Time for a Great Healing

For quite a while the world has been in a great need of an equally great healing, and the time is ripe at this juncture of our collective suffering

By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee

Around the world people are getting restless with the restrictions and the social isolation that the Covid-19 pandemic has imposed on us. The question that is gnawing us internally is – when will all this be over and we get back to completely normal? Although we are aware that all the indications are that the ‘normal’ we have known before the lockdown is not likely to be restored any time soon, we cannot prevent ourselves from hoping that this might yet just be so!

Grandad in lockdown celebrates granddaughter’s engagement. Photo – cdn.extra.ie

We live in a kind of denial about the scenario that is to come. But what to do, we human beings are gregarious animals and like to socialize. The prospect of doing that ‘at a distance’ in future is our greatest apprehension, as we like to be close to each other, to touch and feel and to hug, and explode in joy at the warmth and the burst of emotions and feelings that such intimacy brings.

The other day as the lockdown was lifted in parts of Spain, there was the scene of a little girl excitedly running towards her grandparents. The grandpa was bent forwards and had his arms wide open in anticipation, and soon enough the child was picked up and her arms and legs were wrapped around grandpa’s neck and chest respectively, at the same time as she snuggled her head into his neck with her hair flying about on his face. I am sure grandpa’s eyes must have filled up – mine did as a matter of fact! -, and next of course was grandma’s turn. How many parents and grandparents, friends and relatives are impatiently waiting to reunite with their loved ones, and enjoy the conviviality of meals, laughter and time together!

But alas, there are sad stories too, like that of the South African man who had come here before the lockdown, and whose wife (and son too if I am not mistaken) passed away back home from Covid-19, and he could not be there with them. More tragic still was that he could not be with his young daughter either, who had to bear this great loss without her father being around. Of course there must have been relatives to take care of her until her father came back, but it’s not the same to have one’s own parent in moments like these. Finally he was able to go back a few days after the sad event, and all that one can say is God bless them, and pray that they find strength and solace in each other’s presence as they build their shattered lives anew.

All of us are praying that this be a one in a lifetime’s experience, but as things go there appears to be no guarantee given the odd behaviour of this virus from a medical point of view, causing as it is not just one but a multitude of disease patterns that are keeping doctors and scientists baffled. On top of that comes the controversy about whether it is a naturally occurring virus or one that emanated from a laboratory. Be that as it may, the social and economic impacts of this public health disaster are already only too evident, and we are faced with a long period of painful adjustments that we will have to struggle with and adapt to.

As if the pandemic was not problem enough, perverse behaviour on the part of antisocial elements helped its further spread, complicating the task of national authorities already struggling to control the transmission. How can people spit on vegetables that they are selling (India), or deliberately apply saliva on goods in a supermarket (Australia, Canada), or knowingly congregate (South Korea, France, India) despite the clear-cut advice being dispensed that they cannot deny being aware of? Yet all this happened!

On the other hand, there are so many nationals who are stranded outside their own countries as they were caught unawares when they were in transit on their way back home, as is the case with many of our own compatriots in places as far as Miami as well as in Italy and Turkey, who are still awaiting repatriation because of slow or inadequate response from the authorities. Some countries were more proactive early on, Germany for example, which commissioned its airline to bring back the nearly 100,000 Germans who were abroad. The Indian government, on the other hand, has announced measures to repatriate its nationals by air and its navy ships, an operation that will be under way soon.

The pandemic has not impacted all countries uniformly – size of country, unpreparedness (rather than preparedness!), in/adequacy of the State response, capacity of the health systems are some of the main factors that are responsible for the differences seen across different jurisdictions. The pandemic has uncovered many social inequalities within countries, even in the most developed ones such as the US as has been highlighted by several authors.

For quite a while the world has been in a great need of an equally great healing, and the time is ripe at this juncture of our collective suffering. The following Sanskrit mantra of universal appeal is particularly apt at this difficult moment for mankind:

Om Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ
Sarve santu nirāmayāḥ
Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu
Mā kashchit duḥkha bhāgbhavet
Oṁ Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ

May all be prosperous and happy
May all be free from illness
May all see what is auspicious
May no one suffer
Om peace, peace, peace

* Published in print edition on 8 May 2020