By HH Mohrmen
Many of us base our judgments on past experiences and therefore find it hard to still believe that there is goodness in every human. Perhaps we have encountered too many bad experiences that make us doubt and have misgivings about other humans, but COVID-19 has something else to teach us. Of course this is not the time to debate whether the glass is half full or half empty; neither does the pandemic give us the option to be over optimistic nor to be out-and-out pessimistic. It is a time to look at the big picture and try to learn and take inspiration from what has happened during the lockdown period. It is a time of crisis like no other time before; a time when everything is in chaos. So the question we need to ask is not why this is happening but rather how we respond to the crisis. Does it help us look forward and hope for a better future?
Ten, twenty or thirty years from now, with the advantage of hindsight we will no doubt look back at the turn of events with wonder and disbelief at what had happened. When we look back and from a vantage point and recall the experiences we had during this lockdown, we would only wonder and be amazed at what we have been able to achieve during these trying times. Looking forward we may ask ourselves what will we tell the young people about this pandemic? What story shall we share with them about a pandemic that has wreaked havoc all over? What story would we tell them about this virus which has brought the entire world to a grinding halt and even humans to their knees?
But the most important question is to locate ourselves where we were in this entire scheme of things. Or the pertinent point about what role we had played when the virus hit the world? What have we done or what was our contribution in the fight against the virus? Or where were we in the landscape of fighting this pandemic?
One thing that is obvious is that this pandemic has on many occasions and in many places brought out the best in the human soul. In spite of all the chaos, the misunderstanding, the mistrust that people have, there are also people who give us hope. There are people who in their own way help keep the light of humanity flickering. So much has been written about those who are in the frontline of this fight, the doctors, nurses and all the healthcare workers, who face the challenges for us.
The Police, the sanitary workers and now even the government officials who are deputed for COVID duty too have done their part in the fight. In the Khasi Jaiñtia region of the state, the Dorbar Shnong has done a commendable job supporting the government in the fight against the virus; in fact they are like the hands though which the government reaches the community. Both at the local and the international level, common people and even leaders have worked wholeheartedly and tirelessly in the fight against the virus.
Yet one leader who stands out in the fight against the corona virus in the US is the Governor of the state of New York, Andrew Cuomo. New York State was badly hit by Covid19 and it was considered to be the epicentre of the disease in the US. So far Cuomo has been able to bring down the numbers of people dying and hospitalisation from the virus. And as if the pandemic is not bad enough, Cuomo has to deal with the federal government led by a person who not only denies that climate change is real but initially he was even in denial that the virus exists. He instead called it the opposition hoax. So, when this is all over the story of Andrew Cuomo the Governor of New York will be remembered for a very long time.
In one of his press briefings Andrew Cuomo shared a beautiful story which validates the saying that there is goodness is every human heart. Perhaps this is what Gandhi had in mind when he said there is a divine spark in every human soul. During the press briefing Cuomo shared a very beautiful story which actually has two parts. He started by sharing one of the many interactions that he had with his grandmother which in fact taught him a very valuable lesson which also helped validate the second story that he shared that day.
Whenever he came home and reported to her that he met someone and found the person to be a good, his grandmother would advise him to hold his horses. She would caution Andrew not to call anyone good until he sees how that person reacts in times of crisis. The true nature of the individual becomes visible in how he/she reacts during a crisis. He continued the press briefing by sharing another story that he experienced recently. It was about a letter he received from a farmer who lived in North East Kansas. In the letter the man told him that he is a retired farmer who lives with his wife and that his wife has only one lung and he also has diabetes and the corona virus made him very worried about her. He also said that he appreciated what Cuomo had done leading the fight from the front. In the letter the farmer said he would understand that since Cuomo is very busy he might not have the time to read his letter. Yet he sent it anyway and with the letter he also included one N95 mask which he had before he retired from farming. The retired farmer said that he had five pieces of these with him and decided to keep four for his immediate needs and sent one to Cuomo to give to a doctor or a nurse on duty in one of the hospitals in New York.
A person who is a diabetic himself and whose wife has only one lung, still has the heart to donate one of the five pieces of N95 mask for use of doctors and nurses! Indeed it is how we respond to the crisis which truly defines who we are. The question that all of us need to ask is, what have we done or how did we contribute in this fight against the pandemic? Of course there are people who waste their time spewing venom by sharing wrong information through memes; who generate and share false reports and doctored videos to spread hate. These are people who use the pandemic for their own political gains or selfish interests, but their tribe is being outnumbered by the people who came out to extend their helping hands to those in need during this time of crisis.
Some of us might feel embarrassed that we were not able to do anything which has a direct impact in the fight against the virus, but even staying home is a contribution to the fight against the pandemic. The old adage says, ‘it is easy to be good in good times, when you are well off and have enough, but it is not easy to be good when you have little or nothing to give.’ But the opposite happened during the lockdown period. We see people contribute no matter how little they can and at the community level we saw that some who can’t contribute in cash or kind, instead contributed their time and energy to the effort.
How do we come out of this crisis? Do we come out better informed and a better person? The fact is the pandemic has taught us a very important lesson which is to look at the big picture or to look at the broad picture than the blot on the screen. We should not be bogged down or feel disheartened by some terrible instance. Instead we need to look at the vast expanse of what has happened and we would realise that the pandemic has once again illustrated and demonstrated very clearly that there is goodness in every soul.