Lessons from Corona…Learning the Hard Way

  •   Tue, Jul 21 2020
  •   By Dr Preethi Rebello

July 21, 2020

A lot has changed since March..things which were never expected and things we took for granted since a long time. And however much we think it will change, it will not, for some time…at least…and what we have learnt is that we have to be ‘OK’ with certain things, we were not ‘OK’ with before. We have to be OK with wearing masks..OK with sitting at home and not visiting malls…OK with not being close to our relatives physically (who knew such a day would come where you would show your love to your loved ones by staying away from them). We have to be OK with not travelling in flights, trains, buses without a thought, we have to be OK with washing hands and using sanitiser every time we remember, we have to be OK with not eating out. And OK with not going to our places of worship which brought peace to a lot of heavy hearts when in need. The things we have to unlearn and relearn and be OK with it…

We learned a lot about ourselves also these past months and will be learning a lot in the coming months also. We learned that life is unpredictable no matter how solid and concrete plans you make in life…things which we learned a hard way, seeing weddings getting postponed, travel and immigration plans getting cancelled and losing jobs at hand. We learnt that extravagant spending is not required to keep us happy and that marriages as well as funerals can be conducted with the presence of just 25 people. We learned that savings help us in the long run while the car loans will not. We learnt that nature does not distinguish between classes, religion, caste, colour, country and race. All are same in its eyes. We learnt that we are privileged who get to work from home and have money saved to pull us through the coming difficult months. We now know that even billionaires can go bankrupt and the poorest of the poor may be the most generous in giving to those in need. We learnt that we fear for our loved ones more than we fear for ourselves. And that a day will come when we would be yearning for a hug from our mom to which we used to say uff…mom not again. We learnt that we can survive with bare minimum and we learnt to stand in long lines to get essential items.

And in the coming months we are going to learn lessons which will lay a foundation for our future. We will learn that healthcare sector which was ignored till date has to be brought into the forefront. We will learn that our lives were made easy by the people in the lower sections of our society and that they will need the strongest push and pull to get out of this situation. We will learn that to some less privileged, hunger is more important than the thought of dying later due to a disease. We will learn to give preference to our senior citizens when they are outside because they will be risking their lives…be it allowing them to move ahead in supermarket line or the line to an ATM. We will learn that teachers were doing so much for our children and still continue to in spite of being paid less than what they deserve. We will learn to live with pay cuts and rise in prices of commodities. We will learn that money can’t buy everything, when there will be no ventilators available in spite of us bribing people. We will learn not to crib when we wait for our physicians because we now know they take the Hippocrates oath very seriously….while we sit in the comforts of our houses they sweat and get dehydrated by the PPEs they have to work in, to keep us safe and not getting paid their salaries in spite of it. We will learn that having a vehicle to go around is a blessing, when we will compare ourselves with the migrants walking miles with just a chappal and empty stomach..unsure of the future ahead and looking forward to unemployment, hunger and poverty. We will learn to smile with our heart so that it shows in our eyes, because beyond the mask only your eyes communicate the smile. We will learn to respect the freedom we had. We will learn to respect all, no matter which rung of the ladder they are leaning on. We will learn that nature is trying to heal itself and in turn giving us a feedback about how we treated it from so many years….

We should be OK, we have learnt and we will learn….. for the coming days, months or years…no one knows because there is no precedence in this….but we have survived through the years and we will survive somehow….and come out a little wiser than what we were…..hopefully…fingers crossed…

 

 
By Dr Preethi Rebello
Dr Preethi Rebello is Assistant Professor in the Dept of Psychiatry at Fr Muller Medical College, Mangaluru.
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

Comment on this article

  • John, Mangalore

    Tue, Jul 21 2020

    No need God, no prayers so no protection, no freedom. Communists Chinese royally took us for a ride with their evil virus. Creating food shortages due to shutdowns, economic downturn, surveillance, control, queues and masks are all their hallmarks, for world control and rule. By allowing this virus God showed how vulnerable humans are to this tiny virus!

    It has been prophesied God would intervene with powerful earthquakes in Communist Russia and China at an appropriate time.

    John 10:10 scripture says

    10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

    (Thief - Godless communists Chinese)


Leave a Comment

Title: Lessons from Corona…Learning the Hard Way



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.