As the ugly shadow of Covid-19 continues to shroud the entire world in despair and uncertainty, we lay ‘caged’ in our homes, our mansions, our slums. The changing of channels provides us with the same stories regurgitated over and over again. And let’s attempt remembering the last time we had a conversation that didn’t include the words “social distancing”, “quarantine”, and “toilet paper” at least once… Such a conversation ceases to exist in our memory. We want answers, be it from our politicians, the nurses and doctors tending to us, Watsapp forwards or God, we ask, we plead, we demand an answer. Why?
Mother Nature must be looking down at us and laughing wryly, amused at the ongoing happenings which were unimaginable a few months ago. As I tap away on my keyboard to voice my thoughts, I wonder what Mother Nature would say to us, her children, about this pandemic. She would probably be watching over, eyes cold, wondering if we realised yet. No amount of protests, international meetings, campaigns and posts could fix the continual damage our species was doing to the planet, we had failed her. It wasn’t long ago when a figure of beauty was mutilated into an image of horror and destruction. A glorious colourful wreath reduced to a mass of shrivelled flora, falling off her crown, brown skin covered with scars of festering toxins we injected, a flowing majestic blue robe reduced to a dirty rag, blemished by greasy black spots. She must have waited in vain, inside a smoky, dark abyss, waiting for realization and reconciliation. To say we plundered and came close to destroying Earth would be an understatement, to claim we cared about the environment before Covid struck would be foolish, to call this pandemic Mother Nature’s revenge would be spot on. Because enough was enough.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”, and we did scorn her in all the ways possible, resulting in natural calamities that shook us hard, snatching lives away too. It’s hard to think of a mother lashing out so violently on her children, isn’t it? For a mother encapsulates patience, care and forgiveness in our minds, so much so that knowingly or unknowingly we take undue advantage of her. Perhaps we needed this, to remember that we are only temporary inhabitants of this world and any power we think we hold is but a grain of sand compared to the planet itself. Despite all the trauma and countless difficulties, one can’t help but wonder if this is a blessing in an incredibly deceptive disguise; maybe it is time to start over, change our lifestyle, and learn to appreciate our surroundings. Our second chance after the pandemic passes might as well be the last one, how many of us will put our introspections into action and how many simply won’t? Only time can tell.
And whilst the plague known as humankind lies stagnant, it is a marvel to watch nature reclaim itself; years and years of damage is being slowly healed, as in the short span of three weeks we see the Earth healing itself. Imagine living in a world where smog doesn’t congest your lungs, where you can sleep under a starry sky, where bears, goats, peacocks and deers roam freely on the land that is rightfully theirs too, where marine life is free of clogged oceans and toxic chemicals. If such a dream seems far-fetched, that is depressing, for we were given a planet like this to treasure. I personally stopped watching the news because it predominantly shows negative stories, I’d much rather scroll through my phone and smile as I see greenery slowly emerging, dolphins playing in the Venice canals and elephants taking a midnight stroll on the streets. Mother Nature took back what was rightfully hers ??
