOS messages looking for beds. Tears started to well up and helplessness kicks in. I get texts that people I know have passed before their expiry date. How? All they needed was oxygen!
But, like every cloud has a silver lining, it has been heartening to see how people have been helping each other on the ground which tells us that there is still humanity. Then, you read there are some good samaritans who have not been able to grieve or mourn the loss of their loved ones as they had to save others lives. All we can do as Indians is be thankful to these good folks for going out of their way to help!
However, this has to be said – people who are still supporting this government should hang their heads in shame! This culture to make God out of mortals has brought us here. Your constant need to respect ONE man by disrespecting thousands who passed needs to STOP! The fact that you are worried about the image in the western media rather than the crisis at hand is quite telling that you are seeking validation from them! Every time I see a SOS tweet or a post, I seethe with anger and indignation – no tax paying citizen should be left to fend for themselves for basic needs such as oxygen. It is quite unfathomable that human lives have been reduced to fudged numbers.
Your arguments about our mortality rates or high population right now are coming across as insensitive. Imagine a child who lost both parents or a mother who lost her new born and is battling for her own life or someone who is scrambling to get a bed for their loved one. Would you tell them that?
Finally but, most importantly, let’s talk about us, the general public – The butterfly effect from chaos theory states that, a slight change or a seemingly irrelevant event can lead to an unpredictable series of great and impactful consequences. In simpler terms, think about how COVID 19 started, 44 cases of pneumonia of unknown etilogy were reported in Wuhan which sent the whole world into lockdown (butterfly effect!). As someone who spent a entire year in lockdown alone in a rabbit hole(read jail!) , I found it extremely disrespectful to people like me when fellow Indians ditched all the COVID protocols. I would cringe looking at people and political leaders not wearing masks, had many arguments with friends and family, but no one paid heed!
While, we shall make the government accountable for their colossal failure, have we looked within? Even today when I have conversations with friends and family, I can sense the callousness in their tones. I think that as Indians, we unfortunately, fail to balance pride and restraint. I wish we chose restraint over pride. Hope better sense prevails from this and we learn from our lessons. Sending healing vibes to every one who needs it!