Viruses and humanity

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

The last time travelled in a flight was not because my college gave a semester break or because I was going for a vacation. It was because COVID’19 was officially a pandemic meaning it was now prevalent in most countries. I had been hearing and reading headlines about this disease from early part of this year but such a sudden disruption was not what I or rather anybody was prepared for. What most of us expected to be a two-week break turned out to seem never ending and still on going. 24^th of march was the first day of lockdown in India and since then one’s schedule of the day have changed and taken several patterns and yet the inactivity somehow prevails. I cannot generalize for all but this is how I saw it.

Lockdown begins and slowly the country’s needy were affected. This isn’t the first time considering that the capitalist world we live in. But this time it was on a larger and a deeper scale. Lakhs of people panicking as the lockdown began trying to go back to their families and homes and yet rebuked and beaten for that desire cause greater pain. Being a part of the privileged in the society I could do very less. The government tried to take as many steps as possible but everything went in vain because as a people pleaser, they know how to pretend to work and fool their supporters into thinking that they work hard. When videos and interviews of the migrant workers and poor laborers crying out of helplessness came out, the government was ironically busy making a 20-lakh crore plan on paper with our dear finance minister, who was frank enough to dismiss their plight and arrogantly mocked the empathizers as “dramebaaz”. Thousands of people losing jobs due to slump in economy. I was up to date on all this ongoing chaos.

But my life had to be on going too so as soon as I came home, I thought I’d start studying after two days gap but well, it turned out to be perpetual. So, I tried not to drown myself in lethargy and over thinking or any kind of negativity of that sort. I read, wrote, painted, cooked and just as every person tried to keep the enthusiasm of my middle-class background. I was told to clap from the balcony. Then came the task of lighting candles. I calmly witnessed most people cribbing about how they had a bad birthday or that how much they missed their friends. The lockdown extended and ended and extended again. Now all this imagery might not seem too interesting because it wasn’t the greatest of adventure undertaken. It was normal and in fact too normal to even be mentioned.

I would wake up late, sighing for another day; eat and look at my phone, maybe read or sketch if I felt like it, lay in the same place, eat more and again look at my phone and update myself on Instagram and Netflix entertainment. This extended to a point of self-doubt that I thought maybe I’d never be able to study again but I just ended up getting used to it. The best part of my day was to walk to the market to buy snacks but that too was changing as the days went buy. “Comfort and luxury come gifted to some of us”, I thought as I was returning from the super market one day with a bag of snacks for my evening cravings. Since the market is very close to my house, I walk and, on the way, there comes five to six property and real estate agencies, a hair care clinic, one construction site and other residential buildings. The market is basically two complexes opposite to each other with banks, gyms, salons, supermarkets, bakeries, medical shops, meat shops and fast food chains. But as days went by, I noticed a sudden surge in the number of homeless and under-privileged walking here and there begging for food only to be dismissed by most of us. I live in an ironic country. You see, the stray dog chasing the BMW series 6 car will never actually make up to it and even if it does, it still will be helpless but nevertheless I see three barking stray dogs running behind it.

The security guard of the complex notices my mask, checks my temperature and sprays sanitizer in my hand and allows me in. The security guard at the gate of the super market does the same just a few seconds later. So many things out of order in the world and I start to think as I pick my snacks one after the other. I usually complain about how I don’t get a bike and car that the few of my classmates at college get but is it fair when I see this poverty which is turning worse as people can’t even afford food? But I wanted to cry looking at the video by BBC where the worker with his family, walking from Ambala for 600km cries saying sarcastically that “the poor will manage but I hope Modi ji is fine”.

The cases still rise on a daily basis.

I walk my way back home as another young boy begs me for money and I guiltily ignore him and then he stops and shouts "Bhagwaan tera bhala nahi karega"(God won’t bless you). I came back and opened my bag of chips and watched Netflix for the next 3 hours in a cool room with my blanket on me.

Many issues came and were fought for and debated upon- Boys locker room, financial budget and COVID funds, Racism, mental health but all were forgotten too soon.

The killing of George Floyd was yet another episode I witnessed being fought for through my comfortable room in Gurgaon. The internet has really been a boon. An innocent man was choked to death under the vigilance and arms of a cop whose job was to protect the citizens. Riots and fights broke in the States as people took to the streets for the “Black lives matter” movement. As for us, we could only see it on our phones and televisions. Some of us even took to Instagram story to fight for it ignoring the fact that such and worse cases have been experienced by our own countrymen. Such is the influence of western culture that when there is caste or religious based violence most ignore it conveniently; police brutality has always persisted in India too by those who misuse their powers but well that’s too desi for some to even discuss. So while most of us conveniently say, ”police brutality in India exists but now is not the time to talk about it” is just absolutely PATHETIC. If we had solved one problem of one country at one time it would have taken us centuries nay millennium to reach where we are.

So, I try to do trends that will die, work that wont matter as many people will and are doing, but for how long? This year we shall blame it on the pandemic, ‘Nehru’ and ‘Chinese’ but what about next year?