New Year let us unmask the many masks of
irrelevance, unreason; sanitize the unclear perceptions and unscientific attitudes and stay safe from pessimism of
insuperability and panic.
Cautions are inevitable
and solutions are surging forth.
I have set on a relay
journey across the globe few insects [friends of humanity] from 2017 on a
decade long mission; it started from Cape of Good Hope.
They were merely meant to
observe and their observations will be passed on to robots to record for
posterity. While this process was going on there were some disturbances felt in
the atmosphere from end of December 2019, this disturbance struggled to get a
name as if struck in Iceland’s Names Committee a few decades back. However in
early February 2020 it got its name as COVID-19 [CO stands for
corona, VI is for virus, and D is for disease official name for the disease
caused by the novel Corona virus.
The worst part is it managed to
enter even the Iceland as COVID19
VEIRAN, had it come a decade ago the
Iceland‘s Names Committee would not have allowed it as Icelandic language was
not allowed to have the letter, ‘C’ according to purists.
So, for
want of time and the torrid times we have had, I am recording their reports
from January 2020 till December 2020 with certain interpretations. These were
from some of them from some parts of the world in several languages, still not
complete because I could not filter, alter and edit all of them. However, as
the New Year approaches I thought I would collect whatever I could and present
them. Whenever, any word from any specific language or a term referring to any
particular culture is mentioned the meaning is given within brackets.
VIRUS conveyed the importance of
Values
vital to individuals and societies;
Interdependence
of individuals and societies;
Responsibilities
of individuals and societies;
Utility of
humane spirit of individuals and societies;
Scientific
approaches of individuals and societies.
We enter into a rather
peculiar new year where all realms of activities are aspiring to surge ahead
with renewed hope and expectations as they slowly saunter in the new atlas that adapts to
new normal.
A new normal where the
virus spread everywhere, no one could go out anywhere and initially authentic
diagnosis and remedial measures were to be found nowhere.
A new normal which made
humanity to contemplate where are we heading towards.
A new normal which reminds us of
Donald Rumsfeld’s famous verse
“The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don’t know
We don’t know”, and
And what Phenella writes in “The Unwritten Comedy”.
“To be ignorant of many things is expected
To know you are ignorant of many things is the beginning of wisdom.
To know a category of things of which you are ignorant is the beginning of
learning.
To know the details of that category of things of which you are ignorant is to
no longer be ignorant.”
As Covid-19 spread all over
the world acting as an unimaginable leveler impacting everyone everywhere the
various actions, reactions and feelings in multiple locations must be
preferably conveyed through the words and phrases of every nation as they say
in Mayan Yucate language spoken in Belize, ‘Jun
t'aan ma'u tsook t'aano'obi’ [ one
language is never enough] to express them all].
As Covid-19 started getting
identified as a Pandemic and since the regulators had to address the crisis by
putting in place certain strict preventive measure they coined the term ‘Social Distancing’ instead of ‘Physical Distancing’.
This reminded me of T.S. Eliot’s words
in East
Coker, part V:
“Trying to use words,
and every attempt
Is a wholly new
start, and a different kind of failure
Because one has
only learnt to get the better of words
For the thing
one no longer has to say, or the way in which
One is no longer
disposed to say it. And so each venture
Is a new
beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby
equipment always deteriorating
In the general
mess of imprecision of feeling,
Undisciplined
squads of emotion.”
So, a new normal emerged, perhaps, ushering in the most holidayed year of this century for the whole world when suddenly many busy human activities had to come to a halt and help environment to breathe free from all sorts of pollution and allow other species to revisit their space on this planet. The fika moment as the Swedish say arrived [a moment to slow down and appreciate the good things in life] when in Belgium zelfs fietspedalen bewogen niet [even bicycle pedals did not move]. Handshakes shifted to Namasthe [Sanskrit –I bow to you] and gbàdύrà [Yoruba in Benin] and everyone realized idunnu ni ilera to dara [ in Yoruba - happiness is good health].
Tolakar mhoubaeahar now
khettasiemrab ka trauv ke baohbngchaol der
[Cambodia’s
Siem Reap food courts too were deserted].The famous Bulgarian Ailyak or Swahili ‘Hakuna matata became
the norm everywhere [the art
of doing everything slowly with no rush, while enjoying the process and life in
general]. The cosmetic industry missed the beurre de karité non
comédogène from Côte D’ivore [Non comedogenic shea butter], the joyous tourists sipping grogue beer on
the beaches of Sal island in Cape Verde was also missing. Comoros,
the local countrymen call as Masiwa,
the word "Comoro" comes from the Arabic qumr , "the moon" or qamar "whiteness", this nation known for
its frequent coups, lost its even meager revenue from its Ylang-Ylang
flowers which are grown on the sides of the Karthala volcano
for their oil which is used as a base for perfume.
