It is one of those dog days when everyone is trying to get a kick out of life’s music that is playing andante, thanks to the cataclysmic virus holding the state of affairs in vice-like grip.
Whats started off with people sitting in ivory towers during lockdown 1.0 has dragged everyone a couple of notches down in a span of 50 odd days. While the employed white-collar class has turned into mouse potatoes by working from home (WFH), the poverty-stricken blue-collar workers are wrestling the virus to the ground by having adopted the principle of self-resilience. They are like those freshmen who navigate the treacherous waters of anonymity as they come to terms with a new learning environment. Clueless about when the next morsel and sip would be their’s, scores of laborers are trudging tirelessly through the scorching 40-something mercury.
Realizing that most of the alternatives to sustain livelihood are a hit and miss, people are embracing the idea of becoming entrepreneurs, even if calls for moves never thought of.
With temples, churches, and mosques denying entry to devotees in the name of practicing social distancing, onus, to keep the bells of faith ringing, is on humans. Sensing this need, the centre has announced the release of fiscal stimulus packages to renew sentiment in the economy that is grasping at straw. Although most of the measures to contain the spread of virus are proving to be silver bullets, people are trying to find their feet in the fast-approaching, post-COVID world.
The virus may not have pangs of conscience, but frontline corona warriors have their hearts in the right place. From being a samaritan to to being martinets, moral economy is doing the heavy-lifting and sending ripples of hope and optimism through the citizenry.
In its fourth edition, the nationwide lock-down is witnessing some respite from its ossified norms that have been at the helm of affairs since March 24th. Few buses, few taxis there; few shops here, few restaurants there; few offices here, couple of factories there. This is the status quo on day 56 of lock-down. Perhaps, its time to stop getting out of bed on the wrong side!
