Coronavirus Part 39, Triumph of Human Resilience, Japanese Olympics

 

             Let me try to put the spotlight back on covid-19 after a gap of last two week. The covid-19 hasn’t gone down yet in the country. The average of the cases for the last week is around 40 thousand which is hovering at that number for the last 4 weeks. The country is registering 40 thousand cases on an average for the last one month. This can go either way – increase drastically or decrease. The focus should be on decreasing the count and prevent any fast spreading mutations taking over, reign-in panic. The guard should not be let down as even experts are predicting next few months as critical for the emergence of third wave. It is to note that majority of these cases are coming from two states – Kerala and Maharashtra. Kerala alone is accounting for nearly 50% of cases in the country.  The caseload in the country is negligible minus these two states. The active cases stand at 4.12 lakhs which is seeing a fall since many weeks.

             India has administered 50 crore vaccination doses till date with a steady rate of around 40-50 lakh doses per day. Going at this rate, the country will fall short of inoculating the entire adult population by the year end. It might at least inoculate 66% of the eligible population which might be a good progress. As of today 29% of eligible population received a single dose whereas 8.3% received two doses. The way ahead is a long one and lot of efforts are required to provide life-saving vaccine to each and every citizen of the country. Vaccines cannot be administered at a slow pace taking several years. After few months, the protection given by vaccine might diminish and people might require another round of doses. It has to be ascertained how long vaccines can prepare our bodies to produce antibodies against the virus. Some studies have shown that it can be from six months to 1 year or more. Since this period of effectiveness is important, the vaccination drives cannot happen for years together. Government is providing free vaccines and it is their responsibility to provide additional doses as well once the time is elapsed. As long as virus is present in the country, world; people need to get the supplementary shots and we cannot tell how long this cycle will continue.

            Covid-19 is the single biggest disruptor of our times in many ways. For a majority of population, the three phases of life can be termed as pre-covid, in-covid and post-covid-19. Not many are making noise about this but all of them are going through the dramatic alterations silently. Everyone went through a smooth sailing(pre-covid) which has been rocked by sudden, prolonged commotion(in-covid), the effects of which might not be reversed easily(post-covid). Touch upon someone, try to break the ice, silence; open their inner self and a painful story emerges – how they lost near or dear, loss of their livelihoods and good lives. The pandemic habituated the people to be resilient and get on with lives irrespective of what is happening around us. This is a moment which frozen the world on a standstill but our human resilience is carrying us ahead in the motion.

             Just for example, nearly 3000 employees of Indian Railways lost their lives in this pandemic and 1.6 lakh of its employees tested covid positive. Even vaccination couldn’t save some of them – 98 of the deceased took a corona vaccine. But and a big but, the trains haven’t stopped for a day even during the second wave, first wave. Lives are being lost on one hand, duty being served on the other hand without any noise and minds are habituated to see the pain, bounce back to dangerous routines. These are not just people but employees on duty who have great lives ahead. Did the remaining boycott their duties citing it as good but valid excuse? No. It is not just about a single segment but 99% of workers who works on the ground outside face this menace.

            When the air itself becomes dangerous to breathe, everyone who needs to work beyond the safety of home is playing with danger on a daily basis. Air pollution due to covid has become a life threatening reality. Who would have imagined that we need to restrict our kids due to lack of fresh air, oxygen to breathe. We need to be aware of our actions and the results they produce to ourselves and future generations. The covid is a huge correction imposed in the path to correct our actions in the post-covid world. Working outside in the covid world to earn livelihoods is the biggest risk and greatest example of human resilience. These workers are like soldiers in a deadly war who never turn their back even after losing so many colleagues. This tenacity will certainly win the war against viral enemy and progress humanity further. I make noise of taking risks but who isn’t. 99% of workers are at risk due to dangerous working conditions as there is no alternative. My struggles pales in front of theirs and what I project are nothing before the pandemic woes of multitudes. Other than few fortunate ones who are not disturbed by pandemic, the entire populace of world have their three phases of life laid out by the virus.

           As I mentioned about the courage shown by the fellow workers on-ground in these tough times, let me also delve on this characteristic at personal, national and international levels. At the personal level, sometimes I feel like quitting the work and do an escape act for a while. But after looking at the tenacity of people working around me in these tough times, I am continuing the work I am doing. For instance, these transportation employees in airways, railways, bus, auto etc are in extremely tough terrain and their sacrifices are always superior to mine. It is my minimum duty to continue the work I am doing since I have miles to go before I quit and promises to fulfil. I need to be more resilient to wade through the turbulent water which is drawing a lot of traction. Our innate nature of these higher characteristics shall come out to the fore and prevail which defeats the lame virus in truest sense. Let us declare that we are worthy as individuals to make progress in this world, leaving behind all the wounds which are inflicted upon us.

          Observing the resilience at the national level, I had visited two states amidst the pandemic this year other than my own home state. Those two are notably Maharashtra and Kerala. These two have the highest viral caseload of around 60% in the entire country. As it occurred, I went precisely to these two states. First it is for Shiridi in Maharashtra and next one to Sabarimala in Kerala. Despite having the highest number of cases, what I observed is the two states are extremely safe to travel. I checked on this aspect with my fellow passenger and he is like – ‘You are asking about safety in Kerala, Kerala is very safe man’. This safety is not during normal days but at the heights of suffering with corona virus. 1 in every 9 is infected with this virus, yet they are resilient in hiding their problems and puts across a safe state for people on pilgrimage. I was able to see all the nearby places without much ado because of this aspect, which have become cherished images for life. Despite few adventures, even Maharashtra felt safer to travel throughout. This treasured travel in the mid of pandemic brings to the fore, the positives vibes of the people in these two states despite gloom all around. One of the items in my bucket list - to travel in a domestic flight - is also fulfilled in the return journey. I caught all internationals and nothing within the country till date.

          Looking at the human resilience at international level, Japan hosted the Olympic Games 2020 despite having worldwide outburst of corona virus. It is a remarkable event conducted by IOC, Tokyo 2020 organisers and everyone concerned to demonstrate anything can take place in the pandemic with safe-guards in place. It was postponed last year, but not this year. More than 80% of Japanese wants them cancelled or postponed this year, but the organisers stood ground firmly. More than 300 members of Olympic Games are tested positive, but didn’t dither the games even the least. More than 10,000 daily cases are logged in Japan during the time of Olympics, but didn’t penetrate the determination of organisers not to continue the games. If the event of the magnitude of Olympics can take place, just imagine what the human prowess can accomplish with resilience despite all the setbacks, pull downs and obstacles every day. Set in the toughest time, the Japan Olympics are also the most successful outing for Team India which bagged 7 medals beating the 6 medals in 2012. With each of these 7 medals there emerged stories of inspiration for the entire country. What it took to represent the country in Olympics and winning medals on top is nothing short of reaching the expectations of 1.3 billion people. By organising these games, Japan has given the torch to lit light in the country in the form of these winners. These are the three levels of resiliency observed at personal, national and international levels which has to be imbibed by everyone to fulfil our individual and collective promises.