ακόμη και η Ικαρία της Ελλάδας δεν
γλιτώθηκε από το covid-19
akómi kai i Ikaría tis Elládas den glitóthike apó to covid-19 [ Greek- even Ikaria of Greece was not spared from covid-19 because Ikaria-an island of Greece the average age is 90 most people live
long and lead a healthy life.
Did Hungarians
have premonition several centuries ago to come with a different expression,
though being in Europe, Hungarians
don’t say “It’s all Greek to me”, they say “It’s Chinese for me” (Ez nekem kínai). It is tough to fix this Rubik
cube’s (by Erno
Rubik of Hungary].
Iran
moved ahead with its proverbial Omid or
Umeed [hope] Âsemun be zamin nemiyâd [Persian –it is
not the end of the world].
Paraguay had
to refrain from its Gurani hospitality Ja’uta la
tereré
“Let’s drink
tereré.” “Tereré” is a yerba mate (loose tea)
based beverage.
Iraq
, once the Cradle of civilization in Ancient Mesopotamia
and Sumer where actual writing
and the wheel were invented, but now terribly ruined, leads
its life like , ‘What's Left of Me’, by Kat Zhang's
a shocking, thought-provoking, and emotionally charged story of two souls
sharing one body. People seem to have the same expression to both virus
and human beings Wazim lê bêne
[in Iraqi
Sorani Kurdish means leave me
alone]. This is from a population
which once had an attitude of,’ ‘Don’t think about what is missing so you won't
miss what is existing’. It was
sad to see how a civilization can be ruined by dirty politics.
Egypt, whose
historical importance is known to the world and who presumably knew that the
earth was made of chemicals and the Egyptian word kēme (chem), which stands for earth, was in fact the
origin of the word chemistry.
Their
chemistry with nature and psychological attitude is well reflected in the
ancient Egyptian Arabic proverbs like, ‘illi yshūf balwit ġiruh tihūn ʿlīh balwituh’ [Egyptian Arabic means seeing
someone else’s problems makes yours look small]. This attitude saw them through the crisis of
2020 with comparatively less psychological depressions
In Indonesia
both business and bis
[bus] came to a halt as people started using sepeda
[bicycle].
Everywhere everyone seem to
experience on the outside almost a sepulchral Stygian
silence which
made audible even in urban areas Psithurism [Greek-The sound of leaves rustling in the wind ] especially kuru yaprak [Turkey - dry leaves] and inside everyday haunts with
eerie episodes, where
assumed eternity of life evaporated into ethereal mortality and left some in Lebensmüde [German -Weary of life] ,some in Litost [Chez -A state of anxiety and torment created by the
sudden sight of one’s own misery] or silenced into Shouganai [Japanese -Connected to
the idea of fate, this word means that something can’t be helped, so why worry
about it? Worrying won’t stop the bad things from happening; it will only stop
you from enjoying the good ones] as lockdowns, which definitely reduced the
spread and casualty, a mokita [Kirinina-New Guinea -truth everybody knows but no one speaks] and all other
well intended measures to control the pandemic, at times proved not so
effective when, only whenever, normal or usual activities resumed which
manifested to a clueless population subjected to prolonged confinements a Trencaclosques [Catalan language spoken in Andorra- Puzzle] and to look at most remedial recommendations as Schlimmbesserung [German - A so-called
improvement that makes things worse] and felt a sense of Bérézina [ French -More than a serious failure, a defeat] and kicked one
back to kurbus [Estonian- sadness] as increasing cases did not give one any
sense of Raak m-emin [Algerian you are safe] feeling.
Phobia
pervaded everywhere One
heard often in Congo’s Lingala O zali komona
lokola o zali kozanga pema?
Are you short of breath? If anyone tried to hide it then it became "ilunga"
Tshiluba language [spoken in south-eastern DR Congo]"a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first
time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time".
All these ushered
in a realization of intrinsic values of human life and respect for all other
species and the value of matters of intrinsic importance at all levels -
individual, families, society, natural environment and the whole world.
It was also a silent leveler from moneyed to Malang (Pershian origin percolated into many languages in Urdu a
'Malang' is a person who is not aware of himself and not aware of the
world, intoxicated with the love of
another and someone who has forsaken the world. Here used as in Pastho
of Afghanithan used for nomadic uncaring POOR) everyone
was equally affected.
