As people in life, we all have our share of experiences, but there is no doubt that this national lockdown will be on our mind for a long time to come and bond us all together on some level as it’s an unforgettable experience. This global mass halt has introduced all of us to a new range of experience which impacts our life on many levels, personally, emotionally, financially and socially. This lockdown has compelled us all on a mass level to traverse through various emotions, starting right from surprise, disbelief, shock, pain, fear, resignation, acceptance, solutions and the survival spirit to get life back on track.
Sadly, during this lockdown, due to varied situations, we are witness to some stark ironies on so many fronts. On one side we are seeing the medical fraternity fighting to save so many lives, but they themselves are subjected to the highest risk due to lacking safety measure and there are no priorities to save them. We see millions locked safely in their homes, but on another side, millions ruthlessly dumped on the roads to make it home walking on their own for weeks. Political circuits though abuzz with media activities & solutions, actually failing to understand the ground impact and percolate help down to grass root level. Political opportunists have amassed millions to fight the crisis, but not provided relief worth a penny for the millions dying in crisis. We have seen how much countries have shared out to the masses to keep them safe, but ironically certain have collected from masses for pandemic care and public safety. Sadly, the human death toll has become a statistical inter-state scoreboard, but statesmen are unmoved and in no state to learn from the strong surviving and winning states. Silently from our homes, we have been witness to a visual tirade of statistics displaying human lives being lost to the pandemic but no regard to the homeless human lives ruthlessly tossed out on the streets, to fend for themselves without any social support.
Our everyday life too is witness to further ironies. On a normal working day, we could not wait for the weekend to be home and spend time with family, but now all of us yearn to head out and travel, breathe some fresh air, move about freely to meet up with friends. Even nature is breathing and as we are compelled to be inside our homely cages, animals and birds are reaching out freely outside their domains onto the empty streets. Children who used to rush into their favorite neighbor’s arms, now distantly wave their sanitizer laden hands with conflicted expressions. Going to a mall was a routine trip, but now it will be a conscious choice considering the need to balance absolute necessities and health safety. Survival predominantly was always dependent on going out to work, and suddenly many organizations are adapting to work-from-home options. We were carefree, never questioning the availability of any everyday product right from a matchbox to the car, but today we have to manage with what’s available that reality has become a prime reason of concern. Every commodity has become precious and it’s not surprising that even a small bottle of beer feels precious, no less than a priced bottle of champagne.
For all of us, this lockdown has been an eyeopener on so many levels. It’s amazing to see how the human psyche responds to various challenges, shocking experiences, grief, and sometimes our own responses surprise us as it introduces us to our own core human nature and inert reality. No matter what it reveals, further speculation is an individual choice that can only help us evolve or regress and it’s a continuous option everyone has to consciously make. Somewhere this lockdown has brought everyone’s life to a pause and forced them to that brink of choice where they need to now reflect upon, how to shape their life ahead on all levels.
So ironically, a lockdown can actually be an opportunity to open up our minds. Choose wisely.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
