The COVID-19 pandemic has, in such a short time, reduced humanity to numbers, statistics, waves and predictions. In fact, a crisis of this magnitude has an inherent capacity to alter human behavior, thought and action. Everyday our attention focuses on numbers concerning cases, recoveries, deaths, while all other aspects of daily life are forced aside, seeming so meaningless and distant.
While the virus itself spreads across boundaries and borders, it has ensured that individuals, in the interest of public safety, demarcate clear and slender lines of contact and human interaction. Even as the roads look deserted and shutters of shops are closed, enclosures of a different kind are being set up.
Our everyday lives with this pandemic and ‘restrictions’ have fanned feelings of fear, self-interest and self-preservation. Unfortunately, under these conditions, poverty of the human mind begins reshaping, redefining and reducing us to our lowest denominator. It is seductive to define ourselves by our suffering.
Yet the ever-present and destructive nature of the virus forces us to search deep into our own humanity to make sense of life on Earth. Many stories of resilience and sacrifice from communities have emerged where individuals have demonstrated the heart, compassion and profound understanding to break down barriers, connecting in solidarity with neighbors and strangers.
Crisis does offer an opportunity to enable a people to become the best they can be. This, however, does imply rejecting the idea of being reduced to nameless statistics and embracing the human potential to be the difference. In essence it requires the need to be defined not by our suffering, but by our blessings.
One example of how a people have demonstrated their heart and ingenuity during this crisis has been in the Sikh community. The one-of-a-kind free drive through ‘oxygen langar’ opened by the Sikh community in various Indian cities is an exemplary manifestation of being the best we can be while adapting to adversity. In the Sikh tradition, a langar is essentially a community kitchen that serves free food to anyone that is hungry.
With the second COVID wave putting unprecedented pressure on health services many people are dying due to the lack of oxygen. The Sikh community, initiated by the Gurdwara, has opened ‘oxygen langar’ offering free oxygen to any person irrespective of caste, status, ethnicity, or religion with no questions asked.
According to a news report in The Hindu, the ‘oxygen langar’ is “literally breathing life into COVID patients with dangerously fluctuating oxygen levels.” It is helping the breathless breathe.
Nagas have much to appreciate and learn from the heart and generosity behind the ‘oxygen langar.’ Can it inspire the Nagaland government, churches, communities and the people to become the best that we can be? Perhaps, the COVID pandemic will help Nagas find ways to make positive opportunities from this crisis and become more understanding as a people.