Ultracrepidarianism was ubiquitous from grandma remedies to
conspiracy theories to calibrated cut and paste messages on social media to
even stories of Panspermia [The hypothesis that microorganisms may transmit life
from outer space to habitable bodies; or the process of such transmission].
Ndiri
kuda chiremba ( Shona in Zimbabwe I need a doctor) was
heard frequently. Nothing sweet moved around as even Guatemala, birth place of chocolate could not export its cacao, the word cacao derives from the Mayan “Ka’kau,” and chocolate comes from the Mayan “Chocol’haa.”
Cyprus known
as the 'Jewel
of the Mediterranean' and
legendary birthplace of Aphrodite,
the ancient goddess of love and beauty where even those beautiful beaches bore a
deserted look and one hardly heard Pame yia kafe? (Πάμε για καφέ?- Shall we go for a coffee?]
Israel as
usual was focused
on solutions and remedies starting
with Tera
Novel’s disinfectant to BATM’s
quick saliva based test kits.
"Spice Isle", the nutmeg capital of the world Grenada did not witness its Kalinda, spelled Kalenda and Calenda, navel-to-navel contact between the male and female dancers.
kama 'anhar alsafar
alduwalii walaiqtisad fi khuf eamman , faqad hujiruu aydana bila sayih [ Oman Arabic- as international travel and economy caved in the
caves of Oman too were deserted with no tourists]
In
Venezuala excess of seguir las reglas para evitar la enfermedad [follow rules to avoid sickness] but los olores fuertes de los desinfectantes de
hospital pueden evocar miedo [harsh
smells of hospital disinfectants conjured up fear].
Equatorial Guinea known for wearing fancy wooden masks
during celebrations, religious events and funerals were surprised to wear cloth
ones always.
While in Philippines despite the pahimakas [last
farewell of some] and moments of Daga sa dibdib [worry or fear. -"mouse in the chest"], their kinaadman [Filipino –
knowledge] and acceptance of tadhanà [destiny; fate] they held to their proverbial trust
in saying Bahala
na [a Filipino expression of trust that outcomes will
unfold within the harmony and natural balance of the Universe].
In El
Salvadore the Salvadoran women stopped patting with the forearm or
shoulder with "buenos
dias"(good
morning), "buenas
tardes" (good
afternoon), or "buenas
noches" (good
evening).
Bauxite and alumina of Guinea could not move and the Archipel
de Bolama was deserted by tourists as
people got scared of bats [Bolama,
part of the Guinea-Bissau Archipelago
of 88 islands is a complex recognized as one of UNESCO MAB (Man and Biosphere) Biosphere Reserves].
Wearing papuče [Bosnian word for slippers at all times to avoid
catching cold] was not enough nošenje
maski takođe je postalo neophodno [wearing
masks has also became necessary]. Il n'y avait aucune forme de performances en
direct de crosse et de hockey sur glace au Canada [There was no form of live lacrosse and ice
hockey performances in Canada]. In Chile [in Chilian Spanish] it was almost a refrain Qué Fome! [How boring! ] harto De noticias sobre virus [fed up
with news on virus]. While Cuba
known for [besides it cigar, sugar and Son cubano -a genre
of music and dance with upbeat rhythm]
,its excellent, vast and well organized health care facilities and faculties at
all levels did its part to help those countries which put aside politics for
the sake of humanitarian cause.
Yebeshyia bio ochina [in TWI language of Ghana –I am coming back tomorrow] has turned people into saying Oh from China, no.
In Estonia 2020 Kaksteist kuud [Estonian-twelve months] they did not Nad istuvad ϋmber lõkke [ sit around closely near fire] as they normally do.
The world also missed ვიდალია ხახვი vidalia khakhvi [in Georgian language- vidalia onions –the onions that don’t make you shed tears when you cut them, very sweet because of least quantity of Pyruvic acid]
There are two things that
made everyone remember Czech one its popular epigram ‘Consider each day of your life
to be the best’, another Prozvonit in Czech[
this word means to call a mobile phone only to have it ring once so that the
other person would call back, allowing the caller not to spend money on
minutes].
In Fiji buying yagona [i Taukei language of FIJI- kava root]
as sevusevu [gift]
to give to turaga
ni koro [ headman
or local chief]
too stopped,i Taukei (itself means"the owners of the land")
Yemen's
Red Sea coast too enjoyed some peace with people enjoying Mocha
(al-Mukha) –world
famous coffee and chewing Qat [a stimulant drug] as bombing came to a halt.
