Lockdown Days

Day 1/21(25/03/2020)

Yesterday PM Narendra Modi announced that nationwide lockdown would be implemented from today. I was happy to see that, as it would be great in containing the disease. But was a little worried about the plans to tackle the crisis. How the people would get necessary things? I became more aware of the situation after a discussion with a friend. But I am sure that the government would have some plans. But, disappointed to see that there was huge crowds to buy necessary things outside shops in cities. We can really see the panic the people have. But this is happening all over the world. But such crowds would only increase the spread of the disease. I am already in the tenth day of the home quarantine, instructed by district corona cell in my home since came from another state. But we are lucky that we got leave way before there is much spread.

Yesterday itself my state Kerala, had declared lock down. But, people wasn’t fully cooperating. In many districts people were traveling like any other day. Still many of them aren’t aware about the situation. Still, I could see children playing, neglecting restrictions even by their parents. How can one say about the terrifying reality to them?

I don’t know what will happen after 21days. Today next death had reported in Tamil Nadu. And in Europe conditions are much worse. Hope is the only thing that common people have. There will be problems that we need to face after this pandemic. But all have to survive that. I couldn’t hear the sound of any vehicle going through the road, only the sound of police vehicles. It is much like a wartime situation. We need to give affidavits to the cops if we are going out in private vehicles. But we know that these restrictions are for our good. No public transportation is available. Only some shops including medical shops would be opened. Hope is the only thing that is going to lead the life in these difficult days.

People above 60 can’t move outside their house now. This is due to the high risk they have. And whoever comes from outside of the state have to directly move to quarantine, they are not allowed to go home. Everyone is facing emotional stress. But, there is no other way, we are facing a challenge unlike anything else. Just one week ago, no one thought about such a situation.

But 9 causes had already reported in Kerala and many more in India. We are now in a condition where the disease rapidly spread in Italy and other European nations. At last, I could see today evening that nations are looking at South Korea, as they had really flattened the curve. But, still, it is a social issue. Many of the cases reported in this state are people who are working abroad. So we have a relief that there is less possibility of a community spread. But can’t say anything about it. If community spread happens, then the entire system would soon reach to a helpless state. The state had already taken action to increase the number of intensive care units. But towards the end of the day also, cops had to use force to prevent people from gathering in the streets. We cannot blame them since this situation is not like any other. But, social distancing is the only way, the only hope.

Day 2/21(26/03/2020)

Today I have more hope that the nation would recover. I don’t know why. There is news about Kerala using drugs for HIV, for treating COVID-19. And 4-5 people are tested negative after using it for one week. This was one of the happiest news that I could hear this morning. But there is one more troubling cause in the state, which is due to one person who didn’t follow quarantine conditions, and later tested positive in Palakkad. There was a similar cause in Kasargod, who caused the spread of disease. If similar thing happens, there would be many more in that district. Both hope and worry are there.

Yesterday I had seen a statement by UN Secretary-General, which is great. He is telling that the whole of humanity has to fight back together. It is the only way. Even the U.S and Europe are unable to stop the spread.

Day 4/21(28/03/2020)

Day 3 was not that pleasant to write something. Actually, there is a day and a night inside everyone, but how to find a middle ground? By night and day, I didn’t mean good or bad, they are just two characters. Actually, when you are sitting alone for a longer time, without anyone else, you are digging down deeper into your character, into yourself, into the unknown world. That will bring you new ideas. But sometimes it would be painful. You will not be able to distinguish between reality and imagined. Many characters would be projected out of your mind and would reflect from the walls, for the first time you will understand how reflective they are. You will find a new Iceland of creativity. Your reality is confined into a smaller space, but you can still find many dark zones that you didn’t explore yet. This may seem to be a totally unrealistic description. But I could tell you that reality is what we perceive. You cannot be sure about the world around you.

Still, the number of cases is increasing. Europe and the US are suffering from it. And in the rest of the world, the virus is finding new ways to conquer humanity. We are all frightened. For example, in the state of Karnataka, they had already closed all borders, they had blocked roads. Humans may confine themselves to a bubble centred on them and the whole of humanity would fail forever. It’s about our “being” aspect, without that humanity is a big zero.

I don’t know why I thought about life today. I don’t know, what it is actually. But today I could see that each of us are flowers. The stalk of the flower is a path called life. Most of the time we don’t consider the stalk, we are mostly busy looking at the flowers. We want a simplistic way to evaluate one. In this kind of a difficult time, not only the stalk but also the flowers become dry. The pandemic is like a draught.

But for some of the people, who are sleeping in the streets both the stalk and flower is already facing difficult. Most of us would be happy to see an action to contain the disease by the government. But, we have to see the difficulty faced by all. They are also humans like us. But still sleeping in the street. Sometimes in front of their problems, they would be unable to do something. Sometimes, they will not be able to understand the virus and there would be no one to tell about it.

Today, the first death from COVID-19 had reported in Kerala. The patient also had other health problems. But it’s increasing at an exponential rate. Also, more chances of spread are also there. More than 100 people had already tested positive here. And in Maharashtra, four causes are reported in different streets in a slum. Things are getting difficult.

Day 5/21(29/03/2020)

The death toll is still increasing. In these days positive is is a negative word. The economic crisis had already begun. IMF had already declared that. And it would be even worse than 2008-2009. I don’t know how the world is going to face the crisis. But before that, we have to tackle the problem of this virus spread. I don’t know how many months it would take to return back to the normal world. Indian railway had shut down completely for the first time. No flight service, no public transportation. The world is going through a period which is not like anything before.

But there is another painful seen from India. That is the picture of working-class people walking hundreds of kilometre to reach their home town. Some of them had already died in an accident in Gujarat-Rajasthan border. And there was a big gathering of people in a bus terminal in Delhi to return to their home town. They are the one who builds the nation. They build the buildings, roads. They always suffer from our system. But the system is built by their effort also.

What is pain? This seems to be so trivial. But like a trivial math problem, it’s solution is also not so easy? Religions around the globe had already made a great deal of literature about it. They built heavens in the imaginary space which is also a space without any pain. In Eastern philosophy, there is even space for a state of mind in which a person will be detached from all things. Devoid of feelings and pain. Wait, does that mean feelings are causing pain? But, if one is detached from all these, what is that state?