In the times when the Ganges is full of carcasses, these boys got no chill. The picture above is the view from my balcony. As much as the government is responsible for mishandling the COVID-19 situation, the citizens are equally responsible. Everybody questioned the government for organizing rallies and Kumbh, but where does their responsibility stand amidst these desperate times?
In Dehradun, cases are rising at an alarming rate, even amongst young children. These are the kids of my locality, who play cricket in this field every day, no matter how much you make them understand. The patrolling police scolded them so many times but they are so adamant to listen. Their ‘team captains’ are 28-year-old boys but they don’t want to act their age. Now we know it is an air-born virus and can you imagine how many lives they are putting in danger.
It has been a year since the lockdown and till now we should have known how to keep ourselves safe but this kind of ignorant behavior is not expected from the citizens. The state didn’t impose the lockdown so that we could leisurely spread the virus. The whole point was to contain the virus and these ‘cultured’ people deny understanding these basic and simple facts. Staying at home can be suffocating but one can try a lot of other things like meditation, yoga, exercises, etc. There are innumerable household chores, why not try to assist your mothers at home?
We can’t even understand the plight of people who are running for oxygen cylinders, fighting between life and death. People still don’t take it seriously, I don’t know why they feel that they are immune to the virus. One day I was explaining some facts to one of my neighbor’s kids, but in return, he bluntly replied and said, “didi hume darr nahi lagta, kuch nhi hoga (Sister, we are not scared, nothing will happen to us)”. “Do you also drink goumutra (cow urine) and bathe in cow dung?”, my inner voice shrieked but I resisted and didn’t say anything. The water is above our heads now and if people still don’t want to understand and act maturely then nobody can help them.
I was shocked to see that reaction, thousands of people are dying daily, and still, people are so ignorant and just blame the government. Both the government and citizens are equally responsible for the surging cases. They never wear masks and forget about even getting tested or vaccinated. They don’t even think twice before pulling the safety plug. Shouldn’t we stand together as one in such dire times and try to be on the solving side of the problem rather than creating more and making a fuss.
All the sections of society should stand in solidarity and act responsibly, but Indians have always been on top when it comes to breaking the rules. They’d be the ones crossing the red light, or railway platform, causing accidents. In these reckoning times, we not only need to help ourselves but also the people around us. People are aware of the consequences of their infringement but to act responsibly is something that they need to understand.