I spoke to a friend who gave me some hope - maybe the virus will not hit India so badly and maybe we are just over reacting. I have since been reading up on this - yes, the virus will affect people based on various factors including our existing immunity and what our DNA is. In hindsight it seems so obvious that it will not affect the globe equally. I guess that because China and Italy, from opposite sides of the world were so badly affected, I assumed that everyone in between would too. No, I am not suggesting we open up and carry on as if everything were okay. I am suggesting that we breathe deeply and look at the facts as they emerge, calmly. India is a sub-continent - so to make the sweeping statement that it won’t affect us is also short-sighted. It will affect different parts of the country differently definitely and perhaps by race? This is pure speculation!
What I am sure of though is that this, like all disasters before this, will affect the poor more than the rich; the Dalits more than the non-dalits; women more than men; people with disabilities more than people without. Disaster is basically about Capacities and Vulnerabilities - what this will do is to enhance the Vulnerabilities and diminish the Capacities. So if you had a high V and a low C to start with, you are only going to end up worse off. If you have a high C and a low V like many of us privileged people who are reading this blog, then you will have enough C to bounce back soon enough. Now is the time to help others - share freely of your C which you will build back.
Not enough is said about the uplifting power of “doing good”. I have been consciously noting it - believe me it is definitely better than alcohol in giving me a high! Try it and let me know! (Careful not to help those who definitely DO NOT want your help!)
This week as I see my friends and neighbours scurrying around for groceries and vegetables, I am reminded of the scenario in Kutch after the earthquake in 2001. I went there three weeks after the event as part of a replacement team to relief workers. The first evening was spent listening to the team who were to leave the next day. What I remember best from that evening was them telling us how to procure food for ourselves! Many of them had made do with one meal during the day while doing relief work. Bhuj and the surrounding areas had been completely destroyed by the earthquake - so the situation was understandable. To be reminded of that in today’s Goa where everything is working, but the leadership, is shameful. The situation here is definitely a man-made disaster - a group of men right at the top.
I keep coming back to this - the lack of governance and leadership. Isn’t that the reason why the pandemic has been made so much worse? As I listen to arguments about why this virus will not affect India as badly, I felt quite irritated and annoyed. I am not a specialist in viruses. Why should I be? I pay my taxes so that my democratically elected government will hire virus specialists to tell me how to handle this. It is as simple as that.
I don’t expect the leaders to know everything. Of course, they will make mistakes. I do expect them to have the humility to hire the right people, listen to sound advice, acknowledge (if not apologise) for mistakes and keep the interests of the most powerless in front of them always. I do see some leaders like this around me - the Kerala CM, the Panchayat President, Ms Madheshwari, in the village of Sittilingi in Tamil Nadu. https://mailchi.mp/19dcddea31f4/covid-19-and-sittilingi?e=1daa8a86db
I want more such people elected. I wish I knew a way to make that happen!
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