She was a vibrant person, very fearless, full of love. Widowed at the tender age of 27, she’d fought a lot of battles to raise me. Covid-19 was her last, and even though my mother did not survive, I’d like to think she won with the life she’d lived till then.
That goes for the many ‘Covid fatalities’ the pandemic has swept up in its bosom since it arrived. Apart from the pain, it has left behind voids of a million worlds that each person held within them. Put into perspective, the entire second wave and my own story in it took away from the statistical numbness we journalists feel while looking at death tolls.
But every day brings with it its toll. So, journalist or not, each one of us has had to numb out and play down how truly horrifying this pandemic has been. How naked the world’s fault lines are now. And how fragile life is.
As 2022 arrives in a few days, a part of me would like to hope that the pandemic ‘ends’ soon. However, I know it will not for a while. And I have accepted that.
It’s a question of moving ahead with what I know is inevitable. Just as things were beginning to look better after the devastations of Delta, the Omicron variant arrived and reignited fresh fears. Now we are going through fresh curbs, warnings, and vaccination drive revivals around the world. It’s not easy to digest. But it is how it is.
In this scenario, it is my personal belief that accepting an ‘endless’ pandemic may help cut losses, while mentally aligning to a renewed reality. It’s not just mandates of wearing masks or maintaining distance. It’s not governments trying to rain on our parades. Individually, it’s about empathy.
Your readjustment to a new life and following precautions may save a life. Save an entire world within that one life that is held to a thousand others. Finding new ways to safely meet friends. Monitoring for symptoms, adopting healthier ways to function, physically and mentally. Keeping a check on updated curbs, pandemic news, guidelines.
Yes, I know, it’s exhausting. But not every battle requires firearms. Some require a renewed sense of purpose, sense of community, and empathetic efforts.
My mother was the most social person I knew. And yet she had the loneliest funeral one could imagine. Like so many others during the first and second wave. These incidents have left behind pain and we need to check in on our friends, neighbours, and ourselves. We all need community during these times, and pretending otherwise may not help.
This pandemic has also exposed the shaky foundations of this world. Privilege beyond justification for some, while not even a chance for others. Accepting these realities while calling for a concerted effort against them comes with pain, but also a sense of freedom. Freedom against the often locked rooms of our experiences, actions, and consequences, and strength to demand accountability from leaders from the very local to the international point.
All said and done, I do hope the pandemic ends sooner than ever imagined. But until then, we will have to make the efforts required to save each other, out of empathy and love. Until it becomes a second habit in this tumultuous world.
Vidushi Sagar is a sub-editor at News18.com. She writes on international issues, caste, and policy. Recipient of the South Asian Foundation scholarship, she graduated from the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai.
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