Look around and notice things
Today morning I was pleasantly surprised to notice the
accelerated growth of plants nearby. We are fond of gardening and take care of
and observe plants very closely. I could sense their happiness in the absence
of pollution- pollution not only from the vehicles, but also from the talks
steeped in negativity when people meet. I find this a positive outcome of the
current lockdown.
Yesterday evening I saw a cat sitting in front of our gate,
as if in meditation because it has gotten used to the lockdown for humans. I
took its photograph, then walked slowly towards it to take another picture. It
turned around, looked at me and stood there calmly.
Two days back I was watching a group of cows on the road. It was just an ordinary scene, but I could sense intensely what they were feeling- a sense of calm and contentment.
Humans, a separate entity?
When we look at the living beings around, they seem to know
the art of coexistence. The animals eat only what they need, plants and trees
are giving back to Nature many fold of what they are taking. Humans, the most
intelligent beings, have been caught up in a morbid spiral of Wall Street greed. We
want (as opposed to need) several huge meals a day. The normal values of blood
sugar, blood pressure and body temperature are lowered so that a huge number of
people can be classified as having a medical condition and brought into the net
of daily medication, an assured income for the prescribing doctors and drug
companies.
Our wardrobe is bursting with the number of dresses, and
each dress made with enormous amount of cloth. Our vehicle is a status symbol
and needs to be updated periodically with costlier and fancier ones.
It is time to take responsibility
The time has come to take responsibility for our actions. The Nature was coughing, gasping for
breath, but nobody noticed. Animals were killed ruthlessly to satisfy our
taste buds and overuse of plastics killed tons of animals and fish. The Nature
was forced to take action, make humans realise that actions have consequence.
So an invisible virus came into the picture, man started coughing and all the hell was let loose! Panic overbuying
of things and extreme fear and panic is spreading. This is not going to resolve
the situation.
Can we do something?
Let us calm down and take stock. Once born, everybody has to
die, death being the only certainty in life. So let us not fear death. We
cannot eradicate all disease causing germs from our environment. They are also
part of the eco system. But we can increase our immunity by remaining calm,
joyful and by helping others, instead of seeing them as enemies and trying to
grab things for ourselves while depriving others. Let us also eat nutritious
home cooked meals and avoid overconsumption of factory made food products.The
greatest lesson for us is that economic growth is not the only thing in life.
There is much more to this beautiful life. Let us go inward and experience that
fulfilment.
