Biowarfare or nature’s way of saying, “Enough”, COVID 19 has changed the way we live. Consider it adversity, or the best opportunity given by Mother Earth, to make us understand the need for changing our lifestyle. This adversity for humans was heaven on earth for Mother Nature. We named this little organism “a virus”, maybe we are the real ones.
Clean rivers, breathable air, visible stars, cities full of rain.
Animals roaming, birds chirping, humans locked down, the way it should be.
Millions of lives lost at Kurukshetra made us understand the value of human life 5000 years ago. Humanity has always asked for loss of lives to understand the worth of this cosmos.
Mortality is a fact of life, this pandemic made it clear to our ignorant minds. Earth’s human population is predicted to reach 9.9 billion by 2050.
The Ark and Noah from Bible have always taught us nature’s way of curbing us. COVID made us understand that, death is a fact of life. Living in the present is the only option, because past and future are all in the mind, or let’s say patterns of thought, we can only exist in this moment. Sadhguru says,
“We are mere pop ups in this infinite universe, nature can simply poke a needle and we won’t exist.”
Ecological imbalance in the world has been a concern since antiquity. Mass lockdowns and their effects on the environment were evident almost instantaneously. Reduced air pollution in metro cities, adequate rainfall this year and all those news reports of animals roaming on the streets, gave us an opportunity to look at natures regeneration. Lockdowns gave us the opportunity to live like animals in a zoo, to feel how they must be feeling locked in a cage.
As we say in Hindu literature, Goddess Parvati, described as Prakriti or Mother Nature, is the supreme goddess. We worship her on our auspicious festivals, Navratri and Diwali, but have forgotten the real reason for these festivals. They were created to remind us to worship Prakriti and bow down to the creation. Worship of Goddess Parvati reminds us of valuing the gift we have, this wonderful creation. Work from home, work at home, family time, self-introspection time, everything that we wished for was available to us. Patanjali said,
“yogaś-citta-vr̥ tti-nirodhaḥ, tada drashtuh svarupe-‘vasthanam”
only when we are one with the nature and distant from self-identity, will we find our true self. COVID was not the face of adversity, but a well of wisdom and a pot full of opportunities, not just for family, work, and friends, but for ourselves.
Global businesses were striving on people’s mindset of spending for luxury, where coronavirus made the essential services, essential again. This adversity gave us the opportunity to come together as one. We as a human race, without boundaries or caste or gender had to fight together. The household spendings on luxury and hospitality reduced significantly. The much needed opportunity for India to boost our self dependence campaign for businesses is a huge step for our country. Make in India initiative has brought a plethora of opportunities for our country.
As we know, ability is nothing without opportunity, lockdowns helped us look at our dependance on external entertainment. Theatres, malls, clubs had little role in our lifestyle, till we made them a full time investment. We realised that we can make our own anandamide and be immune to anxiety. Little things like spending time with our family, discovering new hobbies, introspecting within ourselves, we had the opportunity to become something more, something better. People usually complaining of back pain, suddenly vanished during initial lockdowns, but emerged back again, as they were sitting at home during lockdowns. The virus gave us a picture of our lifestyle and our mindset, the non-ergonomic lifestyle and patterns of thoughts, which are not as the nature designed them to be.
The best of healthcare services were futile against this 120 nm virus. Medical professionals have been boasting of developments and expertise, but COVID has allowed us to introspect and understand the need for maintaining a low profile against nature. Webinars will have a special mention when we talk of the pandemic few years from now. Virtual platforms revolutionised our ways of having corporate meetings, education conferences and social gatherings.
COVID warriors is the name given to all the medical professionals in service to humanity. We realised the commitment of our soldiers protecting us, and gave the world our commitment to persist in adversity. Like the Greek goddess Psyche who persisted in almost impossible tasks and in the process was gifted with a complete soul. We have the opportunity to test our persistence and discipline. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States said,
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent won’t; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius won’t; unrewarded genius is practically a cliché. Education won’t; the world is full of educated fools. Persistence and determination alone are all-powerful.”
We had the opportunity to face this adversity head on and be better, stronger, sharper with the constant desire to change.
