LifeBoat
I am a movie buff, and I love to get lost in the story tellers’ world. And like a lot of us, I too stay in the realm of that fiction for quite some time after it’s over. And I love Sandra Bullock, all the roles she had played, I don’t know why but I feel they have a tinge of reality associated and a hue of relatability. And one movie of hers is the Bird Box, which I thought was an “Amazing work of Fiction”. Amazing and beyond my thought was my thought. I am not much of an apocalyptic movie kinda person, nope. I like to stay happy and motivated and that’s how I choose my binge. While watching Bird Box, the only thought I had in my mind was, boy if it comes true, we are doomed. No doubt. But never ever in my life I thought that I would get to witness something like that. A havoc so random and detestable that no one would be spared!
I see around and I see people. Worried. Stressed. Stifled inside their homes. The festivities we used to celebrate so dearly turning dry; the lanes kids used to ride bikes on left empty; the cafes youngsters filled with their chirpy playful banters being silent; the parks the elderly would chatter patter feeling lonely. People ask what could change in a year. We all witnessed the vicious act. And suddenly life stopped. We have again entered the space where Darwin is remembered, and survival of the fittest makes much sense. We are all now working just to survive, to get oxygen, to be able to breathe freely, to get through one more day without receiving that unfortunate phone call. Somewhere it feels that life has escaped us.
With the second wave, I could see the panic set in even so more than the initial hit of the pandemic. Indians are known to deal with operational challenges pretty well. We could reach a destination hitchhiking, crawling, yelling and what not, if the bus doesn’t show up. Strategy is where we fail. The second wave reaffirmed my belief. We also talk in today’s world about data and analytics, and yet we failed to follow one simple observation of the 1918 pandemic. Why did we fail? No way could we have contained it completely, but if we could have understood the incidents happening, the precedent established- would we have been someplace better? We already were aware about the population of the country, the measures and facilities available, we knew if anything preposterously huge happens it would not be enough. But we, like everyone else thought it would not happen to us. The whole nation, most households thought the same, and most are captivated by this virus. It reminds me of a movie named Titanic, where Rose worries to Mr. Andrew about not having enough lifeboats in case anything happens and the reply from her fiancé was about — waste of deck space as it is an unsinkable ship. Well, it sunk. Ignorance is bliss, but the conditions hinted by Thomas Gray were different, I think. Else I assume that you should seek knowledge always. Ignorance did hurt them back then, Ignorance is hurting us today.
I see now the videos of doctors circulating, begging and asking us to stay in. I see all my friends praying and helping, updating statuses for help, wishing for things to get better. I saw many of the ones who are crying over loved ones, I saw my heart sinking, my loved ones shaking and a lot of brave ones coming forward to help.
We are a weird mix of generations. We have dutiful kids of the nation- marching with rallies, attending their duty towards deities, some sharing fake information and medicines to fill pockets and I fail to understand them. And then we have hustlers trying to take us out of this war, who are refusing to quit. We have few artists coming out and up every day trying to create something, so people stay happy and motivated. We have people offering free art services to patients, lunch services, and some running small activities on their own to help every bit they can. We are witnessing mighty moments from countries, standing with us in solidarity. They say it right, sometimes just seeing that one raised hand in support is enough of respite. These are the people, who are contributing day in and day out, who won’t quit and who would make sure, that the country survives. And we can very well make sure it happens too- just by doing one very simple thing and we all know what it is.
That one thing could be our LifeBoat.
