Of freewill, containment and survival with the virus....

Of freewill, containment and survival with the virus....

'"Shehar sunsaan hai kidhar jaayen, khaak hokar kaheen bikhar jaayein...."..I am reminded of Abida Parveen's soulful rendering of this timeless ghazal everytime I pass through the barren looking, almost lonesome roads of Aamchi Mumbai - the roads none...I bet no one could ever imagine so barren like this as the hustle bustle, crowd, jams, honking of horns, tolls- all of which in normal parlance are a part of the lives of us Mumbaikars.
It is over four weeks since the lockdown and my heart sinks when the question emerges from deepest recesses of my mind as to now what? The lockdown may end whenever but will it end the fear of the virus? Will the lifting of the restrictions be able to lift our spirits up? Will the gradual so called bring-life-back-to-normalcy ever happen? Right now it seems all shut. Closed. Silent with noisy murmur and clamour of tales of people breaking the barriers to be out in the open, in vegetable markets, in banks, in streets in general as narrated by the channels repeatedly day in and day out.
It is a matter of serious concern and thought whether the lifting or non lifting of lock down would bring respite, inculcate some sense of responsibility amongst citizens to none else but to ourselves ! At the cost of huge loss to our economy, and the social psyche of the masses, the lock down has been imposed not as a matter of choice but as no other 'choice' looks viable, workable and seemingly helpful in curtailment of the spread of the dreaded virus.
Containment as of now is the only nationwide probable solution already posing serious questions due to issues related to rozi roti of the migrant labour or the closed industries and establishments. But I wonder whether we as citizens of developing country having density of population unmatched by any developed country of the world, realise the threat as real or even understand the discipline it requires by each one of us as individuals. It is a matter of great pity and shame that we have shown behaviour akin to Shakespearean mob with no mind of its own, attacking those warriors who alone can save us in this looming large despair and almost certainty of annihilation.
Adhering to norms of containment as a matter of course and acceptance of all the precautions which containment emphasises is the only limited answer and the only safety wall which, if we fail to understand the grave necessity of, would crumble our very existence.
We are facing a challenge as grey and dense as the dark shadow of death itself but I am sure we have the ability to overcome and come out of this dismal scenario provided we really really understand that its high time we contained ourselves, our petty needs and whim and fancies howsoever justifiable or logically correct.
Abida Parveen ends her ghazal with the couplet " Raein andheri hain aur kinara door, Chaand nikle toh paar utar jaayein "
So the night maybe dark and our goal of conquering the virus may seem distant, yet we have to be our own "chaand", knight in shining armour and protect ourselves. We have to learn to overcome our petty thoughts of earthly joys. For only when we survive the question of freedom and freewill will really matter....

R.Vimala with Ms.Sumedha Kataria, IAS, Haryana