Negative is Positive: Time to change paradigms

15 Apr 2020 11:09:13
-Abhay Thite  
 
This Lockdown for Corona virus is taking over every one’s mind. While many are getting bored, some are getting frustrated, for some death threat is hovering over. For some it’s time to restore! Some are still working from home and there’s no change- for some it’s the rarest experience!
 
No one in present three generations has experienced a lock down like this. Not even in war with China and Pakistan. No doubt this too is a war.. a war against a virus! A minutest unseen existence made of protein molecules! A micro existence can hold the whole world stalled? Yet again that existence is not even a living organism! It is just an existence! Pandemic is changing the paradigms of every civil society about Why to live? How to live? If at all to die, for what?
  
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During this terror of CORONA virus, when a suspect is quarantined and is tested for its symptoms, everyone in the family seems eager to hear ‘NEGATIVE’. The moment word ‘NEGATIVE’ comes in; every one sighs and cheers up ‘Hurray! That’s POSITIVE news!!’ Isn’t lock down changing the way we think?
 
This is a GOD given opportunity for all of us to, ‘Accept the change, Accommodate the change and Be the change!’ In Marathi there’s a saying “ठेविले अनंते तैसेची राहावे, चित्ती असो द्यावे समाधान”. (“Stay as you are made by GOD, but be content and happy with what you have”). One of my philosopher and guide friends used to say, there is nothing great about you- accept and accommodate! You accept or not. You accommodate or not. That’s your problem. You have to stay the way you exist. The only challenge lies is to stay content and happy with what you have. Though it seems easy, not everyone can mend this!
 
This period is of unlearning many things we have been learning. My generation was taught and so we follow, ‘You must concentrate on your career. Let your surroundings go to hell’, or ‘If you prosper; your family will prosper; and that will make your society prosper.” I now strongly feel that it’s time to unlearn this. Instead, “My existence is because my society is healthy and content, my family is protecting me, and my career is result of their existence and their well being. It is my duty to build my career to support all of them”. Shan’t we learn this?
 
I have learnt from my surroundings, “Earn money as much you can. If you are not able to get it in normal way, earn it any way! Use all the possible ways to fetch it; if possible snatch it! How you get money is not important. Be rich, Show your riches! Exhibit your riches obnoxiously! It’s how you spend! Spend lavishly! If you do not have riches to spend, borrow!”

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It’s time to unlearn. Live with simplicity, whatever, however, whoever has benefitted from your riches; will turn away saying “I received only so much!” Ultimately, there may not be any one to accompany you for your last rituals. Whatever riches you have; you are going to die poor. So why exhibit your riches? Why keep chasing it? Slow down. Hold on for a while. If you stop for a while it doesn’t actually make you gain or lose a great deal. Save for our own people. Save for education, health, food for someone from ‘MY’ Society!
 
For past few years, Sunday has unknowingly been entitled with enjoyment, celebration, outing, eating out and so on! During these lock down days, don’t you think every day is a Sunday? I have seen Sundays, where families gathered, cooked food in a big vessel for whole big family, normally the traditional but tasty recipes and enjoyed together. Well to note, everybody used to enjoy the taste, the taste of togetherness and not the quantity. Women then came together and spent their half a day in cooking and shared smiles!
 
No, this is not to be unlearned, not completely! There’s something to learn too. These days I see many gentlemen helping their spouses to cook food, serve food and even help for post cleaning and other domestic help. To help is not just human, it’s enjoyment too.. It’s creativity too.. It’s strengthening bonds!
 
Last few years I have learnt to live virtually. I meet people, chat, I mingle, I agree, I disagree, I sympathize, I cry, I laugh, I congratulate, get angry, get Happy, romantic, I express gratitude, I do everything virtually! This lock down has made me unlearn this virtual life. Once when I was young, I wanted to go to my friend to offer condolences, as he lost his father. Frankly, I didn’t know how to speak on these occasions. Me and my friends went to our friend’s house for samachar. We spoke some words not matching to our age, position and experience. When we came out of his house, we couldn’t stop ourselves laughing for long time on our expression!
 
Now that we have lots of time, we are not used to see our kiths and kin face to face for so long. We don’t know how to get along with everyone in our family for this long. We have to learn it. For that we have to unlearn that virtual expression and note that ‘relationships are real’. They have to be strengthened in real way, may be by cutting corners of our attitude to strengthen them in reality!

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Further we have learnt throughout our schooling that India is a poor Nation! It has been part of developing Nations, since I took first lesson of Economics. We always have an impression that it is because of this that we lack in every walk of life! Whatever failures we had are because we are yet developing. We do not have proper medical facilities because we are yet developing. We can’t win Olympic medals because, we do not have great Research and Development is all because we are yet developing! For all ailments this is the only reason we note. Corona Virus lock down has brought to forefront that even countries having fantastic medical infrastructure are also struggling to get over it! Some of them have surrendered in this war with virus!
 
Need to unlearn something? We in ‘Bharat’ have moved from, “Aah, this can happen in India Only!” to “Hey, this too can happen in India Only!” to “Wow, This can happen Only in India!” Are we to unlearn that Aah! The way my fellow brothers and sisters in medical fraternity are fighting the pandemic, police departments and food supplies and social volunteers supporting the administration, it’s ‘WOW!’. Are we learning something? It’s not just infrastructure, not just availability of supplies, not availability of trained man power but the psych of the whole nation and able leadership can bring this change!
 
A Nation; is the people of this country; who love this land as their Motherland ‘Maa Bharati’, who think their history as their unchangeable reality, who assume their Idols as honorable forefathers and art, literature and culture as their respectful tradition! This nation is a Hindu Nation! Yes, by all means! Irrespective of cast, creed, color, language, Place, way of worship, way of prayer. Whatever be the variances among ourselves, we are one resurgent nation. And more over the learning is we can express ourselves thru small things just like we expressed our gratitude towards CORONA fighters by clapping Nationwide. We are expressing ourselves simply by lighting a small lamp in our front yard.
 
This CORONA lockdown has given us an opportunity to change the paradigms by unlearning some things and learning certain things to become a prosperous Nation. To make this huge Nation change, we do not need to do huge things. Performing small things and making small contributions will make us Great People! Something to unlearn? NO! Something to LEARN! It’s time to change paradigms!
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