Corona Virus Part 2, Silver Linings, Hitting The Road For Good

              It is unfortunate for all us to be found in this situation. Unfortunate that the virus decided to take down the humanity, unfortunate that more than 200 countries in the world are affected by this pandemic, unfortunate that more than 15 lakhs have contracted the virus, unfortunate that nearly 1 lakh have died, unfortunate that many state heads have to take the blame for failing to control the spread of virus or limit the infections and deaths. The responsibility for any calamity goes as much to the people as it goes to the heads of state. It is the people who make or break the leaders. Just for instance, going into this pandemic, the administration on the ground in Europe and U.S. was very careless and inferior. No one screened or quarantined the incoming traffic to these countries or take actions to restrict the origin of this virus in their countries. Just because no one could take a quick decision and avert the pandemic from coming beforehand, the heads of states of these countries stand responsible for the calamity. It is the collective failure of administration at all levels which made the head a scapegoat. In short, the timing of the attack is very bad for Europe and U.S. as they are completely unprepared and made the leaders a failure. On the other side, India identified the problem at its root, at the correct time, beforehand, and thoroughly screened all the passengers, quarantined all the suspects, locked the ports of entry, implemented the nationwide lock-down to limit damage to minimal. The administration is fully geared up for the attack and they had the cushion to receive a bigger impact. All the local bodies, states and every one involved in the governance made the P.M. look effective in these times and not the P.M. alone himself.

            

             The force behind this smooth functioning of administration at various levels and the force behind the participation of people in governance and the force behind co-operation of citizens is there in India and missing in Europe and U.S. The heads cannot force the issue by themselves and came across as failures. It is particularly shocking to see the numbers in U.S. It might have been a different story if I am present in U.S. Let me delve on some hypothetical assumptions but those which are really true. If I am there in U.S. in their hour of need, I would have made everyone work on their toes and alert them to foresee the future. It could have averted the pandemic altogether. At least the number of infected cases could have been down from 4.5 lakhs to 4.5 thousand. My presence could have assisted the President and made him look better and successful, like the way it has been done to P.M. in India. But my presence is important to India and its 1.4 billion population than a meagre 32 crore population of U.S. It might have at least helped if I am rotating rather than remain stagnant at one place. But God has other plans and made Americans a complete failure and India a success story in the wake of the pandemic.

           

             While it is unfortunate that this pandemic has taken shape and grown to such epic proportions, there is also a need to look at it positively and pray for a safe ending of this crisis. The silver linings are it is a fortune for many people to spend quality time with their own family, fortunate that the lock-down provided leisure to many busy people, fortunate that the pollution levels across cities worldwide have reduced drastically, fortunate that industrial activity, transportation have come to halt which have reduced CO2, greenhouse gas emissions, making the virus an earth and climate friendly, finally fortunate that today's students got many holidays, no exams and time away from stressful schools or colleges. With so many positives around it, we need to look at that side as well and keep everyone happy and healthy by giving food and other essentials. You need to create happy holidays for as many people as possible without any negative effects, thereby giving a good break and rejuvenating them for a hard future aftermath Coronavirus. These breaks are like water in oasis for many hard working labours and hope they enjoy before it gets over.

           

             The lock-down has mostly restricted me to my house other than a few chores outside. I am walking on the roads in the free time and almost covered all the streets around my house. This activity of walking on the roads is the one which I used to do in U.S. The time is right for me to be in U.S. once again and hit the roads. But I am hitting the roads in India. After working in A.C. offices for the last three years, you feel like you should not always work in offices but toil on the roads. I had been dragged to the roads by virtue of my Karma as well. 5 years in office after graduation dragged me to roads earlier and three years in office has once again took me to the same position. But the difference is U.S. did not give me visa to roam on the roads this time. Every one should hit the roads and go through the difficulties of living on them instead of confining to the comforts of home or office. I hope my walks on road in U.S are being continued by one and all in the same spirit and for their own benefit. I walked for three straight years on the roads in U.S. and they are not just ordinary stuff. I am the only one who did it at that time and looked extremely out of place. But I rallied and made new inroads, opened up avenues and tried to change their lifestyle. By hitting the road, I made life easier for a lot of other people. I sacrificed myself like a camphor to give light to others. What I would like to iterate again is you need to hit the roads instead of thinking it as different and make walking on the roads a movement instead of walking on treadmills. As mentioned, I had been denied of the opportunity to touch upon the roads in U.S. by rejecting my visa and take this movement further in that country. By my presence, I could have proved that all the above hypothetical assumptions become real life facts. But from the present situation, it is their miss and not mine.