While many of us – human beings – who had an unusually busy lifestyle enjoyed the initial bit of it because all essentials were made available and it seemed just normal. The pandemic hit hard on folks like daily wagers, contractors, and contractual workforce across verticals and industries. But as and when the lockdown started getting prolonged from Phase 1 of 21 days to Phase 2 of 19 days (and Phase3 of 14 Days) with no signs of being lifted yet – the entire situation started to seem grim.

We could see and feel humans to be stressed, depressed and a kind of anxiety that engulfed all of us while being at home – for time which seems to be forever now. We saw many people (our friends, family and our heartthrob celebs) uploading pictures of them sweeping their house, baking some cake, making some gourmet food but eventually even that started to fade.

Because at the end of the day we are animals and the toughest is to kill our basic animal instinct. We are not brain wired to be seated indoors for long. We love going outside to hunt for our jobs, professions, mates, friends, drinks, friendships and passion. That is who we are. And when you are unable to do so and caged in the four walls of your house, something starts disturbing you inside.

But if there is someone who is having a ball all this time is – Nature!

The pollution level has been decreasing across all the major global cities of the world (including India as well) From decreasing air pollution to water and noise pollution, the earth is better off with humans being caged inside their homes. Looks like nature’s got a breather too.

Across India, there have been many mountain ranges or peaks which people started spotting with decreased micron and suspended particles in the air (from their cities). Many folks in the cities also saw and observed blue clear skies which otherwise would be hazy views. Scientists could finally hear earth’s tectonic movements – with better precision and accuracy – which otherwise were shrouded in the noise created by human activities et.al.

As observed, the rivers, lakes and oceans started getting clearer too with less or no human activity and absolutely zero level of industrial waste being dumped into the water resources. Ganga is cleaner. Yamuna is without froth. All these sights would not have been possible in the lifetime and we would not have been able to see the magical beauty of our earth and its natural resources had there been no lockdown, the blessing in disguise.

The dolphins were spotted in Arabian sea near Mumbai which nobody even knew that they existed in those areas. The Olive Riley turtles turned out at Odisha coast in lakhs for nesting owing to zero human activity there. Similarly in another incidence large leatherback sea turtles were spotted at the beaches of Thailand. It is pure magic to spot species of animals that we thought were either endangered or no more. Stags and deers were spotted on the roads, elephants were seen in herds walking on the roads cutting through the jungle and the cities. Snow leopards were spotted in Nainital. And the list goes on and on.

It is an indication that earth has its own way of protecting what it has created and nurtured for millions and billion years. It is also a reflection of the motherly nature of our earth – that it cannot be partial to the rest of its kids just because the humans are “supposedly” smarter kids in the lot. After all, a mother is the least biased towards its kids. It is also all encompassing like Maa Durga and ward off all the devils to claim what truly belongs to her.

So while making us quarantine – it showed us what else nature beholds within. And maybe what we are seeing as the glint in the grim situation is actually Mother Nature sending us distress signals.

Maybe it is her way of telling us that:

“YOU – Humans – are not the only creatures on this earth, there are many more species and creatures that reside in my garb and I need to take care of all of them equally. I gave you enough and took care of you without any questions asked. But I also owe my responsibility and love towards my other beings.

By showing you clearer and cleaner air, skies and water – I am showing you the real me. By showing you glimpses of species and animals that you thought were extinct, I am letting you peekaboo into what wonderful creatures lie protected in my arms. And these creatures know how to live in harmony with each other and the rest of the ecosystem. Better than you do. It is time you learn the same as well.

Eliminate the unessential from your lives. Use all of it – air, food, water and other natural resources – judicially. Don’t confuse your wants with needs rather try to minimise them. Consume what is BASIC, and truly so and not what you think is basic in your head. Take care of your surroundings, fellow beings, animals and creatures – nature (me) – like you take care of your prized possessions.

It is time you rethink your lifestyle and what got you here. It is time you contemplate, if you continue with your “usual lifestyle”, where are you going from here. Because surely, you missed the Heaven that was here on this earth. And there is no heaven after that. So, for once PAUSE, RE-THINK and RE-CALIBRATE your actions and lifestyle before it is too late and before I pour down upon you the havoc you have dreaded the most. EXTINCTION. Extinction of YOU.”

We didn’t see COVID-19 coming but in reaction to that if we do not make some necessary amends to our lifestyle, we surely know what we are upto!

The post The Earth is sending distress signals appeared first on Thebuswindow.

