Quarantine Days- Dr. Roby Cherian, Assistant Professor, Sacred Heart College, Kochi.

In Indian culture we treat Earth as our mother. If we look out we see that just as mother nourishes her child, the earth nourishes all living beings by providing them with various necessities and shelter at the right time.

Human race has got developed brains compared to all other beings and it makes us feels superior to all others, but are we really developed beings? The land where most of the buildings that we see today were once filled with trees, lakes, and hills. To be more specific new hypermarkets at Kalamassery and Edapally is the result of leveling the hills and encroachment of lakes. More than that our new cancer research ward at Kalamassery medical college is the result of a vanishing hill act.

Sometimes we rate a nation as great by the amount of concrete building, nuclear weapons or by the number of satellites that been placed in the space successfully by them. But this Covid-19 pandemic days really proved that these things don’t matter at all.

This lock-down days gave a strong message that corona virus treats all humans equally and does not discriminate between the rich and the poor and even there is no discrimination based on sex and caste. During this period we saw people spending more time in the family which they used to miss in the busy life. Even once the lock-down is over we should be spending the required time in family by not taking home the extra work from offices. Office works are to be completed at office and spending extra hours at office and other places needs to be trimmed off. A family that stays together while eating, cooking, playing etc. will always keep that spirit of togetherness at all times. This vacation gave a different experience to many families as kids were with their parents 24 hours.

My parents had brought a cycle for my elder daughter last September and since it was a bit big for her she could not try cycling herself. It required someone’s assistance and I was the only hope. But due to the tight schedule we both could not make it happen and this lock-down was effective for that as the cycle got placed on the terrace and smooth surface required just 2 hours of help after which she just went on smoothly. Now it’s a daily 2 hours of activity cycling on terrace in the evening.

This lock-down saw people handling the waste generated at their homes in a better way as the roads are not littered with waste. The HMT-NAD road which is a place to dump waste from various regions saw a great decline. It clearly shows that these are mainly the acts by the nearby hotel chains that have grown in great number. The number of hotels and hospitals are rising equally in the city and we see both are proportional and this needs to be looked upon seriously by the authorities and do the needful to minimize the damage being done to the society.

Prior to the lock-down I was engaged in the online Swayam course and I was spending 5 hours per week for the same. Once the lock-down started I decided to make lecture note for “Statistical Mechanics” as per the new PG syllabus 2020. I could complete the same which took 100 plus hours of preparation lasting 25 days covering around 200 pages. It was a satisfying experience. I hope this hand written note can be scanned and be shared among students.

Recently I got enrolled myself for the “Online Learning and Content Development (OLCD) ” which is an online program running for 2 weeks by Kerala MOOC’s (MOOC- Massive open online courses). The aim for taking up the OLCD program was to cope up with the situation that could arise if the present pandemic gets extend. It might be the only best solution available as of now. Live classes will be missed and technology won’t be able to give the same feel but at least we can try with various applications that can give the same essence, which requires good internet connectivity in participant’s mobile phone.

During this lockdown we saw many people shifting towards micro-green cultivation procedures, improving their terrace farming etc. But I feel that all these steps are good to start with but in the long run we should not be thinking of these micro-level things alone as we need to move towards macro-level thinking. Planting a tree will not be effective for the person immediately but it creating a great effect to the nature in the long run. If we are able to change the micro-level thinking to a macro-level thinking we will be able to do wonders to the living beings around.

Mother Earth is like our body. If the body is having some problem it will react and during that time we will feel comfortable. The Earth in this pandemic time is trying to heal herself from the toxin and painful human activities. From now on seeing high rise building should not create wonder in minds but should create pain in the heart as all these are created by the large number of pilings on earth and it has the same effect as piercing nails on our body. The mother earth is bearing all those pains and when it crosses the critical pain it will react and that is what is been observed now.

All the countries which were rated as powerful nations in terms of their weapons or space explorations were not in a position to handle this pandemic. In my opinion individual needs to be self-sustained to its maximum and it will lead to more local produce usage in the coming years and always the local produce is the best medicine compared to exported items.

Hope national leaders will spend more in the development of organic farming sectors in various region, concentrate on waste management, promote go green activities following strict policies and spend more on uplifting the health care research and development in the coming days. To achieve a safer Earth not only Government but also the people who forms the society needs to work towards the goal, as a small deed will be a stepping stone to success. Let us help mother Earth to live peacefully.

                                                      Date: Earth Day 2020, 22nd April 2020