Talking Shop: Dread gone askance

“The world is paralyzed and

humanity is in quarantine. It

is a strange symmetry that I

was born in one pandemic

and will die during another.”

―Isabel Allende, Violeta

People like Isabel Allende are soothsayers and have a fore-vision that defies genetics. She was right from the get-go on this one, when she presented us with nearly 100 years of a thriving life that was book-ended by five epidemics. For all of us, there’s a time to live and there shall be a time to die. In between, we have time to deliberate, consider and ponder. So let’s ponder about the last few months—they have been refreshing as we bid adieu to COVID-19 that plagued us for a seeming eternity. Eerily enough, pandemics have hit Mother Earth for four years every single time, occurring many times in the last 100 years, the most recent ones being 1918, 1957, 1968, 2009 and 2019. In 2009, scientists had predicted that another pandemic would happen soon, and it sure did. Thankfully, we are now all but rid of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We can smile. We can laugh. We can smirk, guffaw even. However, we should never forget the terrible times the world faced for the last three-and-a-half years. That’s also because we need to be prepared for some even deadlier evils that are already gnashing their teeth and threatening to take control of our lives (and afterlives), especially so in India; more on that in a bit. Let’s take a quick look-back at COVID-19 and what it did to the world and our country, bringing life as we knew it (and had taken for granted) to a complete standstill and turning everything topsy-turvy. Ironically, the pandemic made us weaker and tougher in the same wink and left the nation in quite a shambles. Do remember that it is our tryst with this virus that now sees 81 crore Indians being provided foodgrain so that they can survive.

Walking down memory lane

Let me walk you down memory lane, if only to ensure that none of us forget the deadly times we have faced and are prepared for anything the future may throw at us. Sure, there was one silver lining to the COVID-19 cloud, in that India finally limbered up and sprung into action through a series of harrowing lockdowns, the exodus of workers back to their villages, the onset of the new work-from-home ethic, the devastation of an already reeling economy and the near-destruction of small and medium businesses, which had anyway been battered by a hasty demonetization and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The message sent out by the Government to states and the central machinery for monitoring of oxygen supplies, hospital beds, healthcare workers and trained doctors now ensures that for the few cases that are still emerging, diligent and appropriate treatment and adequate facilities are available. The virus has also weakened in its latest avatar and doctors are now, sadly but luckily, quite well-versed in the COVID-19 fight. With some luck, no new waves will hit India. That is quite likely, given the hammer and tongs way in which petrified Indians and the authorities went about vaccinations. At last count, 220 crore doses of the vaccines had been administered, with around 98 per cent of our adult population having received at least one dose, while over 90 per cent have been fully vaccinated.

I am recounting all of this because of our innate Indian ability to quickly forget past horrors and move on with life, living it to the fullest without a thought or care for re-runs and sequels. With this approach to life, we literally beseech trouble to enter our lives and are caught unawares when it does make a snarling re-appearance. With sensibility and blinkers on, we would be much better off.

New evils are snarling

On to some bad news, if only so that we exercise caution with regards to the rising cases of other illnesses and deaths. The numbers are startling. For instance, 7 crore Indians were battling diabetes in 2019 and this number has rocketed by 44 per cent to 10 crore in 2021, with a further 13 crore Indians grappling with pre-diabetes. If we talk of high blood pressure (hypertension), 35.5 per cent Indians are afflicted with this, with 31 crore Indians being impacted and treated. One in every four Indians now qualifies to be listed in the ‘obese’ category, which is an ailment in itself. India now finds itself amongst the top five nations in the world on the obesity front.

Further, 74 per cent Indians are afflicted by stress, which we casually and flippantly refer to as ‘tension’. The submission of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in the Upper House of Parliament is alarming, that in 2016 itself, 28.1 per cent of Indians passed on due to heart diseases, while that percentage was around half of this figure in 1990, at 15 per cent. Paradoxically, many surveys have laid the blame for this massive rise in ‘tension’ on traffic jams, increasing prices of essential commodities and inflation, rising unemployment and joblessness, and stagnant or even lower salaries. Finally, a grim word on cancer, with estimates that by Year 2025, over 30 crore Indians would be afflicted by the deadly disease.

The hidden malevolence

The grist of the torrid twist in our lives really comes to roost when we reflect on the many sicknesses distressing us today that have little or nothing to do with physical stresses. We are getting increasingly alienated on the lines of caste, creed and religion, not to mention financial status, bank balance and our worldly belongings. The social fabric in the nation is being stretched thin and to breaking point—look at the riots that break out on most religious occasions, ‘love jihad’ and mob lynching(s), and attacks on properties. Hell, think of what is happening in Manipur as you read this column.

Clearly, in a post-COVID-19 era, there is not just cause for worry on the physical ailments front, but also on what we are turning into as a people and a nation. All of this impacts us, and detrimentally so, affecting our lives, our balance, our psychology and our health itself, physical and cerebral. Chanakya once said: “There is no austerity equal to a balanced mind and there is no happiness equal to contentment; there is no disease like covetousness and no virtue like mercy.” This disease of the mind is now seeping into our very moral fabric and needs to be weeded out post-haste before it crosses a flashpoint. Let us not wait for the timer to run out, for that may trigger a blast that will smash everything that India and Indians have always stood for.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal