Dear Coronavirus,
I hope you are doing well. By the way, I shouldn’t you be asking you this. You would be wondering why I am saying this.
Don’t take me wrong but you are doing great. I know this as the news constantly keeps flashing that you have made a home in new bodies and are proliferating. In India itself, your mark has crossed 50k. Just imagine how much it would be in the entire world.
But I wanted to share something with you. Do you have any idea about the trouble you are causing? That too at the global level? The entire world is locked down, the businesses have come to a halt, the employees are losing jobs, the economy and the markets are crashing. It’s all chaotic and gloomy.
As you increase, the depression cases, the stress levels, the negativity, the firing of employees, the losses in business and of loved ones, the domestic violence cases increase too.
There are people who do not have food to eat or a place to live. Some might have to shut their business. Some had to postpone their weddings, some had to suffer a break in their exams and studies, some have to do all the household chores as the males in the family don’t help and are not even ready to adjust.
And then, there are the heroes fighting on the border for our safety and in the hospitals fighting with you, ensuring that all of us are safe and the affected ones are treated. They are trying their best to keep the situation in control by risking their lives.
I know you need people to feed on. But can you just for some time, hang on and not grow? It’s been a while you took lives and disrupted others.
Do you know we even lost two Indian cinema legends and everyone is blaming you for this? That you got this doomed situation. That since the time you have come, everything is falling apart.
Here in India, we consider curse to be powerful. Honestly, you are being cursed a lot. You took away lives, jobs, food and roof from some people especially from the daily wagers.
You destroyed our festivals which were possibly the only time we could bond. You took away lives and jobs. You are conducting mass killing and it feels like fighting a war in the present times, the only difference is this battle is with you and not with any other country as for now.
And the worst thing is that you brought such a situation that we can’t even come together. We have to stay far away from each other and practice social distancing to keep our selves and people around us protected.
There are a few good things which you gave which I would like to mention. But do not take this as an agreement for you to stay.
Since you came, some of us are able to spend time with our loved ones. It is altogether a different point that even then we are sulking. This is human nature. What we have, we don’t value it and when we don’t have it, we realize its importance.
What is surprising is that even being in the comfort zone with all the facilities has now become claustrophobic for some of us. Some of us are getting frustrated and the fights have increased rather than coming together as a family. Earlier, people used to die and complain for having family and ‘me’ time. Now when they have it they can’t enjoy it. Since, the burden of the work has fallen on our shoulders. House helps aren’t allowed now all thanks to you.
While, some are with their families, some are far away from their loved ones and can’t even travel as the entire nation is locked down. They are homesick, upset and stressed.
However, the bright side is that the birds are chirping, mother earth is healing and the animals are finally walking freely. Some of us realize the value of nature and have learnt to be considerate towards it. We have now understood the importance of socializing, the challenges in managing the household tasks and may be the value of relations.
Well, some people are utilizing this time to do what they couldn’t for a long time. Some are using it as a break and pondering what to do ahead with life, some are reading, some are learning to cook. But I can tell you they are in the minority. The majority ones are the sulkers and pessimists.
Well, all I can say is your occurrence was highly unexpected. Who could have even dreamt about such a crisis happening and that it could spread far and wide? Everything seems to have become ‘virtual’ and nothing seems real.
But you know what you have already caused a lot of trouble and we have suffered a lot of damage. Please stop for some time so that we can breathe. I request you to go back and never return. All I like to believe is people have got their lesson. We don’t want your existence anymore. We wish to bid you goodbye as soon as possible. Please put an end to all the suffering.
You have turned around the saying-‘united we stand, divided we fall’. With you and because of you we have to stay apart to stay safe as coming together is increasing our troubles. Hope you would understand.
Yours sincerely, (hoping to never hear about you)
Garima Batra (a middle class girl from Delhi trying to share everyone’s plight and speaking on their behalf)
The Scribbler's Dais 