It is now more than a year when the mayhem began. We lived in fear in our virtual world armed with our survival kit and new lexicon we had learnt. The predator was lurking but a distance away so long as we lived in the new normal way.
We thought it had gone and masked down and the bugles called for a victory march.Hope also flickered with the vaccines rollout,when caution was thrown to the winds with dharnas, rallies, excursions, melas, festivals and careless surging crowds all around.
The virus had however not forgotten us, and a brutal and crippling onslaught hit one and all. It has invaded the safe haven of our homes and menacingly trapped us even as we choke and gasp to breathe.The predator’s savage tentacles await to annihilate whoever comes in the way with escape routes closed for us as it encounters us in every place we go.
Amidst this heart-breaking tragedy, untold grief with people dying and hospitals overflowing,as hard and hopeless as it might be,we grope to see a glimmer of hope. Yes, care and compassion for humanity is still alive with doctors, nurses and caregivers waging a relentless 24*7 battle to save our lives with their healing touch.
There is however detraction by the cynical voices and idle minds posting gory pictures, graphic rantings that break our tenuous spirit even while sea of humanity from all corners is striving hard to salvage us from this scourge. Scarcity of life saving resources and shortage of vaccine add to our woes and gives fodder to the unscrupulous politicians to spew their venom even more, but good Samaritans continue to toil fervently and mobilise resources to help and save lives.
The selfish opportunists fill their pockets with profiteering and plunder while the unsung and selfless warriors brave the hotspots in the wee hours to ensure comfort at our homes. Glory or fame is not the mission nor any self-acclaim but to serve and save mankind from the well of despair as life is precious and all that matters.
Time is not for sermons or be by standers or critics but to extend a helping hand on the battleground for all of us to come out alive.
Time is not to indulge in political power play or blame games that spread hatred and venom as much as the virus but to break the closed barriers and unite the human spirit to fight this war to survive and live.
Time is not to spread negativity,hatred and fear that breaks our will to save ourselves from this virus which is out to kill but to spread compassion, kindness, care, and love to all who live to hope to see another day.
Let’s pray with folded hand for every family, our children, for our brothers, sisters, friends, for the heroes of humanity, for those who have succumbed and for those who have lost, for the old and the young, for those who struggle to breathe and for their loved ones who pray for them to live.
Let’s spread optimism, hope and cheer as this potion is more potent and contagious than the contagion we fear. Doom and gloom that engulf us now surely will pave the way for a new horizon.
Yes, we shall overcome, and we must but let us begin with being humane and human as that’s when half the battle is won.
Yes, victory over the virus is certainly ours and is not so distant away when the vaccine will kill the virus and stop the surge, but till then let’s unite to calm the storm.