Global Tamilian: Setting priorities amid COVID fight

Even as the pandemic situation gets out of proportion in the US, the death toll multiplies and restraints to get out to work or meeting people socially appears to be bleak in the near future, one cannot be blind to the realities one is exposed to by the virus attack.

Inadvertently, the situation has given a chance for many to rethink about the judicious use of resources, something that was etched in our minds long back but easily got erased when chasing the boat of economic prosperity.

Reuse, ration, share are some of the words that got to the back seats when prosperity started kicking in. Ironically, the pandemic outbreak gave a new life to these words, particularly for those in the developed countries.

Resources that were taken for granted are gone out of our reach, questioning the very rationale of prosperity. As most states in the US have completed more than a month of stay at home and are gearing to sail through more, we are left constantly pondering about the judicious use of resources.

“Can’t remember the last time I was reminding myself on checking my refrigerator to see which vegetable needs first attention to get to the table,” says Gitanjali Jain, a long-term US resident. “Today, I am taking every step to ration my resources,” she sighed.

“The lentils on the shelf and the beans in my freezer are always taken for granted. I never felt any guilt in throwing these into the dust bins when they went spoiled due to my inattention, but not today,” says Ranjini Nambiyar.

“There were days when as a volunteer parent I stood unquestioning when students, including my kid, dumped unopened food packs they bought from the pantry into dust bin just because they did not feel like eating. However, never have I permitted wasting in last one month,” says Ambika Rajan.

Somehow, living in the US made us think that packed resources are most hygiene and healthy. ‘Once opened cannot be reused’ was the mantra to keep fit. Never thought kitchen gardens could solve most of my cooking requirements, something that used to be the norm when I grew up in India.

When everything was fine, we were calculating what we wasted in terms of the dollar price of that item, which appeared to be manageable. But today the situation is too different. Moving to the US, we never believed that cleanliness without tissue papers was possible, be it in the kitchen or the bathroom.

Every time we tore those perforated sheets, we never gave a thought to see what was the stock left for next time. It was not appealing to us when people warned us about the number of trees that were cut to help us clean ourselves. Today, with the stores running out of the bath tissues and hand wipes, we are accepting the reality that water can also do the job of cleaning.

“Now I feel for those reams of papers that we give to the children at school and encourage their creativity to write just one letter A on a big sheet and throw it away if the strokes were not appealing,” says Gayathri Devi.

We’ve changed our perspectives towards the use of resources lavishly to blend with the many. We believed that this part of the globe had it all different because resources were available in abundance. Changing seemed essential to get merged into the new land.

Visiting the doctors for a regular wellness checkup, we witnessed that those robes, gloves and masks that doctors use for every patient were new. It appeared to be the best way to implement hygiene. I am now reminded that wellness checkup was when nothing was wrong with me and I was healthy, but today the same doctors don’t have any protection left to nurse the patient affected with the deadly virus.

Today, living in the most developed nation of the world, one does feel insecure to get to the doors of hospitals. The reason is one could lose one’s life because there are not enough medical supplies to save you. No ventilators, no masks, no medicines, no beds... no enough professionals even. Hospitals are forced to choose between the patients. And for those unfortunate deceased ones, cremation too will happen in isolation.

The loved ones can’t see them. All could be a little different if only we had more resources to save the dying. This is not the time to question the past behaviours or priorities.

Unfortunately, we are forced to reflect when so many of the valuable lives are being lost. Maybe, if not now, there will be no time left if this fight doesn’t end right. The stay at home is surely the weapon to fight just not the COVID-19 virus, but many ills around our perception of prosperity and life.