Professor Manoj Jha’s speech on Covid-19 from the otherwise disappointing Parliament Session was recently doing rounds on the internet. A line that he said with sheer pain, almost was like: Aankde chodhiye aap, apne anubhav se apne aankde khud dekhiye (You leave aside the official numbers and look at your own experience), echoed in the vessel of my brain yet again a few days back. I opened Instagram six times, out of which four times the first post that popped up was the dreaded information of some or other thunder-striking crime or of heart-wrenching suffering.
I evidently recall all those and the rest that may age with time but would stay as horror in my head for long. Pained, I opened WhatsApp and a batchmate’s status also talked of the stupefying and excruciating suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan. And by now, the list of atrocities in the country has increased boundlessly. Hate crimes and careless deaths are no shockers in the daily headlines nowadays. Screenshots and article clicks are all that I hold in my device for maintaining an account? Where is the human race going wrong? Why do we talk only and only of pain inflicted by humans and to humans, and not cured by humans?
I mean, do we still need to see the crime rates? Every four out of six news released every 12-13 hours is of some terrible unexpected shock, enough to substantiate the terrible fall we’re facing as humanity? And then, the rotten cherry on this cake comes in the form of unjust court rulings, ignorant citizens, red taped bureaucracy, clever world governments and back-stabbing of local, state and national governments.
All of this results in a fried ball of helplessness that’s hard to gobble down and stays stuck in the throat, ready to burst any moment.
What can be done, is basically what you, I and all of us have been asking ourselves and one another all day.
Well, I don’t know if it’s the perfect answer, but I could narrow it down to a few options:
- Do not find ways to stand by the side that inflicts horror, terror and pain, be it at any level.
- Develop, at least, sympathy for the victimised. If listening to their pain can make our tears bleed, think about what they might actually be going through.
- Do all that you can at your level. Make people aware, discuss and debate what can be learnt for prevention and heartily support those that cure.
- Do your part in enhancing the education and awareness of desirable morals — those which teach us to work for the better, and not the modified ones that simply induce an undesirable rage.
- Most importantly, do not forget which sword killed and which one saved you. Take action whenever you can.
Otherwise, we too may end up having a great fall from the wall we’re sitting on because after all, this ‘wall of development’ is now crumbling down. The world is crumbling down with crime and it is us alone who can save us all.