Being cruel to be kind

Oasis

This day, last year, we lived in a different world. And nobody gave it a second thought.

We lived in times when we were en masse very smug about our progress in the fields of science, medicine and technology. People who could afford invested in interstellar properties or oil wells, the less fortunate lot invested on what they thought was valuable while the unfortunate eked out a living and went on dole. None of us had any qualms about polluting our earth in every possible manner, ripping it off its abundant resources till it became scant or endangering lives of other species till they are rendered extinct. It was most important for us to be winners, never mind the definition of success. We did not hesitate to enter the mindless rat race to gain the winners post in areas like materialism, terrorism, bureaucracy, nepotism among other things.

Exhibitionism had/has become the order of the day. Virtual reality gained the most prominent place in our lives. Never mind if we have not eaten the food that has been photographed or had never visited the place which forms our virtual background. Even our age, looks, relationship status, friends are subjected to filters to lend them a fairy tale aura.

Mother Nature was and has been patiently watching us hoping that we might realize our lapses and correct ourselves. We remained incorrigible. She nudged us gently with a few natural calamities. We refused to take the hint. We merrily wronged her. Eventually, she decided to shake us out of our complacence. Just like a mother bird pushes her young ones off the nest in order to help them fly and fend for themselves, we have been riddled by an invisible yet potent microbe that has been let loose amidst us.

Gradually people are realizing the futility of superficiality. Cleanliness, self-reliance, mutual respect and intrinsic goodness are slowly but surely making a resurgence. The best of experts are applying their minds to find a vaccine to make life safe for everybody on earth irrespective of borders. All these changes are pointers to the fact that Mother Nature is being cruel to us in order to be kind to us so that we work together to make the world a better place.