When we were little kids we didn’t know the dangers lurking around us, we listened to our parents and elders. We trusted them to keep us safe and protected. As we grew older a role reversal became inevitable.
Parents/elderly don’t move around as much, aren’t sometimes aware of the ground realities. This may be because we deliberately keep them away. We want them to have a peaceful life rather than getting entangled in the unwanted hassles of everyday life. Many elderly are fortunate to have a full house care for them.
Easier said than done! In these Corona ridden times making them realize the significance of ‘Corona’ hygiene and ‘Corona’ do’s and do not’s is seeming like a herculean task. We have to strike a balance between panic and precaution, paranoia and preparedness. We don’t want to pass on the distress and overwhelming feeling of anxiety to them, but when we watch the catastrophe it has brought down, especially on the elderly, it’s impossible not to. I am sure some of us are dealing with this kind of situation. The elderly disapproving of the ‘hype’ around extra hygiene habits being imposed, annoyed with all the sanitizing of every bit that comes into the house. Annoyed with restrictions on movements, frequent washing of hands and so on.
There was a time when we felt the same with all the restrictions laid down by parents. It seems like they have turned into little brat kids. So much so that they get away with a little cheating here and there. Breaking a hygiene protocol, missing an interim hand-washing. Our concerns soar at such obstinacy.
Today we stand devastated at the loss and misery Covid 19 is unleashing upon humans. It seems like we don’t know the world we are living in anymore. We are wary of touching anything, seeing anyone. Suddenly we are all enclosed in our nutshells blinking at the television screens, staring at the rising numbers in casualties. Neither we, nor three generations older than us, have witnessed anything like this. It’s understandable when we can’t relate to this whole new world that opened up a pandora’s box!
All said and done we must do what is expected of us. We need to be compassionate and underline the necessity of a scientific approach. The need of the hour is to understand the magnitude of the calamity. Doing everything one can do as a person, family, state and country is what we owe to mankind.
Like many countries we in India are in countrywide lockdown. Except necessary services everything is shut.
Praying that we soon find our world the way it was before Corona and doing what it takes! Please take care of yourselves, your family and your fellow human beings. Let us stay home and stay safe until it’s time to open our arms and doors.