World
gave a miss this year to the best Ornithologists’ delight
the Gambian
Junkung
Jadama [ known as JJ] asking tourists Ebata
minto le [Mandinka {Gambian
native language}–where are you coming from].
Eritrea which got its name
from Red Sea’s ancient Greek name Erythraean Sea,
ብቤት ውሽጢ ጸንሐ ውሕስነት ተጸበዩ Wondering what is this, it just says, ' stay
indoors , stay safe' in Tigrinya language of Eritrea
Voilà a
country famous for its wooden masks Gabon, especially from its Bwiti tradition ,the Gabonese had to wear the surgical masks like the rest. Les masques gabonais sont des objets de collection très
populaires, en particulier les masques n'goltang ou Fang, et les figurines
Kota. En plus d'être utilisés dans les rites traditionnels, ces masques sont
également utilisés dans les cérémonies pour les mariages, les funérailles et
les naissances. Ils sont souvent fabriqués avec des matériaux précieux et des
bois locaux rares [ French- Gabonese masks are very popular
collectors' items, especially n'goltang or Fang masks, and Kota figures. In
addition to being used in traditional rites, these masks are also used in
ceremonies for weddings, funerals and births. They are often made with precious
materials and rare local woods].
Papa , well that is the
word for potato in Quenchua language of Peru which is then land of not only the origin of
potato but almost four thousands [4000] varieties of potatoes. While the whole
world ate different kinds of potatoes the natives of Peru had to miss Huayñunakunay [Quechua word meaning ‘dancing while
holding hands’ in the Peruvian Andes].
In Ethiopia the elders were heard saying,‘leḥiyiwetiwo
waga yisit’u ለሕይወትዎ ዋጋ ይስጡ’ [ in Amharic language
spoken in Etiopia meaning value your life]
In Vietnam
Ba chìm bảy nổi [a life filled with trials
and tribulations; the ebb and flow] thái độ triết học này của việc tiếp nhận mọi thứ
một cách tiến bộ [this philosophical attitude
of taking things on the stride] Tránh hoảng sợ nhưng hãy cẩn thận [avoided panic but brought caution].
Guayana, Amerindian
word meaning ‘Land of Many
Waters’, where Georgetown
which is almost one meter lower than the sea has been protected by a
string of sluices or ‘kokers,’ but
nothing could protect it from Covid-19 despite no eco tourism.
In Finland puistot Suomessa olivat tyhjiä[ Finnish-Parks in Finland were empty].
Eswatini former Swaziland has languages called Swazi, Swati or siSwati all family of Bantu language of the Swazi people the usual hospitality of Wamkelekile [the Siswati word for "Welcome"] was missing.
Haiti had some tourists who wanted to escape from
Europe’s covid grip. Ça n'en finit pas de m'étonner [ It never ceases to amaze me] the spirit of some who prefer [regarder
le bon côté des choses –to
look at the brighter side of things] especially when they have the attitude of vis pour
voyager et voyager pour vivre
[live to travel and travel to live]
A country named after its lake, Chad is known as ‘The
Babel Tower of the World’ because
of its cultural diversity with 200 ethnic groups and 100 languages spoken in the country, though officially French and
Arabic are used. Its Toubou tribes [the mountain people] lost even the meager
income known for its camel races in Tibesti mountain [ Tibesti literally means ‘the place where mountain
people live].
Ecuador, the only country in the world named after a
geographical feature and its Mount Chimborazo being the point on
Earth closest to the Sun no fue perdonado por el virus corona [was not spared by corona virus].
Two countries for whom Chinese had
the nicest words [though attributed to Chinese tonal quality of language which
perhaps influenced calling them so turned out to be too angry against China as
everyone felt China did not alert the world about the Covid-19 virus. Yes the Chinese would guess it right America
(美国 Mei Guo
or “Beautiful Country”) and England
(英 国, Ying
Guo or “Hero Country”). The
adolescents with colleges and hostels closed felt Sevdah
[Croation -comes from the Ottoman Turkish word “sevda.”
They added that “h” at the end in the Balkans, and the word today exists in the
Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian languages, where it means ‘lovesickness or a
sense of yearning or longing for love’].
In
Papua
New Guinea the fragile economy was bagarap
olgeta [ in Tok
Pisin language ] totally broken.
