2020 like any other year started on a happy note. People celebrated and wished each other and after a joyful period of festivity, resumed their activities. Two months down the line, the world saw a tumultuous change like never before. The outbreak of Covid-19 coronavirus which had started in China in 2019 had now spread to almost every country in the world. To check its further transmission, India too like other countries had to impose a nationwide lockdown in the month of March which turned out to be a pivotal moment in our nation’s collective consciousness.
Lockdown gave all of us a lot of time to contemplate and realize, “Where had we gone wrong”? We began to appreciate our freedom to move about; which we had taken for granted when a minuscule virus forced the ‘smartest animal’ to stay indoors. We accepted the might of nature, when we saw that the superpowers of the world were deemed helpless; after spending trillions of dollars for their defence budgets. But more than that, this crisis brought to the fore, our concept of oneness that was getting buried behind religious and political divisions.
In times like this, Indians as always, turned to their core beliefs which was to stand unified against the common enemy, like they once stood before the powerful British empire.
People from all walks of life came together and contributed in whichever way they could; to make the situation better. When PM called for monetary assistance within few days millions of rupees were donated to ‘PM Cares Fund’. Several offices, marriage halls and hotels converted themselves to quarantine centres. People in housing societies cooked and distributed meals to people in quarantine and to the security and cleaning staff, taking care of their society. Financial, religious and cultural boundaries were dissolved and people bursting with energy, worked their way through difficult challenges. Human values of love, compassion and service were floating around. Prejudices and stereotypes which once dictated our behaviours, became irrelevant. Our country demanded solidarity and we demonstrated it.
Doctors and the other essential workers seldom have to risk their lives in their line of duty but this was an exceptional scenario where the war was not with a human but with an ‘unseen virus’. Nevertheless they took up the challenge and fought at the front line. Our doctors and the entire medical fraternity, despite the infrastructural challenges and lack of knowledge and data about this new virus; put up a strong fight and saved millions of lives. We can never thank them enough.
Medical practitioners went door to door in rural areas and educated people about the virus. They screened and tested people and distributed tons of masks and medicines. Now they are on a mission to educate people about vaccination and are leading the world’s largest vaccination drive. Unfortunately many doctors and healthcare workers lost their lives but others took up their positions and held the fort.
When people were deadly scared of this highly contagious disease, there were some who rose to the occasion and showed compassion for those who were suffering more from the economic impact of the virus. Actor ‘Sonu Sood’ became a messiah for migrant workers who after the imposition of sudden lockdown; were stranded in Mumbai with no means to go back to their villages. Sonu made all the travel arrangements for thousands of workers and distributed free ration to them. There are numerous instances of police personnel who also fall in the category of frontline workers; knocking the doors of elderly people staying alone and making sure they had adequate groceries and medicines. Many police personnel too succumbed to this virus and have made supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.
One of the worst effects of Covid -19 was the way final rights and journey of deceased were impacted. Since the disease is highly contagious, not many people could attend the funeral. There were many cases where the near ones did not come to claim the bodies of their kin, fearing the spread. Thankfully there are people like ‘Abdul Malabari of Surat’ who ensure that dead receive a dignified burial and cremation. His charity ‘Ekta Foundation’ is also a shining example of India’s true secularism. The charity has Hindu volunteers who bury the bodies of Muslims and Muslims who cremate the bodies of Hindus. His organisation makes sure that the religious aspects of funeral are taken care of and after the procedure, the burial and the cremation ground are fully sanitised. During peak corona, all these volunteers stayed in their offices because they were continuously handling cases.
