Amit Sharma
In today’s era, humans work like machines and hardly have time to think about own selves, forget thinking or doing some good about the family and friends. Don’t agree with this sweeping statement, ok, just plan a visit to a friend or relative’s place who is working in a Metro city once the normalcy is restored back in the nation and once you stay there, I bet all your doubts shall get cleared on the statement, I just made, that too, for all times to come. Why I made such unconventional beginning of my article but I felt that it would be important to highlight the Lead Take-Aways from this article of mine which talks about the take-aways from nCoV lockdowns. Yes, what I have highlighted or tried to highlight here is that the lives of, we the humans, are rotating in such vicious circles these days wherein we have become so practical and so-called professionals that we are more or less leading a completely mechanical lifestyle and hardly find time to live a simple natural life which actually is the gist of being human beings and the basis of our existence. But luckily, this Novel Corona Virus, which although is a deadly virus, has brought lot of people back together, revived old values and somewhat made people understand what is the significance of being in the family or staying with own people which was almost forgotten and faded away in this so-called ‘busy’ lifestyle. This one and many other similar take-aways are the basis of this write-up, which I felt were important to share with all of you at this moment of his crisis looming over the entire human race since last couple of months with no nearby expiry date.
I strongly feel that one of the primary take-away of ongoing lockdowns is the revival ofthe family bondings, connect with kids, respect and relevance of elders. Infact, these lockdowns have succeeded in bringing backhigh level of consciousness for ‘family first’ thought amongst us while fighting Corona battle with togetherness, as families are compulsorily staying together these days, a rich old Indian practice which had almost vanished or become a thing of the past in recent times. Next, major take-away is the drastic fall in pollution levels, be it air, water or noise pollution. It has come as a soothing and sweet surprise that all-of-a-sudden, we can see blue skies, glittering stars at night and overall improvement in general visibility. When we breathe these days in open air, we are finding so much freshness and one wonders that where these abundant stocks of oxygen had vanished from the atmosphere over all these years. The prime rivers of the nation like Ganges, Yamuna and Brahmaputra have become so clean and water flowing has become crystal clear while flowing into oceans. Similarly, no deafening sounds of vehicles and horns are anymore disturbing the eco system which had become a norm of the day. A biggest take-away on ongoing lockdowns, whether 1.0or 2.0, is the sharpest decline in Crime Rates, be it related to minor issues like theft, robbery, dacoity or any heinous crimes like murders, rapes, etc as it seems, even the focus of the criminals has also completely shifted towards ensuring survival of life in these strenuous Covid-19 conditions currently prevailing all over the world. Another major take-away is the drastic fall in the rate of consumption of intoxicants and drugs amongst its habituals like liquor, tobacco, cigarettes, etc which are an undisputed case of increasing ill-will and negativity in the society. This has rather helped to make people believe in the fact that people can survive without them as well and these lockdown periods are acting as the best natural de-addiction therapy times due to non-availability of same. As a consequence, they are bound to shun it and the longer lockdowns continue, more are the chances of complete closure of these chapters forever, thereby, making our society ‘drug-menace free’ society.
A special take-away worth mentioning is the steep rise in usage of e-Governance tools by the Governments, Financial Institutions, Public in-general which was the long pending need of the hour. At least, myself, being a strong votary and believer of same, have drawn great satisfaction as the exchange of traditional files and related paper work needed to be cut down in these Covid-19 conditions and the could not be a bettercompulsive transition phase than this one for it. Now, even the traditional Movement Passesarebeing replaced by e-passes by the respective competent authorities which is a live example of resorting and dependence upon e-gov tools. Thankfully, this much-awaited Administrative reform has finally seen the light of the day, although in these trying and compulsive conditions of national lockdown. And let’s not forget, Government of India has consciously approved e-Commerce as the only means of trade and commerce during these lockdown days, which is a very important off-shoot of e-Governance reforms. These few inevitable reformative steps will indeed help in these tough lockdown conditions to evolve a new culture of providing clean and transparent administration to public with minimum human interface which is the basic aim and goal of e-Governance.
Some other beautiful take-aways include that the public is finding enough time for self-introspection and reviving spiritual bliss within selves. Thanks to a timely shot by the Doordarshan, India’s oldest and official television channel, which revived the old pristine glory by re-telecasting ofepic serials of Ramayana and Mahabharata twice a day, apart from re-starting old popular serials such as Buniyaad, Chanakaya, Shaktimaan and others. This has not only given a golden chance to public to spend quality time while being glued to their Idiot Boxes (TVs) but also, make younger generations watch these original Epics full of moralities and lessons alongwith elders of the family which they would not have arguably got from some shows or serials of the present times. A major take-away is also that individuals have got enough time to realize what has gone good or wrong so far, when and where, why and how and can take their time to answer many questions before re-starting new innings of personal as well as professional fronts once this national lockdown gets over. Infact, in popular management terminology, this is the best time for all to conduct SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis upon own selves and emerge with a more refined form (especially psychologically reformed) of ourson the re-start of life, post Novel Corona War times.
This lockdown has a major take-away that we have invariably got bound by a specialized nationalistic feeling when, on the call of our Prime Minister, the whole nation has responded in a similar way and cooperated to the maximum, rising over and above petty self-interests while understanding the gravity of the situation and Novel Corona attack dire consequences all across the globe. This kind of response from the public is usually seen, either during war times or during national emergencies and as already reflected in my last article, I have mentioned and equated Novel Corona Virus with World War-III which actually is a bare fact. So, if a Lockdown can bind the whole nation into one common thread, forgetting all personal considerationsatthis moment including caste, colour, religion, region, rich, poor, profession, job, etc, so there cannot be a bigger moment or event in the history of Independent India which has become a Uniting Moment like this ongoing nCoV War moment. Once it gets over and national lockdown is finished, I am sure, we all will emerge as a more cohesive, resilient, composed and united India, as every single national has felt and is feeling the pinch and hardships of this Complete Lockdown during these days which cannot be forgotten so easily. After all, this is a period of supreme sacrifice by all nationals, that too, for a common and joint cause in this long-drawn fight with this deadly Corona attack and this patience and great positive attitude of public of the nation is actually bearing visible positive results as well, which shall be visible soon to the entire world.Infact, World Health Organization (WHO) has already been praising the timely action of imposing national lockdown here which has helped in containing the exponential growth of nCoV here.
While concluding my thoughts, I have few more special take-aways from this Lockdown to share which can very well serve as a food for thought to you as well. It’s not impossible to Work from Home in majority of the Cases and Professions, if we intend to do so. Few Workers in areaslike Health, Police, Cleaning, Sweeping, Essential Services are worth more than the Sports legends and Actors, who are arguably just Entertainers and not the real Heroes like these War Workers who are risking their lives 24×7 just with a motto to save all of us from this deadly attack. Hope, more empathy touches us when we restart life of Freedom after very well realizing the meaning of being Quarantined, as we tend to do with the Animals and all kinds of Pets,merely for drawing leisure and pleasure out of such acts.
Last but not the Least take-away is that life is so frail, so please take all the care in world while handling it and follow all the advisories of this lockdown sincerely, not only to save own lives but also the lives of others!
(The writer is a Senior JKAS Officer and presently working as Administrator, Associated Hospitals, Jammu. He can be reached at amit1kas@gmail.com)
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