One day in the Life of a Pandemic

 

Ever since that person or group of persons bit into the body of the alleged wretched bat, the world has been wearing the mask like it is the new Facial underwear. Sometimes when I look at a guy, I used to think, Wow, that dude's sporting a nice beard, I can try this, only to realize he was a clean shaven guy with a dark mask covering half his face. Gone are those days when people condemned alcohol, citing it as the ultimate evil that misleads mankind towards the worst decisions. These days, there is such demand for alcohol, in the form of sanitizers that, the environmentalists have started worrying, what kind of impact this inclusion of chemicals in the water we wash is going to have on earth. 

Hachoo ! Has become the most feared sound now, more than shouting agitated shouts of god during a terrorist strike. The moment you hear someone sneeze, or cough,  one immediately gets a jolt down the spine, makes sure his/ her nostrils are covered  enough and silently searches for the sanitizers they have hidden in their pockets. They stealthily take it out, silently press enough quantity onto their palms and rub it with such force, the alcohol almost catches fire. The other person who sneezed feels so embarrassed, they cover their mask all the way upto their eyes in fear of being judged to be an infected person. 

People at restaurants, clinics, hotels, bars and malls, can be seen hopelessly waving and begging for the poor dispensing machine to keep spurting drops and drops of sanitizers, such that, the machines if they had a voice, would thank us for keeping its bottom from sweating. There is another set of us, stomping machines that spit chemicals from a vertical stand, as we kick the foot rest. Easily, the most exercise our legs get these days. There are some, who have these pocket sanitizers, at their disposal whenever they need, it has become so vogue, such that, people use them every 5 minutes to clean themselves by force of habit.

From ayurvedic shops dolling out novel water purifier herbs, to syrups and throat relief chewable tablets, from medical shops selling more facial condoms than the actual condoms ( see how I caught you there by surprise , he he ) , from temples and divine institutions changing their mode of worship , this revolution has forced all of us to make an adjustment or two in every single task which we were doing. Nature has bullied us into a whole new protocol , after its many years of endurance, thanks to unregulated need of satisfying human greed from food to gold, dresses to tresses, everything. Nature pressed the Reset button as Humankind pressed the Pause button . 

Education and schooling, graduation studies has taken a beating unlike before. So many children are getting their daily cup of knowledge in newer channels, the ways of evaluating their understanding has changed, exam papers and booklets are replaced by button clicks , internet speeds are running at an all time high ,teachers don't get to wield their powerful "teacher's scolding" to correct their wards as students easily unmute and switch of the video to escape the thrashing and blame it on internet connectivity, until the teacher loses steam.

Buying groceries, fruits and eatables itself has come under scanner. People dipping their purchase in medicated water, laced with turmeric and other processed vegetable cleaners, including meat, that has also got it's own meat cleaner , at this point, I am not sure what we are really eating and drinking. I think we will start snacking on Banana stems, to clean and detox our kidneys out, from any bad sediments forming in it due to all this new brand of minute particles entering the system.  

Disinfectant sprays are the new deos, from boys waving their brand of disinfectant sprays at their crushes to impress them with their sense of hygiene, even as the girl alluringly takes out her kim kardashian styled sanitizer, rubs the hips to spurt some pink colored drops of strawberry flavored soap water. Public romancing , kissing of all sorts, hugging , embracing have all become source of skepticism, as our hearts desperately want our bodies to touch each other, show that surging love from within but the mind says, let the mouths simply talk and hands wave . 

All said and done, now that we are into the 2nd year of the pandemic, let us take a note of what has happened ever since this circus began. Let us keep thinking about making better choices from what we eat, drink, wear, to how we move in society and how we can protect ourselves and also mother earth who has been graciously providing us the real estate, water and air conditioning we so need. Let us help each other, remind each other with graceful dignity if we notice someone making a questionable choice. All this germ induced drama caused by the cosmos was meant to make us unite as one race, against one common enemy. No matter what or who you are , the entire human species is under threat and this is by far the most effective push nature has conferred on us to inculcate in us the sense of oneness inspite of our differences in everything we identify with. Let's reengineer ourselves into a better version for the generations to come !

Love ALL , Serve ALL,
Unite, Heal.