The world is engulfed with the Coronavirus and thousands of people have lost their lives in battle with this deadly virus. This is a temporary phase and people should not worry, this time shall pass too.I contemplated a couple of times before actually jotting it down. I know probably some people would not still understand will still not agree with my opinion. They will try to bash me left, right and centre but I don’t care until my opinion brings some positivity even a single person in the countryMany of my friends know that I was living in Kashmir. We shifted to Kashmir when it was going through one of the roughest phase – The killing of Hizbul commander of Burhan Wani in 2016, resulting in the burning of Kashmir to another level.It was just a couple of weeks after Wani’s death and we were locked inside our houses. Although my husband was attending his duty and I was inside the colony where there was silence, no internet connectivity and other such things.“We were desperately waiting for internet connectivity and I managed everything alone during this phase. From cooking to the household chores, I was managing everything. Although we had a female helper, due to curfew she was not allowed to come inside our house.”Even we had 3 dogs that time and I was also taking care of all of them alone. We didn’t have access to any online shopping ( no food delivery, no, Mintra, Flipkart, Amazon and no online shopping.A vegetable van would come once in a week and we would stand in a queue to buy vegetables and groceries to stock for a week. But against all such odds we still made great friends in the community because all we longed was support and everyone displayed impeccable community spirit.
We would call our parents whenever we would get a mobile network and life went on. That time, even our dogs’ learned to pee and poo inside the washroom.There were untimely & life-threatening threats issued to the base installations which often made the whole area to go under lockdown.At times there used to be complete lights off and people would keep their kids inside, would have minimal lights, would pray every moment that we just survive another day, pray for their husbands who were away for duty.When there was leverage and we went out – we would hear slogans like no one would like to hear. They were anti-national. It was the toughest time of my life but we survived.“I survived my days of pathetic pregnancy there, where we used to go in a minivan with jacket and headgear to get an advance checkup in the Hospital (which was some 15km away from the colony where I lived in),”
I flew in my 8th month of pregnancy, all alone with a medical certificate as there was a curfew and nobody knew what the situation will be if there is a total lockdown.You know what kinds of entertainment we had – How to survive if there is an air raid? How to survive if there is a bombing? How to survive if there are militant attacks inside?But I survived, then the time changed when there was a bit of understanding and we could see the real Kashmir – the warmth of Kashmiris, the beauty of Kashmir. We have seen the good , bad and the ugly.Why am I sharing all of this? Because I am deeply pained seeing all these curbs sessions going on lock-down of the nation, shortage of groceries, maids not coming home, kids can’t go out, blah blah.Just Imagine what if it was not a lockdown due to a virus but an actual war? Would you still like to send your kids downstairs? Would you still go for a walk? , Would you still crib if you had limited grocery?
Then why crib now, did I do anything heroic? No.I just did whatever was necessary for a very basic human instinct- survival. I had made my choice of getting married and being in the valley and I still embrace it.We have the same choice now, Embrace the situation. Embrace the situation for yourself, for your kids, for your future generations.You can be your own Hero. You are a soldier now, Please abide by your Duties?
You can fight and win this situation and would have this story of velour/bravery to share with your future grandchildren.Can we please rise above all our political inclination for once? Can we please rise above individualism?.
This isn’t about politics anymore, your child won’t even remember which political party was ruling then but he/ she would definitely remember how their parents reacted in the time of panic.
Now is the time to show solidarity, after all, social distancing doesn’t cost anything. After all, staying at home with your family doesn’t need a budget allocation, isn’t it?
Teach your kids about resilience, Art of survival, Life skills, Patience, Gratitude and count their blessings.
Please don’t teach them cribbing, blame games. In case you are still frustrated with the current government- write a post and vent about it, talk to your friends on phone and spit the spleen out.
Do not venture out and put your life and lives of others at risk. I know working from home with managing the household is difficult but nothing will be more painful than seeing your loved ones on death bed.“Would you be ok living a life with burden of killing people, just because you can’t stay at home?, There are brave hearts who never returned home while fighting for the nation,”.
I am not even asking you to sacrifice anything for me or Government but please sacrifice, stay at home for yourself and your family.
“When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.”This too shall pass, trust me. But please let’s spread positivity and see the greater good of our nation.Please respect my emotions and don’t drag me in any political debate. I was literally in tears and was shivering while I penned it down. Excuse my grammatical errors which I tend to make.If anyone needs support or a friend to hear them out, please feel free to message one of your own. You will feel better. Save water and share your food with needy. Spread awareness and goodness but through social distancing. Stay home and stay safe.