Split wide open

Covid19 is turning out to be a Samudra Manthan of human society. It is surfacing both deep-rooted poison and elixir of life. It is evaluating the deep-rooted notions and questioning the structures and formations. If it is surfacing a lot of good and human side of life it is also exposing the deep-rooted faults of the society. All around the world, one thing is very clear. It makes a difference in life and death if one is rich. The first to sacrifice are the poor be it in terms of access to food or healthcare. The same poor are put in full force to serve the rich however at the first moment when they become incapacitated, they are thrown like a fly on milk.

We have seen how the rich are ferried all over the world. It is true in every part of the world. Everything was pressed into service to get them safely to their homes. However the poor are left to their own destinies. It's true that governments are feeding them but there is more who are falling out of the circle. They don't even exist in the scheme of things. There are people who are going the extra mile to help them out and salute to them. But at some point, everyone will start straining. 

If the situation does not improve in terms of containing the virus we might see social formations getting challenged. Political leadership has not been very great in the last couple of years. In the world of Tiktok and Facebook, we behave more like Tiktok stars. They are used to doing that. We have seen the Brazilian president even supporting the anti lockdown crowd where every logic defies that. They have been elected by manipulating the fabric of society in certain ways and their success depends more on the theatrics than actual groundwork. A virus, unfortunately, is not open for bribing or being bothered with the concepts of nationality, religion, or caste. Unfortunately, it does not even care about those concepts. 

This time will also pass. For sure the human as a race will continue though we are not sure in what form. No one knows the extent of damage it will bring. We are still at the start of the curve. We have seen virus recurring in places which had contained them successfully. There is no concrete evidence that once infected and recovered, it will not infect again. And one thing is also sure this is not the first virus. We will see more recurrence of such things and more fatal in intensity. this is the result of playing with nature without understanding it. One thing is sure, we will never understand it also fully. But then in the grand scheme of things who cares about the human race. Especially when the race itself is not willing to clean up its fault lines.

There is a class which is sitting in resorts and private islands and figuring out how to make money in the situation. There is another class who has homes to live and still money to buy the comforts. they are trying their hands-on cooking skills and making videos. They are happy if the lockdown continues as long as possible. And there are homo sapiens who are staring at infinity. 

Will more people die of virus or because of the collateral damage which will happen because of the fault lines of social and economic structure.