Learnings from Coronavirus
Indian Railways which serves as a transport system for around 2.3 cr people/day is shut. The whole country is under lockdown. Never has such a step been taken in India (not even during the emergency or the various wars with Pakistan). I am not trying to scare people, but trying to reinforce the seriousness of the situation we are in.
Hence, there are a few learnings from this pandemic for mankind which I would like to bring to everyone’s notice:
1. Personal hygiene: There is no doubt that people should maintain good personal hygiene, not just in severe pandemic cases but even otherwise. This pandemic has just made people realise the grave importance of the same. Some key points are:
a. Wash your hands with soap every time you come home from outside and before eating.
b. Sneeze and cough into your shoulder.
c. Use sanitizer to protect yourself from infection.
d. Greet with “Namaste” instead of “handshake”.
2. Respect for humans: Coronavirus is caste, status or religion agnostic. In fact, higher strata people have a higher chance of infection, as they are the ones who can afford to travel abroad. As a matter of fact, we are asking our servants to be as hygienic as we are. In a nutshell, don’t be proud of your status, as it is very symbolic in nature. In the race of climbing towards the top, we have forgotten how to be humble and caring for other ‘humans’ around us. Therefore, it is important for us to respect each individual and help those in need so that the fundamentals of humanity are still in place.
3. Family time: We as Indians have been used to the culture of ‘joint family’, but slowly and steadily we were moving towards the western culture of ‘nuclear family’. Consider it as, fortunate or unfortunate, coronavirus has forced some of us to get back together with our family and those who were not able to are dreading hard to get back. Let’s take this opportunity to reunite with those fun relieving moments by having the evening tea and snacks together, playing board games, discussing politics, teasing our siblings, playing darkroom, etc. etc.
4. Value mother nature: Somewhere or the other we took ‘nature’ for granted. It has given us many warnings (if you can take it as one) like Tsunami, earthquake, floods, and whatnot. And now coronavirus (which is not the 1st epidemic). If we are smart enough then we should be able to take hints and start acting accordingly. It would be in the greater good for humankind to stop destroying the forests, water bodies, wildlife, marine life and other natural elements of the world in the name of religion, self-greed, and convenience.
Interestingly, all of these points are taught while we are in pre and primary school, by means of games and moral stories. Sadly, most of us have left it behind and the rest who followed them are being mocked by the former. I believe, by doing such simple things we would be able to save ourselves and the future generations from the mammoth of destruction. As with stone age, ice age and dinosaur age, this human age (if I may call it) is also bound to end. But only time will tell how the story ends for this mankind.