Is Humanity dead in India?
This article is being written in the evening of 27th May 2020 while India is still under a lockdown to fight against the COVID pandemic.
Today the news talks about how we the people of this country are not only battling the spread of COVID but at the same time saving themselves from the amphen cyclone and also the sudden surge of the locusts insects. Not only that the memes and twitter are talking about how Sonu Sood is the new Raj Thakrey for sending back the hundreds of migrants and how the death of a lady on the railway platform that has been photographed while her kid moves a cloth from her face has been trending. China is preparing for war against India while the US has issued a statement to be a mediator. Amongst all this there is a war between the liberals and the nationalists on why this is all the fault of Modi!
I want to ask a few simple questions today to my fellow Indians whom I have pledged to call as my brothers and sisters.
- While we spread this gruesome image of a lady who has died in her struggle, has any one questioned what the photographer was doing at that moment? Was it important for someone to click that picture or the wise thing was to hold the little boy in their arms and console him? I think humanity died today when that picture was clicked.
- While we see and complain to the government about the infrastructure to send the migrants back to their homes, how many of us have done something for them? How many of us have actually spoken to our house helps, drivers or other staff members for offering them advances and ensuring their safety? Just a handful! While most of us have actually deducted their salaries and ensured we pay them partially! I think humanity died the day when we raised a finger on the government while we cut the salaries of the needy!
- How many of us ensured we stayed home during the lockdown? We ensured no one from our homes stepped out for anything whatsoever? We did not go out with bags in our hands in the pretext of shopping essentials, took long rides in our cars to go shop some place away for a breath of fresh air or sneaked our in our societies post sundown for an evening stroll. While we did this we put the lives of thousands of essential workers at risk and also risked the lives of others. The ones who stayed home sat there in fear as they had infants or older members in the family. This is when humanity died as we became selfish.
- So many of us said we will feed the needy and ensure we personally hand them food and essentials! We’re all of us needed to be amongst those crowds? Or could we have volunteered to go in shifts and batches? Was that an excuse or was that helping the society! This is when humanity died when we lied to ourselves.
The centre passed the buck to the state – the state shrugged it to the districts- districts ordered the local politicians to maintain discipline and the locals asked the people! While these requests were passed we stepped out and blamed the centre calling them incapable of managing the country.
Today I fear the post COVID world when we are expected to stand together and build a new world. I fear that in a world without humanity we will all follow the logic of “kill to survive” and will start harming each other.
Let’s stop for once. Take a deep breath and think how can we all plat a seed of humanity in the post COVID world. How we can create a chain of one good deed.
- One bonus to our staff instead of the appraisals that everyone is going to cut as is.
- One meal to your watchman everyday.
- One bowl of water in this heat for the animals and birds.
- One day at home without contact from the outside world.
I do not have an answer. Like all others I live in a world full of hope! I will do my bit everyday with no expectations from others to follow. I will survive. But to live a happy life, I will need everyone to give CPR to the human within and do one deed that we feel prows about.
Image courtesy:Times Of India
