CELEBRATE THE LIFE

Sitting at home watching the news for entertainment and actually cursing at the politicians, is what we all are doing. At Least the lucky people who can sit at home without having to run to hospitals for beds, oxygen, or injections. And it’s not like politicians don’t deserve the hate but that hate is not going to change them. 

In the past month, I have heard about many close friends and families suffering from COVID-19. While a phone call may help to ease the worry; not all phone calls have been good ones. Some have given worrying news or even sad news. And I am pretty sure it is the same for everyone. All over India, people are going to something which is haunting and yet sometimes hope & kindness makes it beautiful. I have seen people posting about required drugs, plasma, hospital beds, and even oxygen, and people actually responding to it, helping each other. It’s like they know the pain and are trying to share the pain. What could be more beautiful?

I have seen pleading messages from doctors urging everyone to stay home. As doctors they are used to the death around them, knowing fully that you cannot save everyone yet they give their everything to save an unknown patient. But when such individuals tell you that even their mental health is getting affected due to all the deaths they are seeing and not being able to do anything, we should know that the situation is serious. Consider this, there are only 1.34 doctors for 1,000 Indian citizens. Not even 2! And yet if they post something urging people to stay home while finding a little hope in dance, some use racism to destroy that ray of hope from their already gloomy days. They are saving your loved ones. They are doing the best they can. As humans, we do need all the love and support to get through tough times and even though doctors are doing the work of God, they are also humans who need our support to get through these times. 

I decided to write this because, with every passing day, I am feeling more depressed. Like most of the people, I have stopped watching the news. Not that we have proper news channels. All we have are some channels fighting the wars for politicians. They have decided their sides and they prove their side right in every debate they conduct. And yes, they cannot function without debates. Because who cares about actual news! We just need adults shouting at each other for about an hour for a pre-decided match! 

Then there are those important announcements by PM/ CM. They have information for about 5 minutes but they talk for 20 min. They remind me of my school principal who used to take a lot of pauses just to make a speech longer. Maybe even those people are bored that they cannot go out on tours! So they try to talk to us. I mean common, it’s been ages since he went out of the country! 

But there is no escaping these things. I live near a hospital and I hear sirens all day long and every time I hear one, I pray whoever is in the ambulance should get better. I read stories on Instagram of how people are fighting for beds and oxygen to save their loved ones. And I think to myself that things will get better. But the betterment is not in sight!

If you think about it, it’s not anyone’s fault. The doctors cannot do things beyond their capacity. The hospital administration did not expect it to explode like this. The oxygen supplier didn’t think that they would need to provide this much amount of oxygen on short notice. Same with medicine suppliers. And yet they are doing the best they can. We just have to accept that our healthcare system in general is not ready for such an outbreak. Italy has one of the best healthcare systems and yet it was not sufficient when covid first hit Italy. We are not even in the top 10 rankings when it comes to the health care system. So it was obvious that it was not going to be sufficient yet one hopes for the best. Yes, we can blame the government for not doing their job of predicting the second wave and utilizing 4-5 months of lesser infections to ramp up the healthcare system but they were busy with the elections. And you cannot say that it’s not important! That’s what keeps them in power. And that’s why I say, blame it on power, politicians are innocent. 

There are many people working day and night just to keep the system going. Even though we all agree that the system needs to change, this is what we have got right now. And we have to help as many as we can in this broken system only. If you have not been infected and if you can stay home, stay home. Help to reduce the burden on the system. Be the best citizen you can be for the next few days. Think what would happen if your loved ones have to suffer like that. Unfortunately, many of us have already been through that, so understanding the pain of others is easier 

Yes, these are sad times but a few days ago I saw a new grand-dad holding the newborn and probably playing with the baby for the first time. And his happiness was something else. It was like hope. And I thought amidst the sadness we find glimpses of happiness. Somewhere people are mourning the death of their beloved and somewhere people are celebrating the birth of new life. Somewhere old relationships are breaking off and at the same time, somewhere someone is starting an exciting journey. Yes, these are sad times but somehow they will give us the motivation to do better in the future. 

These times show us that life is unpredictable. Celebrate whenever you can. Even in grim times, you can celebrate. You don’t have to show off but you have to celebrate whatever you can and whenever you can. Because those moments are going to be your source of strength even if you don’t have any. Because those moments represent the hope of normal life. When I say this I don’t mean break covid rules! But celebrate in small ways. 

I know it is difficult for people who have lost someone in the past year. But think about it: would they be happy if they see you giving up on the hope of happiness? It’s never easy to forget the people we loved but they always stay in our hearts. Because like it or not death is the beautiful end to lifelong suffering.  So maybe celebrate the struggles of the deceased. No one deserves such death and yet in some way they are free. Free of eternal struggle called life. So celebrate! Celebrate the victories. Celebrate life whenever you can. Because this pandemic made these lines even more meaningful Kal Ho Na Ho!