Everyday brings with itself a new rock bottom. Just when you think you have seen the darkest of times, it gets even darker. Today, the total number of cases in the United States crossed 6 figures and the curve doesn’t show any sign of saturating. After today’s breach of 100k, the curve will definitely saturate. Though, not because they have been successful in curbing the spread. It will saturate because the country’s testing capacity will be reached. I hope that the policymakers and the decision makers do not consider this saturation of the curve as a win and hastily push people to come out again as it would be disastrous and would prolong the pandemic for everyone.
On the other hand, an early ramification of the Indian government’s decision to impose lockdown is starting to become visible. The daily wage workers across the country are left high and dry with no work to earn wages, no money to buy food and no transport to travel to their home locations. While the government worked on ensuring that the lockdown comes into effect, it missed out on these “essential” workers who are the muscle behind the society. I hope some measures are announced for them by the central and state governments.
Coming back to me and my blog, while writing this I was so confused as to where do I want to take this? Do I want to keep ranting about the current situation or do I want to talk about something I did to take my mind off it? And then I thought I will tell you what I did because that was the whole point of writing this blog, isn’t it? Anyway, there are very few things which help you take your mind off things during such times. One such thing is enjoying Friday night with friends. There is this app called House Party, where in you can video chat with friends and play some fun and light hearted games. So me and a couple of friends who usually hang out at Friday night, did just that. Only this time, it was virtual rather than physical. It was a nice change of routine and a welcome break. This will definitely take my mind off things, till tomorrow brings in its new share of rock bottoms.
I believe, I am privileged to be able to afford the luxury of sitting at home while there are hundreds of thousands of people still out there risking their life so that people like you and me can be safe. Many of those people are out there because they cannot afford to be out of job. There are still many who are out of jobs and cannot afford basic amenities like food. While a lot of organizations, non-profits and volunteers are taking up initiative, I would request everyone that if you can, please help out at least one family during this time of need. One person helped is essentially one life saved.
If you are new here, maybe reading the previous posts in this series will give you some context. Stay safe. Stay distracted.