Homemade Vaccine of Compassion
Where do we see ourselves in next five years? Isn’t this one of the most common question an interviewer asks? Each applicant prepares diligently to answer the question because they know it is going to be there. We customize it to please the interviewer but at the same time keep it as personal as possible so that we don’t lie to ourselves. On April 2020, if I may say so, the whole world is on the crossroad of asking each other and oneself, where do we see ourselves in next two years post COVID-19? Though I believe, we as ‘mankind’ shall overcome this, however, I am not sure if my aging parents or my diabetic friend would be able to make it. Will I have a job to feed my family or to pay the loan for the house I got last year? How long will it take for the economy be back on track? Will I be biologically different if I survive COVID-19 infection? Will I be able to go out without wearing a mask or even daydreaming about a bunch of angry coronaviruses on the doorknob? Will I be ever capable of not being judgmental when a person sneeze beside me? I can go on with a whole bunch of questions for two pages and I am sure everyone reading this would agree with me.
Then, should we just keep on asking questions? Or should we start making a mental math of where we want to take it from here? It took us a month to really digest this ‘new normal’ rather than trying to vomit it out. And now as we foresee nothing much is going to be back to normal in next two months, we are trying best to figure out how to make most of the newfound 24x7 hours. I cannot remember the last time in my adulthood I had 168 hours of a week under my control. And I cannot shy away but say that time management and finding a routine is a hard-earned skill. Some days of my week passes away in a flash of light and other days are like watching a sloth climbing a tree. Surprisingly on the other hand, there is our own biological clock constantly reminding you that you are losing it. Our body is so well designed to maintain a pattern that you just cannot ignore it. I am sure in past few days we all have taken a moment to appreciate how spontaneous and periodic our basic needs are. Even if we cannot sleep until 3 AM, we will be awakened in a usual time of the morning. You would need to run to the loo for emptying your bowel and need to have your morning cup of coffee.
I know there are plenty of information at our fingertips on this present pandemic situation and they are assets in so many ways. The epidemiological studies, the vaccine trial studies, the anecdotal studies, the socio-economic studies and of course the wellness discussions. Though they are extremely helpful most of the times, sometimes they make me feel so confused that I find it difficult to see the end of the tunnel. But on the bright side, I find so many people coming together and speaking out about their own difficulties. So, I too thought of sharing my feeling literally to say, ‘we are in this together’. To acknowledge that if you are going through any of the feelings which I wrote above or didn’t mention, then you are not alone.
However, this mission is not just to share my feeling but to ask the one question which I began with; where do I see myself after all of this? The short answer is I don’t know. But then again, I want to give some food for thought. To get started, I have begun acknowledging all small and big things made sense to me in a new way during this appalling time. The foremost realization which I have every minute, is how inconspicuous we are compared to the Nature. Every time mother Nature shows her power in full swing, we get dwindled to babies. If you search pictures of 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, you will be frightened to find uncanny similarities with current devastation. In last 100 years, we couldn’t prepare ourselves for the worst. The biggest nations of the world are succumbed to the huge number of deaths due to COVID-19. Thus, I feel it is our foremost responsibility to start showing respect to her and try to keep it a home for not just human, but for rest of all living creatures. It is quite bewildering, the way we have distanced ourselves from nature, that suddenly when a virus from wilderness encountered us, it is literally ‘foreign’ to our immune system. Surprisingly, its only humans who are surrendering to its adverse effects. I think sustainability is going to be my motto for the coming years of my life. There is always something we can do from our part to minimize the damage towards the Nature.
And being compassionate towards Nature can be easily extended for the community around us. We are constantly watching how each organization is trying their best to give it back to one in need. Millions of dollars have been donated for providing meal kits for poor nations, PPEs are being donated from every sector to the health care workers and the list goes on. This benevolence makes me believe that we still have our humane connection within us and can overcome the most testing time of 21st century. These are the moments when I realize that having food to fight hunger, enough cloths to cover your body and a shelter, is enough to be grateful for. Thus, if we are in a privileged position, we must continue donating whichever way possible. It may be by ordering food from the restaurants beside you, waiving the rents of people who might be losing their jobs or sometime just listening when someone is sharing their struggle.
This is an extremely chaotic period and reconnecting with my dear one is a trusted medicine for me. My husband and I have been living in two different cities for the last 2 years and found it surprisingly exciting to have meals together for a continuous stretch of a month. I must say household chores are dreadful and my husband is no different than the rest, of asking him a zillionth time to do one thing, but still I am enjoying it. I am phoning my friends to check on them rather than liking their pictures on Instagram. It has been a gratifying feeling for me. I am talking with my family in India all the time, to keep them busy with something as they are also going through a period of lockdown. I am sure, these realizations are going to stay with me or rather I will make sure they stay deep within me.
I certainly think each one of us is striving to do things now, which we always desired but never found enough time. But let’s not forget that, there are millions of people who don’t have the luxury of sitting back at home. They are either working their ass off or have lost their jobs/businesses and filing for unemployment claims. So, for now let’s start doing activities that touches not just our heart and soul, but others as well. I think it would make us happy and content. It would be our natural home-made vaccine until science can come up with one. We must make sure that the compassion stays with us through the time we say goodbye to COVID-19 and continue to make our Earth a better place to live for the generations to come.
P.S. — At this moment, lets shake our faith a little bit because doctors are secretly praying for divine interventions and priests are secretly begging for scientific miracle to happen.