Just when the country was limping back to normalcy, it was attacked by the second wave of Corona. It was far worse than the first. Newspapers and TV channels churned out gloomy facts and pictures. Oxygen cylinder became a much sought out trophy and the scarcity of beds in hospitals became an ugly reality. People had to line up to buy medicines and oxygen cylinders which were getting exhausted with the increasing demands. The supply chain was disturbed and hence people had to wait for long. India’s capital ‘Delhi’ faced its worst period during April and May. Every day the city set up a new record in number of people getting infected and those requiring critical medical care. ICU wards in city’s hospitals were full and many needy patients had to rush to nearby cities like Jaipur, Agra and Chandigarh. For so many, it was the worst nightmare of their lives.
Amidst all his chaos and sufferings, there was a ray of hope in the form of ‘Gurudwaras’. Free langar for everyone and anyone has always been a tradition in Gurudwaras but this time they stepped up and provided ‘Oxygen Seva’. People who needed oxygen in home isolation could come there and take it free of cost. Kitchens were running 24×7 in these Gurudwaras and Khalsa and Sikh volunteers were tireless in their efforts to provide food and oxygen to the needy. One of the many organizations which did remarkable work at the forefront is ‘Hemkunth Foundation’. Founded by Irinder Singh Ahluwalia in 2010, the foundation workers were working round the clock to arrange resources and oxygen cylinders to Covid patients. They conducted ‘Oxygen Cylinder Drives’ in Gurgaon and ‘Oxygen Collection Centres’ in Delhi and Mumbai where people could come and collect oxygen cylinders. Due to their timely help thousands of lives were saved.
Another thing which is worth mentioning here is the powerful role played by the youth of the country. As in the time of war they volunteer to fight for their country, during the peak of Corona, they offered to work for the needy and economically downtrodden. Almost in every city there was atleast one youth organisation which was feeding the migrant workers, beggars and stray animals. There are innumerable stories where these young, enthusiastic people were running pillar to post to help unknown people. They distributed ration kits on behalf of ‘ISKCON’ and ‘Goonj’ and other organisation which required volunteers and conducted blood and plasma donation camps. They used social media to the optimum by requesting for beds, cylinders and medicines. One such example here is of a 29 year old ‘Dawar Abbas Naqvi’ in Sahibabad who along with his couple of friends provided medical counselling, oxygen cylinders and food to the needy despite their limited means.
In Mumbai where one always struggles with lack of space Jain temples, mosques and Swami Narayan Temples which have big premises, set up their quarantine centres. People staying in these neighbourhoods took turns in cooking for the patients. Everyone cooperated with the authorities and tried their best to turn their ‘Red Zone’ into ‘Green’ which indicated the reduction of infection rate.
Another religious organization which has contributed wholeheartedly to Covid relief work is ‘Radha Soami Satsang Beas’. The organisation turned almost all of its centres into emergency medical and quarantine facility. Their volunteers have worked relentlessly to provide relief to the patients.
The fear and anxiety of the virus coupled with lockdown has adversely affected the mental health of people. There are lots of organisations and NGOs who have psychologists and psychiatrists on their board and are providing free telephonic counselling to people.
One common thing that stands out from all the above examples is that none of these organisations served people on the basis of religion, caste or any other factor. Their doors were opened for everyone. Even the common man wanted to be ‘useful’ in some way. There have been incidents where people have gone beyond and set up high examples of selfless service. Like ‘Dr. Shilpa Patel and Dr. Rahul Parmar’ of Gujarat who returned to their Covid duty just hours after performing last rites of their mother or the businessman from Indore, ‘Jaisingh Jain’ who spent 11 lakhs for treatment of his cook who was suffering from Corona and its complications.
Ironically in bleak times, humans discover that ‘life is a gift of god’ and has to be enjoyed. While the situation is slowly getting normal and life is coming back on track, it would be a long time when we could be as carefree as pre -covid days. We hope that we carry these beautiful experiences and memories of love, compassion and solidarity and believe wholeheartedly that universal love is not a hoax and can be practiced in real. The takeaway from this painful experience is, “We can weather any storm only if we are together”. The crisis has taught that a cooperative environment helps us to rise above every turbulence; whether it is personal or national.