this is my second blog during the lock down on account of the COVID 19 or Corona Virus.... this name has now become popular with all, including my 4 year old who knows that there is something called corona virus, exactly what it is, is however a mystery to him. can't blame him for this, since the scientists also do not know what it is....
now coming to how the leadership of our nation responded to this and how the public reacted to it.... our PM, after wasting many days, decided to talk to the nation.... the speech, was in equal measures vague as it was an abdication of responsibility.
what our PM effectively said was that he did not know what the vision for battling this menace was and that we were on our own.... basically it was the time for each man for himself.... u know... the tribal way.... so much for leadership...oh wait... he did give us an innovative way to counter this menace... JANTA CURFEW..... basically a re-packaged name of voluntary lock-down... this was actually the only thing this government was capable of.... re - packaging... the PM asked us all to stay indoors on Sunday, 22nd March from 7 am to 5 PM and beat thalis, ghantis, clap, in honour of the health care professionals, who were battling the disease. noble gesture...
there was no announcement of increased testing.... better isolation / quarantine etc... that was too much of work for this government, who is only about froth and not about any concrete action...now let me tell you how the wonderful people of our great land reacted....
the general population kept indoors for the junta curfew... that it was a sunday helped matters.... at 5 pm people were out doing what the supreme leader had asked them to do... beat thalis, ghantis, clap, in honour of the health care professionals, who were battling the disease.... till that time i must say i was mildly proud of my fellow countrymen.... even surprised by their self imposed discipline... and then it happened.....
after 5 pm, people came out in large numbers in processions beating beat thalis, ghantis, clapping some claiming that they had defeated the virus.... arrey akhir Modiji ne kaha hai toh kuchh soch ke hi kaha hoga... yeah... sure..... of course..... i felt like telling them haan bhai duniya mein saarey log toh bewakoof hain... aur ek Modiji hi akalmand hain... jinko yeh khatarnaak idea aaya ki ek din ghar mein baitho and there goes Corona....
as if this was not bad enough..... most of the states had imposed lock down asking people to stay indoor to observe social distancing..... i remember Mr Kejriwal, CM of Delhi, appealing...almost begging people to stay indoors and only people working is the essential services go out to work.... he basically said that we shall trust you if some police man asks u on the street what you were doing outside and you said u were with an essential service provider, you would be allowed to move on...basically saying to the people that we trust you... expecting people will act with self responsibility... this is where he erred... bhai hum log discipline se bahut dur hain....hum toh kisi bhi tarah discipline se bachte hain.....
come monday and lock down in place in my city of Panchkula..... people were roaming around... as if it was business as usual..... no one wanted to stay indoors.... this is what we are...... IDIOTS...... we do not deserve to be trusted to maintain even an iota of self discipline..... a friend of mine who is part of the government machinery told me that in Mohali genuinely believed that the country had overcome the Corona virus by staying indoors for a day.... Arrey bhai.... he told me that the only way the lock down could be enforced was if this was upgraded to a curfew and enforced by the police.... this is what was done by the afternoon.... thus reinforcing my long held view that we Indians can not self discipline nor do we have any sense of national responsiblity...
hope we do better than this in the battle against the virus.... because trust me this is a long battle... and whatever Modiji or his flunkies say..... we have not won the battle as yet... GOD BLESS US ALL WITH BETTER SENSE....
