By Shobha Diwakar

The world is silent. The world is asleep. It has recoiled and has slipped into its cocoon. Hush! Do not disturb its restiveness. It may recoil fiercely. It has already locked everyone, the entire humanity indoors, silence spreading its tentacles and shutting down every outdoor activity. Take heed; it seems to convey some message to the inhabitants of this planet… listen, oh! Wise men stop your race to multiply and divide man from man. Stop your race to armaments and biological warfare. Stop your loot of mineral resources and draining the river- beds. Stop butchering animals and stop consuming their flesh; they too feel the pain, bleed and cry to spare their life but you inhuman beings delight in the foul manner you kill and snatch innocent life. Even the wild beasts hunt only when they are hungry but you human beings hunt for pleasure and purpose. Yes, your purpose is to become taxidermists, sell, and earn for your insatiable thirst to load your bank balance… the earth warns… you come empty handed you return empty handed.  The tragedy now with COVID -19 is you lie alone in hospital, you die alone, no one sees you leave the world, and no one follows you to the burial ground. The family weeps alone, resting in different rooms for fear of infection and no one comes to comfort you, to cuddle you, to put their arms around you and wipe away your tears. It is time to awake from the sluggish sleep you have fallen into.

Even as the world is fighting this calamity with devoted warriors of the medical and other professions and social activist teams on every front, pay heed to the warnings issued from those who are concerned for your well- being. Stop your bickering and stop your snapping strictures; stop assaulting those medical professionals and their teams and the police who have put their own selves and their families at risk; join hands with the nation and help restore the economic damage and the ecological balance so vainly destroyed by your selfish exploits. Protect yourself and follow instructions issued for your safety, which you THINK is in the interest of those in power. Use your common sense and stop yourselves from being exploited by those who do not think about your wellbeing but are more interested in projecting themselves in limelight and digging into your pockets (the recent labor problems in Delhi and Mumbai followed by others in many parts of the country are but a few examples).

This is the time when each one of us can contribute towards this dangerous calamity by obeying orders issued for our welfare. Surprisingly, it is not the uneducated and the less privileged that are agitating and apathetic to the dreadful assailant, it is the EDUCATED who dare to disrupt and defy the orders of those in command to safeguard you and your families from this invisible threat. Is it necessary that during lockdown you should venture out and be ordered to return home…. or be beaten by those who stand in the heat of the day to protect you by putting themselves in danger to this vile virus that is sparing no one? Is it your ego, your political power and your selfishness that compels you to violate the strategy and flaunt your muscles? Stop your clamor and your clandestine and boorish commotion putting other lives in danger. Stop!

The compatible earth pleads for recompense, not for being deprived of its colossal benevolence showered unselfishly upon humanity, but zealously it implores for placid philanthropy. To help it to resuscitate… to prevent it from ebbing and effacing… remember what happened to the ancient civilizations like the Maya, the Indus Valley, and the ancient city of Dwarka; keep yourself abreast with history and historical facts. This is not the first pandemic to target humanity, prior to this there was the plague, smallpox, cholera and what not… so together we must let mother earth heal its wounds and allow it to recoup. At present, it is serene or seems to be so. Notwithstanding, the unseasonal rains and hailstorms and snow in different parts of the world (including India), are cooling and moisturizing the wounds so callously inflicted upon mother earth. God is repairing and consoling her gently to revive its beauty; at the same time, it comes as a warning not to play with nature’s magnificence. The result is right before you. Mother Earth asserts, “Do not dare!”

Now who are these braggers? They are none other than those not in power and their supporters, eager to put innocent life/ lives in danger to their utmost pleasure. These people roast their bread on the candid, gullible masses that are taken for a ride not in buses and trains as fooled, but upon the back of crocodiles waiting to devour them and then … left stranded at their fate. Once their vicious game is accomplished they vanish into thin air; hide in rabbit holes or mole holes and have to be sought and dug out just as you search every nook and corner for pests.

COVID- 19 has pounced upon humanity like a devil in disguise probably to instruct the inhabitants of this globe to constrain their extravagant, insatiable greed to plunder the earth’s mineral resources. To stop ransacking the riverbeds; to stop looting the jungles and cutting down the forests for their dim- witted population explosion. To stop killing trees and robbing them of their brawny branches laden with green foliage in which birds nestle. The threatening call of the virus ‘dolefully’ warns, ‘ You tear them apart and they lie miserably uncovered to die a slow and detrimental death; beware I am here to teach you a lesson to respect Nature. Witness the glowing environment now that you are locked within the four walls of your abodes. Currently the forests are alive, the wind is pure; the sky is clear; the birds are once again chirping and the trees are laden with their beautiful plumes. The wild animals are wandering everywhere in the cities pleasantly staring at the sight of man confined and agitated, yet, powerless to combat me’ (the virus).

Finally, salute and be kind to those who have/ and are risking themselves and their families to save you and your families. Salute our forces for protecting the nation and entertaining our medical professionals. Salute our police for drenching with perspiration and bearing the heat of the sun to protect you from harm. Salute the nation for taking care of you by compelling you to stay indoors… no one is aware how long this virus is going to stay… accept it as God’s warning Not to Bungle His Creation. He has shut ‘HIS Doors for You.’ Be Warned.

About the Authors:

Dr. Shobha Diwakar lives in Jabalpur, India and retired as the head of English department at C.P. Mahila Mahavidhyalaya, Jabalpur. She has published many research papers, stories, poems and essays in national, international and online journals. She contributes regularly to writerslifeline and Indian Periodical.