Life: the biggest gaffe of 2020

Disclaimer: This blog post is only meant for responsible citizens who believe in justice and the value of life taking precedence over everything else, including emotions and actions directed towards temporarily selfish personal gratifications. 

 Good afternoon, my dear readers. Sometimes, I find myself wondering as to how some people can be so obnoxiously selfish, with respect to their own wishes and desires, to the extent that they have no regard at all for the sacrifices made by others, and that too in service of our own very selves. 

What I’m referring to here is the blatant disregard for everything pertaining to the prevention of the pandemic which changed our lifestyles from the month of March, especially since the restrictions began to be gradually eased from the month of June onwards. The specific issue I’m referring to happens to deal with the overcrowding in markets such as Gariahat, New Market, etc wherein the behavior of the people makes one feel as though one is looking through a lens at the previous year, because of the huge crowds and complete disregard for the use of masks and other similar implements, the use of which the Government had made mandatory following the lockdown and subsequent Unlock protocols. 

I would like to ask those people whether they’ve even spared a thought for the medical personnel and other COVID warriors, like our brave and noble policemen and moratorium workers (the latter’s job is to cremate dead bodies, a risky job made even more so in these pandemic induced times) and so on, who have been putting their life and mental health on the line to serve our community tirelessly, foregoing the loving and caring touch of their families, some from the very month of March, just so that the rest of us can sleep peacefully, without the fear of the virus.  Indeed, the crowds at the markets like New Market, Gariahat, etc were so huge yesterday, that even the police personnel gave up after 6 pm in the evening as the crowds continued to surge. 

There are some such COVID warriors who haven't even been able to hold their newly born children in their hands due to the constraints of their jobs and their responsibility towards ensuring the safety of their children, something which has surely taken a huge toll on their own mental health, and here we see people just breaking all rules, just for temporary gratification? Is that how we are repaying the efforts of the above personnel, by simply undoing all their good work? 

If the people breaking the rules feel that they’re immune, then, sadly they are not. If any examples need be taken, then let us take a look at what happened post-Ganesh Puja and post-Onam in Maharashtra and Kerala respectively. Aren’t the current statistics of India having crossed 7 million COVID cases enough to set alarm bells ringing in the mind of people? Clearly not.

Indeed, with such scenarios (excessive overcrowding, pulling down or discarding masks entirely while in the huge crowds, etc) even before the very onset of Pujo itself, one can only imagine the crowds from Chaturthi onwards, and the further sacrifices of the medical and police personnel, who have been continuously entreating people to celebrate the festivals responsibly and conscientiously.