The human spirit is indefatigable! We have stood upto some arduous times and learned to come out of it stronger.
It is true that sometimes we fall victim to our own vanity. We have drawn boundaries all around us – borders on maps, borders of caste, creed, gender, race, religion, wealth – to separate us from the rest.
And as if to mock our conceit, a microscopic virus, invisible to the naked eye, has gotten the better of us. It’s made us realise yet again that we’re all the same. It’s transgressed all our borders, binaries, and differences. Whether a wealthy billionaire in US, or a Chinese engineer, or a farmer from the Middle East — this virus had ridiculed all the walls we’ve built between us. We are the same for the virus. We are all just humans.
But people say that the biggest learnings come from the worst tragedies. This novel coronavirus is our biggest enemy right now, but the indefatigable human spirit is much bigger than this virus – only if we can fight this crisis together. There’s no battle that can’t be won when we’re together, but we’ll have to put our differences aside for this one.
We need to face this crisis with compassion, not competition. This civilisation has seen pandemics and calamities before, and we have come out of those dark moments together. Our little acts of care and kindness can make a big difference. Little acts like thinking about others when buying groceries and medicines. Instead of hoarding, let’s buy enough for ourselves and let others have the rest.
As we stay indoors and maintain social distance, let us distance ourselves from prejudices. When we wash our hands off germs, let us wash ourselves of these man-made divisions.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)