Live each day...

'Live each day as if it is your last day'.  This statement has been preached over and over again by all great minds.  I had never been able to fathom the meaning of this assertion declared over and over by the learned souls. It had always perplexed me as I somehow couldn't come to terms with the way life has to be looked at. If someone told me that today is my last day,  then seriously I would keep writing long advisoriesl to my kids, I would be mailing my passwords and account details to my hubby,  I would be trying to bid adieu to my dear ones on whatsapp or facebook, I would finally surrender to God to do what he pleases. So, how on earth can I live each day as if it was my last and how would that conception make my life better? 

 Now,  in the midst of the growing pandemic of COVID19,  I was forced to contemplate the statement more profoundly.
Speaking of the disease itself, just like lot many blind optimists, I too beleived it to be just a piece of news happening somewhere in the far wide world.  Had the news not been from China,  may be I would have taken it seriously.  The disease too just like any other Chinese product with questionable credibility,  incited only random jokes in whatsapp followed by the fall of sensex points and gradually spreading to surrounding countries.  At this juncture, working in a hospital set up and coming across undiagnosed pneumona mortalities and morbidities from years,  I too argued that this must just be a media driven conspiracy to topple the world economy,  a novel war of power between China and the US.  I had a strong opinion that people suffer and die of viral infections every year with seasonal fluctuations.  Half of them are never diagnosed.  I dreaded the panic that this news may cause and bring chaos in the already unstable minds of people,  more than I dreaded the disease.  My questions then and now are the same- in a densely populated country like India,  predominated by uneducation,  superstitions and communal riots,  in a country where people can't be made to wear helmets,  how are we going to tackle such a virus if it really crops up?  But with the virus spreading like wildfire to all other countries,  with the heart wrenching situation in Italy,  with the exponential rise of the number of cases world over,  with the virus creating its own statistical theorems,  rationality and rules have to be applied to try to save ourselves as much as possible. It is not a Dan Brown novel or a thriller movie to speculate the murderer. It is a live problem which each one of the countries is struggling to handle.
Coming back to India and its inherent  inability to adhere to rules,  I just got a passing thought as to what might happen of a situation like Italy crops up. If I start the chain of thoughts from myself,  I may contract the disease and recover from it. I may contract the disease and pass it on to the vulnerable population around me. But thats not a possibility as I would quarantine before that and they are locked down. I may become sick enough to go to the ventilator. If the ventilator is available,  I may survive. If not,  I may succumb and join the list of innumerable people who have given up their lives in wars and pandemics. When everything settles,  the world will move on and recover with or without me.
Finally,  my conclusion is- Live by this moment,  live for today. This still might be our last day. Not to harm others and keep yourself safe,  follow protocols,  maintain distance and stay home. To help others in the tiniest way possible, donate to the needy whatever is possible in this situation- people are in far worse state. 

Born in a religion which believes rebirth,  it is said that our next birth depends on what we think while we are dying. I dont want to be born as corona virus. So,  I wont think about it. To live each available day to the fullest, I plan to do origami flowers with my kids,  bake cakes for them,  watch a good movie,  read a good book and for the present,  colour my hair into burgundy to change my outlook towards life.



24/03/2020

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