Covid 19 or Corona Virus - Need I say more?!

Covid 19 has disrupted our lives. Govt has ordered supply of only the necessary/ basic items i.e grocery and medicines would be there. But the irony is that the idea of basic need is different for different sets of people. Let's look at the following set of grievances:

A: "My maid is on leave. Thank God I have my house keeper who works here for 24*7. But how much can she take up the work! I have to help her in pulling curtains sometimes. Struggle phase for me, phewwww!!!"

B:  "Parlors are closed. Oh God! Why they had to close the parlors! Are these not essential? Plus now I have to help my Mom in daily chores! I hate Corona!"

C: "No maid in the house plus we are working from home. Double work for us. Over and above this since, we are staying at home all the time due to lack of physical activity we do not feel hungry. God knows when this phase will end!"

D: "So much pressure now what to post on social media, as I cannot hang out with my friends. I am exploring new features of FB & Insta and uploading either old pics or nominating other people to post pics. #GoCoronaGo #WantMyLifeBack #Uninstal2020 "

E: " We are struggling to get groceries be it online or offline. People have bought and stored up things at their home for the next 6 months and there is nothing left for us now."

F: "My company wont give hike till the situation improves. I have worked my ass off for the last 1 year only to see this day! Shitty times!"

G: "I work in a small manufacturing company. Since we cannot work from home the company has announced that March is the last month that we will get payment. From April onward we would be on unpaid leaves. Do not know how to feed my family!"

H: "I work at the construction site, I am a daily wage earner. My income has totally stopped because of this. Now I have to walk with 100 other people to go back to my village from this city. Some people are cursing me saying I would be spreading the virus once I reach my home. But you tell me what should have I done otherwise?"

Several other type of cases like people staying away from their family, not being able to attend the death ceremony of their closed ones, allowing their family members(who are engaged in essential services like medicine, delivery services) to go out in this situation taking up high risk for the entire family and also at the cost of their own lives.

Difficult time may come if this virus does not erode in the next 2 months and in case we go for a lock down period of next 6 months like UK or Australia. Those are economically stronger countries as compared to India with lesser population. But a 6 months lock down for India would not only mean crashing of stock market or closing of several companies but also more than anything else people would die of starvation and scarcity of basic needs.

This blog is not to spread the fear but to spread the awareness of the period that is going to come. It's time that we stop being selfish and think of the society as a whole. Few measures that we may follow for a sustainable future:

• To reduce waste - be it food, be it water or electricity or money.
• To optimize the food (green vegetables or daily staples)
• To stock up essentials (medicines & food) is a wise decision but excessive stocking is not good
• To avoid crowd at all means ( most of the crowd is seen at the grocery shops - which dilutes the purpose of lock down)
• To take care of personal hygiene to the highest level
•  Not to run away or hide away in case you get symptoms of the virus

Let's not forget that this is the time when you need to be careful not only for your own life but also for the 1.33 billions of Indians. Let's all make this world a better and safer place to live in and try to contribute in our own way to do so.