When the misfortune comes, it happens in the most unexpected manner. No one would have thought that the smallest one-cell creature will bring life to the standstill. It is not a superstar or an atomic bomb or war amongst nations. Rather it is a fight between nature and homo sapiens and no guesses needed, nature has once again shown us "who is the boss".
The whole world is in a state of lockdown and isolation. Materialism has come to standstill and possibly will soon crumble under its own weight. All the to-do lists, homework, job duties, have just one-word Quarantine. Most manufacturing plants have closed except for essential services. IT companies have shifted to work from home model. The crisis is so big that one can not discount the possibility of a doomsday, at least for overcrowded countries like India. Even if we are able to control it, coronavirus will change our lives in many ways forever. The world will not be the same as before.
WhatsApp university is superbly thriving propagating useful, unuseful information and fake information like wildfire. A lot has already been written on social media, news portals, and multimedia platforms. Amid all the cacophony around coronavirus, it would be blasphemous to not give it deserving space on this blog.
Our reaction to Corona has been on the lines of a famous quote by Voltaire. At first, the world ignored Corona. Homo sapiens true to their deep-rooted arrogance, rejected nature's call of justice. Soon the ignorance turned into laughter. Indians were specifically joyous about Corona with slogans like "go corona go", local language songs, memes doing rounds on social media. As reality seeped in, the serious fight has begun. Only time will tell who will win the war but with the chirping of birds, return of dolphins to seacoast and dogs fighting on the streets, one can be sure that Corona (in turn nature) has already won the initial battle.
Our reaction to Corona has been on the lines of a famous quote by Voltaire. At first, the world ignored Corona. Homo sapiens true to their deep-rooted arrogance, rejected nature's call of justice. Soon the ignorance turned into laughter. Indians were specifically joyous about Corona with slogans like "go corona go", local language songs, memes doing rounds on social media. As reality seeped in, the serious fight has begun. Only time will tell who will win the war but with the chirping of birds, return of dolphins to seacoast and dogs fighting on the streets, one can be sure that Corona (in turn nature) has already won the initial battle.
However, what has happened is past and we are already sailing in the present. The existential question for us now is what lies ahead? What could happen 2 to 3 months down the line? What are different credible ways to deal with this crisis? And what is the ray of hope amid all the negativity, and pessimism? My next four blogs will discuss each of these aspects in detail. Till then, stay safe, stay home and stay alive.
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