13 Jan 2020: Comes 2020! 13 Jan marks the first festival of the year. Lohri followed by Makar Sakranti on 14th Jan. Folks across India pray for bountiful harvest and it also onsets the days getting longer.  We too celebrated the festival, our eyes beaming with happiness and souls lit! But we didn’t see anything coming!

29 Jan 2020: We had a #famjam. Full on masti, shits go crazy! The body that denies to stop grooving! No time with family is any less better. We in fact had our next trip planned back home! But we still didn’t see that coming! (though hints had started to spread in China)

14 feb 2020: We had a perfect Valentine and yet we didn’t see that coming!

And then the world started crashing down!

24 Feb – We canceled our tickets to the first vacation of the year that was scheduled for 6th March to Krabi!

13 Mar – The orders were passed to start working from home!

15 Mar – The birthday that we celebrated fully indoors at home!

We had just lived the ordeal for 9 days when the country was put under a lockdown for 21 days. And today happens to be the 12th day of this Quarantine and self-isolation! We, humans, have been hit by a world pandemic (as declared by WHO). From the readings, I discovered that such a pandemic happens once in 100 years.

The last Ones were in 1920, 1820 and 1720 (so maybe 2020 was obvious) but we surely didn’t see that coming. That is the best and worst thing about humans. We are the most adaptive to change and also the quickest to succumb to over-confidence.

Well, having said that, the only thing different from this pandemic is – it is man-made rather than natural. It is anticipated that China is the brainchild behind this world attack. Things countries do to show their world dominance. At this point of time when the attack happened the entire world has been quite dependent on China for manufactured goods from electronics to utilities to raw material for various industries. This COVID-19 attack rendered the world helpless and sent the entire global economy into a slowdown. The IMF and World Bank amongst the World Economic Forum are not sure if how much time would be needed to recover from the economic crises that is a result of this world pandemic in 2020.

But we didn’t see this coming! It seems and feels like our merry-go-round was put to a jerking halt!

In the last few years we had developed such busy lifestyles for ourselves that we were almost occupied 24×7. Work, juggling between work and home, late night parties, camping and trekking during extended weekends, weekend getaways during long weekends, staycation and then another vacation. Binge watching, shopping sprees, eat-outs, sloshed at parties, binge eating and watching and incessant drinking and smoke-up sessions.

We have been absorbed in this idea of being occupied every nano second. As a result of this mindset, our overall consumption levels went damn high and while I am not against it completely, I will not be shy to admit that consumerism is a drug and we the human race has been high on it!

Rampant. Incessant. & Many a times Unnecessary – consumption of one or the other drug (sugar, shopping, content and alcohol) had turned us blind towards things that were quite BASIC.

Saying hello and conversing with neighbors, talking to our families and friends, looking at nature and appreciating its beauty and magic, it all seemed odd! And if anyone was found to be doing this, he or she was considered anachronistic. As if this was uncool but being high on a drug everytime was the only “cool thing” to do.

Writing letters was odd, reading books turned odd, star gazing turned odd, playing outdoors turned odd – anything that meant talking to each other and interacting with nature seemed out of fashion. And it all happened in the last 20 years.

The result of which – polluted rivers and streams, oceans full of plastic and waste, skies covered in smog and haze, flora and fauna speeding to extinction and humans headed to depression and drudgery. We had designed and devised a life for ourselves where we were working to fetch resources we didn’t have time to enjoy. And absolutely ignoring the gifts bestowed by nature upon us. Despite all this happening we just couldn’t see this coming!

Irrespective of how Coronavirus spread and put all of humanity under house-arrest, one thing it did good was for humans to see nature in its truest colours.

The deers and stags could be spotted again. Many birds and animal species that were believed to have gone extinct were spotted again. In India, no one knew that there were dolphins near Mumbai beaches but they were spotted too. On the other hand, on Odisha coast, red turtles headed to shores to lay eggs. The Skies that were hidden behind the smoke were seen clearly and stars could be seen in the sky from the high-rise metros too. There have been instances where people could also see the mountains and views for the first time from their city lands (they didn’t even know existed).

It is amazing to see that only 12 days of lockdown and nature has unraveled so much of its magical charm already. Maybe it is a hint that:

1. The nature has divine power to claim what truly belongs to it (and it will if the need be)
2. There is still time for us to course correct our lifestyle and live in total harmony with nature.

The choice is completely ours!

What remains to be seen is for how long will humanity be under lockdown and quarantine  before this COVID-19 dies! And secondly, what lessons we would have picked once all of this is over?

Will we be back to our blinded consumerist lifestyles or will we decide to live in harmony with nature! That will be our true test of intelligence and test of time because our bounce back will define what the future will hold for us!

The post We didn’t see this coming! appeared first on Thebuswindow.