The Eternal One

Two days after the lock-down was declared, I contacted my 'old set'. I used e-mail, Whatsapp, Facetime and phone. I would have liked to send a letter, for old times' sake. First love, first crush, good friend, long-time friend, best friend in school, best friend in college. The timeline ended there. Best to leave alone the close ones that came later. The dead, the lost and the forgotten.

Nearly all replied. The communication ended there. I did not push my luck. Let it remain a social experiment.

Only one did not reply. I used to call her the eternal one. We used to say we would be there for each other forever. We were not joking. We had been together since we were babies, even through couple of disastrous affairs of the heart. Then, we let the river flow under the bridge. What's that cliché? Emotional flotsam and jetsam? Something sentimental, something stupid.

By the end of week three of the lock-down, the jokes were over. I was bitter most of the time. I checked for her reply more frequently. Maybe, she is busy like the rest of us. Maybe, she is even more busy taking care of the ill. When I was not bitter, I wondered if she is ok, if she is alive. She must be. Otherwise, I would have got a reply, I thought and laughed crazily.

Week four and five, I didn't give a damn.

I don't read the newspaper. I don't listen to the news. I stay away from Facebook and Twitter. I watch crap to waste time. I try to scribble. Even the words are in lock-down.

Eternity is over, my one.

Religious

Believe it or not, I am a very religious person.

I hate most places of worship. I hate most religious people.

It might sound counterintuitive, but that itself makes me a very religious person.

Like every religious person, I fall head over heels in love or fear with creations of god, fictitious or not, that scare the daylights out of me.

The pick of the season is, of course, the virus.

Only an idiot will ask why god would unleash such a creation/creature on her/his most beloved.

Why is the virus here?

It might be here to give the animals more space. Or to make the air and the rivers cleaner.

But, that would be like saying that human beings are here only to produce another human being.

I think, and as a very religious person, I believe that it is here to teach us. It must be the avatar of something great, not just a nonentity, new or not.

It has brought out the best in us. It has brought out the worst in us. Millions of health-workers and volunteers are helping people survive the onslaught. Millions of volunteers are also making use of the opportunity for their own political or territorial gains. People will stockpile. Some will intimidate others. Some people will feel intimidated and retreat into a shell.

Now, we don't need newspapers to tell us the truth about lockdown. Every generation everywhere now knows about life in a lockdown, about life under police rule. They will learn that the police are usually good. They will learn that their masters are usually bad.

The virus is giving us a soft version of life in wartime. It is not destroying our houses. It is not leaving generations scarred by nuclear radition. It is showing us the areas where health-care facilities are sub-optimal. It is showing us the deficiency in our education and technology.

The virus is also teaching us about how we let disasters happen. If you are not dimwitted, you can figure out what has been allowed to happen with ulterior motives. That too is not rocket science.

We will also learn about the huge number of idiots in our midst. These idiots will talk about the mistakes of some. They will not talk about the mistakes of their own, even if it is a much bigger mistake. See, even I won't reveal. After all, it is not classified information. But, then who is interested in doing a basic Google search? Who is interested in discouraging creeps in their list of friends? Who is still smiling at creeps? Oh, just rhetorical questions.

There will be much talk of fighting as one. We will talk nonsense about defeating the virus with our greatness. Even the NYTimes (libtards?) had an opinion piece about fighting the virus on US soil the American way! I do not even want to think of our way! Segregate, isolate millions as slaves, never to be seen, never to be touched? As a religious person, I hold a lamp every day. That too in front of a mirror. I check if the lamp within is burning or dark. Don't ask me why I need to hold a lamp to see the lamp within. I am religious. Do not ask questions. Do not expect answers. I deal in oracles.

The virus and the gods do not really expect us to learn. The so-called beloved of god have a very short-term memory, and that too very selective.