“Aberration stamps reality; Regularity births distorted self.” Today the movie ‘Contagion’ as directed by Steven Soderbergh in 2011, no longer wrecks my spine! One of the realms which stay veiled is the apparatus of normalcy— or rather, lucidity. Vulnerability is evil residing in anticipation. Quite a few instances exemplify the fact that “Change is the only constant in life.” Our perception to a great extent affirms itself on the grounds of experiences and thus, can be appraised as positive, negative or neutral.
The opinion on the arrival of COVID -19 and its consequences stands divided in the house. One side discourses its ‘man-made fabrication’ and discerns it as the end of this world. While a separate lot takes it with a pinch of salt with its focus at upheaval. Getting out of a storm requires skills but sustaining its flashbacks requires will. Moreover, we must reminisce that “A smooth sea never yields a skillful sailor.” The coronavirus is just a tide to shatter the fatiguing routine. The Pew Research Center claims that the ‘novel’ coronavirus which seems to be very ironic is just a psychological intervention muddling with our psyches.
Many speculate that the world and its creations have to coexist with it but what we must not forget is the ‘march of history’ preaching that what goes up has to trail down. Many health specialists, one being the guider, WHO, assures us that ‘this’ is going to get worse and worse. The emphasis lies around the context of the word ‘this’. The question highlights the reality and ‘here and now’. Many people conclude their days and set apart their curtains with a staggering “Now what?”. Meanwhile, a section of the population deliberates that this too shall pass as humans have battalioned many such wars.
One such solution per se seems to be ‘cogitation’. The slight edge between ‘cogitation’ and ‘cognition’ is the script of being effortless. Cogitation is the very skin of the soul. It affirms the eyes of an abandoned child in a mulling atmosphere. The University of Leipzig empirically evidences that deep introspection can lead to ‘self-actualisation’. Secondly, vexation fosters creativity but not renunciation. The fervour of driving out of this alights the hope of thousands. ” Hope is a home onto itself, dwell in it and it will protect you with all its might”. The exploration and analysis must carry on but the question stands still, will we be able to adapt to the past regime?
The scenario has not only converged our schemes, but for many, it has made it dysfunctional. With the dogmas of ‘corona shame’, humanity gets toppled. This minuscule non-living virus apart from being life-threatening has also shown us the flip side of the coin tête-à-tête the Canadian University of Brain Sciences.
We took our breath for granted, ‘we’, the creations, turned monstrous while slaying irreproachable animals. We repaid ‘mother nature’ with interest full of woes, bruises and scars. Receiving our luggage back seems to us as a country’s malicious act but surely not disgraceful karma. Negligence with all its arms was extending and spending time with family was termed as ‘lockdown’. The other path intertwines with faith. The 5 letter word ‘faith’ correlates with resignation. The ultimatum of divinity as mentioned in our revered scriptures and the holy ” Bhagavata Gita ” says that ‘surrender’ when your might fails and then you enter in the abode of peace.
Lastly, is the well-conferred prospect of ” survival of the fittest”. Surely Charles Darwin wouldn’t have thought of his theory being propounded like this. True to the lamenting along with the urge of reverting to those unlatched cornfields, the bright glaze, the unveiled faces, the sight of sprouting merry children ready for school, the air full of bubbly oxygen, rounds of laughter with mates and finally satisfying the taste buds. However, this has always been the picturesque view of the panorama. What about the gleaming eyes blinded by the streetlights, the inequalities we relished the false statue we claimed, the ‘nepotism’ which is a new prey? Before we draw broad conclusions, we must consider that will all that faux pas commence forth with the new chance given to humanity? Or will our ears remain deaf?
Recently Erich Fromm’s theory of Human Concerns seems to be the most accurate labelling human beings as ‘social beings’ who can be understood in terms of their relationship with others. Here, ‘others’ could be any form of abstraction. The catch-22 situation is that we need to colour our tongues in the cycle created by nature and not the web spun by us. Quoting Sigmund Freud, the noted psychologist, “One day in retrospection, these years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.” Concluding this discourse, the question is, the cure is reserved, time awaits itself, but are we well embraced to receive it? Has the time come when “survival of the fittest” surrenders to “survival of the wittiest”?
– Arshia Khanna, Amity International School, Noida
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