By HH Mohrmen
An article from the most recent readings provided a word which best describes the current state of affairs the world is in due to the pandemic. An article in The Inquirer (issue 8012/29 May 2021) which is a fortnightly of the Unitarian Church in the UK by Jacqueline Woodman discussed the word ‘liminal’ which best describes the situation that the entire humanity is in today. The state of affairs that the world and the entire human race is caught in today which is being betwixt and between. Simply put luminal relates to a transitional or initial stage of a process.
Never in the history of the world or that of peoples belonging to different races and countries have so many experienced the same anguish and uncertainty at the same time. Since the beginning of last year till date, the entire world is plunged into a dilemma. Nobody knows what will come next. People cannot make long term plans and will have to avoid visiting distant places except for emergencies. It is the universal experience of being all in the same boat and people in the entire world are all floating along with the waves in the wide span of the ocean not knowing what will happen next.
The fortnightly magazine defined the word ‘liminal’ as a place or time or experience of disorientation which is followed by uncertainty. It is that which has thrust humans into an uncharted future and thrown out the stability and comfort that they once knew. It is something that makes people disoriented and throws them into uncharted waters. Even though they are confident about the past and it is only natural to be unsure about the future (as it has always been), there is something extraordinary about the current Covid-infused situation. In fact the pandemic has not only brought everything to a standstill but has sent everyone helter-skelter. The pandemic has not only made people’s lives disoriented but they cannot even plan for the future because one never knows what the future has in store for them.
As a tribal one sees how the entire tradition that one so deeply cherishes crumbling like a pack of cards in the blink of an eye. Not to talk about those who died due to Covid where protocols need to be observed in conducting the funeral rites, but Covid had impacted even on those dying of other reasons. One cannot attend the funeral of even those who die an ordinary death. Everyone has missed attending the funeral of their near and dear ones which in ordinary circumstances one would be there to stand by the bereaved family and to lend one’s shoulder for them to cry and rest their heads on.
In ordinary times even if one cannot visit the bereaved family during a funeral, one would always make sure to visit them later. But due to the pandemic the obligation of visiting and supporting one another during the time of trials and tribulations is being dispensed with. The community support no longer exists and the bereaved family is left to fend for itself. The million dollar question is whether the pandemic has ushered in a new era among the tribal community of the state.
Like a tree in the autumn which sheds all leaves waiting for the spring, it looks like once in a lifetime a situation like this occurs when the old gives way to the new. The fact that market day is slowly giving way to Saturday as a traditional day for shopping is something that will remain true for good.
The laminal experience that this writer experienced recently was when a member of the family tested Covid positive. It was a shock no doubt and there was fear amongst the family members because the relative is an elderly person who had not even taken a single dose of vaccination. Fortunately she is Covid negative now and recuperating. At the personal level during that brief period all the plans went haywire. Few meetings had to be cancelled even as one floundered about when to plan one’s next move till the test is done and the result is out. The angst of having to stay quarantined at home until the RT-PCR test result comes out was another anxious space in one’s life. It is only when the result came out negative that one could heave a sigh of relief and start all over again.
On the other hand one cannot help but watch in wonder how the lives of young people unfolded during the last one and half year period. They were also caught in betwixt and between as there is no certainty in what they are doing. Their education is in disarray as online classes barely help them learn; the truth is online classes are no substitute for classroom teaching. It also helps one realise that not only is classroom teaching important but the school and college atmosphere is also an important element of education. In reality even if a student remains absent or does not attend classes and fails in the exams, and has learned nothing from the classes, the fact remains that the student would have learnt something from the campus environment .
Surely, the students who graduated from different classes during the pandemic period via online classes would definitely feel something amiss. They were ecstatic when their results were out and rushed to get admissions in their dream schools and colleges, but the joy was short-lived as they have to stay put in their homes and attend classes through the online mode. The feeling of one’s education being incomplete in spite of being declared passed and promoted to another class will always be there in the minds of the learner. What impact this will have on the education in general and the psyche of the young students in particular will remain oblivious until and unless a study is conducted to understand the issue.
The other question is whether the lockdown which began last March and continues till this year helps make humans more spiritual? Or does it at least make even those who have an aversion to using the word spiritual, to think? It is true that individual life is a never ending journey from certainty of the past to uncertainty of the future. So one may ask what the fuss is all about then. One may argue that the entire life as a human is living in betwixt and between the past that one knows and at the same time living in apprehension about the future that one does not know. One may also argue that in life the future is always uncertain anyway, but the time space during the pandemic is different. The global pandemic has put the entire world in one capsule (if one may say so), and the commonality of one human race and the fact that the entire world is one, is being reaffirmed. One may describe such an experience as part of one’s spiritual journey, but the difference is, this time around for at least the present moment of history, the pandemic has succeeded in putting everybody on the same voyage. Everybody is living a Star Trek moment in a Starship Enterprise on a journey to a place where humans have never been before.
Unlike in the past when humans with knowledge about the past walk to the future with confidence, this time the certainty of the past does not give one the reassurance to plan for the future. Till today everybody is waiting for the new normal. Everybody is anxiously hoping that the new normal will arrive sooner than later. Unfortunately uncertainty still looms large in the universal horizon. When will this be over is the question that is in everybody’s mind?
The global pandemic is one big bubble where humans share a common experience that people regretfully conclude, ‘we are all in this together.’ The division that we created on the basis of religion, race and ethnicity has lost its meaning. Surely the one and half years had given each and every one ample time to reflect and decide on their next move as one walks into the post Covid era. Individually one must have been familiar with living in a liminal space, but the pandemic is one profound illustration of the world and the entire human race experiencing the occasion of living together in the same liminal space.
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