Apr 25, 2021
The Price of Complacency
Unless you lose a dear one to COVID-19, you will not come to terms with it.
Sharad’s Sunday Sojourns (week # 471 | 25th Apr 2021):
“The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities.” … Benjamin E. Mays.
Millions of devotees took plunge into the ‘Holy Water’ for attaining perceived salvation. Without minimum sense of security insurances during a raging pandemic. And yet, you are astonished at the exponential growth in the infection rate?
Serological tests indicated that nearly 1 in every 5 souls in the national capital in India has eventually contracted the deadly virus at some point of time. And hence, life came back to near normal! And yet, you witness the public cremation grounds with horror and despair! Why?
The callous administrators spent much more time in the last few months defending party agendas to skim through the state assembly elections, than to carefully take stock of the coming days and be prepared to handle a probable surge.
The horrific scenes provided not even a minimum adherence to the minutest safety precautions or social distancing norms. And yet, you are praying that the surge in the death rate is irrational! May I ask, why?
When you are more interested in summoning divine interventions to tackle a pandemic that has claimed millions of lives, rather than to obey scientific advice, and that you are doomed to fail, is a mere foregone conclusion!
But then in a country of more than a billion individuals, and which often cites mythological anecdotes to safeguard its stands against the perils of nature, you can only laugh and pray that should the option surface to flee its borders, do not think twice to enforce it!
How many times have we said, desperate times, desperate measures! India had lots of time to carefully think about the impending second wave and take necessary measures to counter it. And yet, here we are, annihilated by mutations, decimated by public perceptions as a whole, and lambasted by the utter nonsense, and an abysmal, lackadaisical attitude of both the central and state governments (there are exceptions, though).
You want to give the excuse of density of population, and the sheer demographic figures? Look at China. With numbers exceeding yours by a considerable margin, they still fare a lot better by all means! Yes, even with reports of underreported figures pertaining to the number of infections and deaths related to the pandemic. If the situation demands harsher measures, then let be it so.
Everyone who is dying today due to COVID-19, is someone’s mother, father, son or daughter.
I fear that (and I am sorry to say this) unless something like that happen to your own family, you will probably still remain delusional and an incapacitated megalomaniac, in your perception to take rational actions!
If a second lockdown is necessary, impose it, before it’s too late! 12 million people died in India during the Spanish Flu, the highest amongst any nations.
You want to repeat the ‘distinction’? You laughed at America and took pride that wealthy nations are suffering more. Look who is laughing at you, now!
“Mann ki baat” will not save lives! Vaccines and common sense will. Let them pour out!
Wear the masks. Stand apart. Take the jabs. Be sensible. Is it really so difficult? Life is long. Why do you want to cut it short yourself? If you live, you will be able to recount the days lost and refill the time. What’s the glory in relishing now and die?
You think I am serious. Oh, you bet I am!
Are you not? Then shame on you!
