Life is never going to be the same, at least not for a long time. Roads are still empty, factories are only partly working and life dotting the roadsides has gone back to the village. I hesitate to press the doorbell of my neighbor, to walk out in the open, to occupy a public utility, to travel in public transport. My shadow is perhaps a 3X factor of my physical self and both of us struggle to locate spaces that will accommodate us both. The combing of my hair and the creaming of the face is now perfunctory in front of the physical mirror as I am more preoccupied with the mirror in my soul.
The doorbell now waits for the whole day just to be rung up once by the housekeeping staff to collect garbage. The anticipation of opening the door for the morning newspapers, daily deliveries and for my help is a thing of the past. Day and night seem indistinguishable except for the color of the sky. Silence has draped the world much like dark colored curtains on the windows. Imagine asking the computer what date and day it is.
Chat conversations are peppered with spelling and grammar gaffes and so what. Those are minor compared to the ones that have resulted in millions taking to the streets and dead bodies sharing space with living ones. Aspirations of making it big and taking on the world downsized to just staying alive and getting home somehow. Climbing mountains was not important, nor winning trophies, the greatest achievement just boiled down to how many you could feed so that they did not sleep hungry.
Sales of vanity causing products tanked, but so did the faith in political processes and leadership. All that was empty, so was the likes and hearts on narcissistic posts. All you wanted or who you followed was the one who could get you help or gave you correct information and perspective. The bubbles of religion, caste, race, and class, nation got burst, you realized nothing gives you immunity because the virus was egalitarian, it did not differentiate. The mind pendulum oscillated constantly, based on the sentiment of information that waded and invaded through social media and personal networks.
The heroes were neither the politicians nor the celebrities but just the ordinary folks, who dug into their pockets, spent millions in minutes and hearts trying to feed and ferry. For the first time, we were not fighting trolls, we were fighting power, privilege, ignorance, inefficiency, apathy, and insensitivity. Peddling religion and caste became secondary, securing jobs, cash flow, health and attendant facilities became paramount.
Civil society, health and sanitation workers, professionals, intelligentsia, long neglected by politicians became the harbingers of hope and positivism and the leaders with a purpose. They had their feet on the ground and their hearts and minds aligned and that was what was required to fight the crisis. Writers and journalists joined the fight and reported and wrote with a purpose to tell as it is, so you did the thinking and not others for you.
The fight is long, there are going to be miles of suffering to be undergone, and the road to recovery is going to be a very steep climb. Everything will fall into place if hearts, souls, minds and priorities are in place. Let none of us forget that.
Citizen Ecofinalytics 