Thoughts random: In times of coronavirus

Rajendra Kshetri *

Good morning Manipur,

Never in the history of mankind has a single virus threatens the very survival of humans as Coronavirus did/does. Never in the history of human civilization has a virus/crisis causes so much of anxiety, fear-psychosis, helplessness and panics among the people.

Never in the history of the world has there been such lockdowns/breakdowns of normal life. Earlier viruses and crises --Spanish Flu, Ebola, Zica, Sars, HIV AIDS etc.-- paled into comparison.

Coronavirus is unlike any other global crisis. It cuts across all religions, castes, creeds, races, nationalities, ethnicities. It is more lethal and frightening than the Two World Wars. The gravity of the crisis and its aftermath is unimaginable. It puts the entire human race on the verge of apocalypse. One thing is certain for sure. The world will never be the same again post Covid-19.

Abnormality has become normal or say likely to become normal. Coronavirus has thrown all our lives out of gear. Lockdown, curfew, home-quarantine has entered the DNA of our existential system. These are trying times of extraordinary circumstances. Not easy to learn to live with. How does one (try to) spend his/her time in times of Coronavirus?

Random thoughts has always been, it still is, a part of my professional career and help me (in many ways ) in observing/interpreting/analysing phenomena taking place in the Society.

The Covid-19 Phenomena nay Pandemic gives my 'thinking cap ' no room to rest. My thoughts random is firing from all cylinders.

A teacher, that I am, who loves reading and writing, I have been photographing my thoughts (still in the process as I write this piece) , sharing them through social media--face book and WhatsApp-- ' doing my bit ' as I call it since the beginning of lockdown.

But why only social media? Why not print media? This was from my students who many a times come up with ideas I cannot brush aside. So I thought too: WHY NOT PRINT MEDIA.

Friends, here is therefore reproducing what I have posted/shared on my fb time line my random thoughts .

Thoughts Random 1

In Times Of Coronavirus (March 28)
1. Wud love to see the State's leading Industrialists/Entrepreneurs/Private sector companies come forward to fight Covid-19.
2. Wud love to see some elements of philanthropism.
3. Given the acute shortage of hand sanitizers/masks in the local markets (pharmacies, departmental stores etc) why not they manufacture and distribute them freely to the public.

#Profit #Making #Can #Wait
#Saving #Lives# Cannot.

Thoughts Random 2

In Times Of Coronavirus (March 29)
1. We,the people of Manipur, have 4 MPs, 2 each in the Upper and the Lower Houses.
2. Could we expect (I refrain from using the phrase 'demand ' lest it is misconstrued) 1 Crore Rupees each from their MPLADs Fund as CONTRIBUTIONS for measures taken for prevention of Covid-19 in the State?
3. This Covid-19 pandemic has given them a God-sent opportunity to show their Social Responsibilities. Such noble gestures on their part will make them true representatives of the people.

#Self #Promotions #Can#Wait
#Saving #Lives #Cannot.

Thoughts Random 3

In Times Of Coronavirus (March 31)
1. I can tolerate/bear Anything but Stupidity.
2. The level of stupidity exhibited by some segments of the Country's second largest population in the wake of /during/Covid-19 Pandemic is unfathomable. It is nothing short of a criminal offence.
3. Or, is this 'stupidity ' NOT stupidity but part of a larger game plan?? You never know.

#Ignorance/Stupidity Is Not BLISS.
#Saving Lives Is.

Thoughts Random 4

In Times Of Coronavirus (April 1)
1. India continues to fight Covid-19. Triumphant India will emerge.
2. Religious Congregation of any sort should not be allowed to come in the way in this hour of National Crisis.
3. To win the war against Covid-19, India must TRANSFORM itself from a 'Soft State ' into a 'Hard State '. Gunnar Myrdal, I am sure, would agree, were he alive today.

#Religious #Congregation #Can#Wait
#Saving#Lives#Cannot.

Thoughts Random 5

In Times Of Coronavirus (April 2)
1. There is a time and place for everything.
Time to obey and be responsible. Time to defy/rebel.
2. Now is the time , a time when the Nation/World is facing the gravest crisis of survival, to obey and be sincere to government directives/advisories.
3. One act of defiance on your part (Such as spitting on doctors, nurses,health workers, police personnel; not revealing travel records, not practising home quarantine, attending congregations etc etc) will bring apocalypse.
4. The Covid-19 crisis is unlike any other crisis the Country/World has ever faced. It is more lethal, terrifying and frightening than the First and the Second World Wars. Obey and adhere to the Government directives. Join the Battle against this Pandemic.

#Defianc #Can #Wait
#Saving #Lives #Cannot.

Thoughts Random 6

In Times Of Coronavirus (April 3)
1. The world is indeed a "global village "! How so accurately prophesied by Marshall McLuhan.
2. What have started from Wuhan, a little known small province of the People's Republic of China, hitherto unheard of, has now reached every nook and corner of the globe affecting/killing lives of hundreds of thousands people all over the world.
3. Media (social, electronic, print) rules the roost. It influences your thinking, shapes your opinion, regulates your thought process. It turns reality into 'hyperreality ' , consigns you into a virtual world. Makes you believe a thousand lies as truths.
4. Beware of Fake/Paid News, Fake posts/uploads,conspiracy theories especially in times of Covid-19 pandemic. Fake news spread faster than wild fire.

#Fake #News#Can#Wait
#Saving#Lives#Cannot.

Thoughts Random 7

In Times Of Coronavirus (April 6)
1. Every time I make (mobile) calls, browse through fb posts, switch on radio, television I am greeted with "...wash your hands...".Some fb posts are truly interesting, even added a suffix ' like Lady Macbeth '.
2. Every time I wash my hands (I know/discharge my social responsibilities, unlike many of my compatriots), thus advisory rings a bell, triggers a memory, sets my thinking cap back to the mid seventies when I developed a passion for Literature more than I should for Newton's Physics.
3. "I washed my face and hands before I come, I did". This Corona Pandemic made me recollect (my) reading Alan Jay Lerner 's 'My Fair Lady ' (musical play based on Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion). Audrey Hepburn 's classic rendering of the line, as Eliza, in the 1960 Warner Bros film of the same name, still lingers on, as fresh as it was when I watched the movie.

#Wash #Your#Hands

#Fight# Covid-19.