Life niyolimba, but nisamenaya nayo ( Nyanja in Zambia) Life is hard, but we keep fighting. Pangono Pangono (little by little) optimism displaced
pessimism as they thought a remedy
was more bitichica (Possible) than sibitichica (impossible). Whereas, the Ticos and Ticas
of Costa
Rica known for their Pura
Vida [Costa Rican Spanish meaning ‘ Pure Life ‘i.e.
prioritizing happiness over anything else]
where even in the Blue zone of Nicoya, [Blue Zone - meaning that
its inhabitants commonly live active lives past the age of 100] comenzó a
preocuparse por la muerte [ started
worrying about death ]
The Cameroon weddings missed, gwedeng, or
clown, organised by the Kom people who cracks jokes and does clever stunts. The
weddings missed a major ritual Après
s'être nourris l'un l'autre, le couple nourrit à tour de rôle la famille de
l'autre pour montrer qu'ils vont aimer et prendre soin d'eux.[ After feeding each other, the couple take
turns feeding each other’s family to show they’ll love and take care of them.]
Panamanians
were also broke, they said Estar limpios
[“clean.”] también en pananma no hay aglomeraciones para
fiestas intensas [also in panama no crowding
for heavy partying].
This
year also passed without two, much talked about big music and dance festivals,
the December Classical Music Festival at Chennai, Tamil Nadu India where within a span of 20 days almost twenty
thousand 20000 music and dance programs take place and Carnaval do Brasil the
famous carnival music and dance of Brazil carnival like samba-enredo , marchinha (in Rio de Janeiro and Southeast Region), frevo, maracatu and Axé music (in Pernambuco, Bahia and Northeast Region) what to do engolir sapos
–Brazilian
Portuguese[ to swallow a bitter pill].
While in Burkina Faso one
could hardly hear in their local lingo Mossi M loogda raga, fo data buma bi? I am going to the
market, do you want anything. The sounds of ingoma (Kirundi word- drums and the ingendanyi (Kirundi
word- drum
beating which showed the ijunja
((Kirundi word- physical
Strength] in Gishora hills in Burundi too went silent.
While Central
African Republic in Sango
one could hear kobéla aninga ti fâa zo
pepè :
this disease does not stop
short of killing people, kobéla. so asara mawa mingi
:this disease causes much misery and kobéla
ni aso ah§ ndô ni : this disease hurts beyond measure
The new normal came about
because for many most of the nuances of certain terminologies got blurred as
importance of work got prioritized over dispensable dedicated promises for work
called ‘office’, as official work, wherever possible, aided by technological
advancements, migrated home and moved around with a new abbreviation WFH along
with its Nashgabs[Scottish –archaic- rude gossips].
Thus the following
differences got blurred and overlapped i.e. salaried employment, paid
work, sundry tasks, family chores etc.
To a generation used to
outsourcing most activities self help was the only option (a revival of a great virtue)
for many jobs including strenuous menial ones, along with it certain usually
evaded responsibilities (personal, familial, social) were also ushered in.
Unearned hours of work
rendered routinely by some people got noticed and its importance valued as many
had abundant leisure to notice them.
For some Danes
it was Arbejdsglæde
[ Danish - when your work is the
source of your happiness!] because they enjoy staying at home with their family
and benefitting from all the ‘hyggelige moments’ [the simple moments that life has to offer]
and this combined with tillid til regeringen [trust in the government] made life
comparatively easy for the Danes.
Status quo addicts and comfort zone cocoons
crumbled and exposed the Tima
[Icelandic-Not being ready to spend time or money on a
specific thing, despite being able to afford it].
Classes on internet had parents watching poor
children doing Pana Po’o [Hawaiian -The act of scratching your head in order to
help you remember something]
Talking of leisure the wise
observations of Bertrand Russell well explained in his work
'In Praise of Idleness' flashed past many.
The
charms of leisure and relaxation need not necessarily mean calendared leave
from routine and outing to resorts in some publicized travel destination, but
it dwells in the inclination of one's own mind and heart.
However,
surprisingly some felt Fernweh
[German- Feeling homesick for a place you
have never been to] and entertained Won [Korean-The reluctance
on a person’s part to let go of an illusion] to picnic, perhaps because some
living in high raise buildings viewed from the roof tops the crepuscular calm
beautiful spectacle of sunset as if viewing from Shirley
heights of Antigua. Even as the Tour en Calèche à Bruxells came to a halt [horse drawn coach ride for tourist]. Fortunately, imagination was not a girov [Azerbaijani- hostage] to the virus, only consolation to the hodophiles [those who love to travel]. Even in Taktsang Palphug Monastery (Paro) in Bhutan
in their language Dzongkha usually
full of tourists one heard greetings of Chhoey ga te lay mo? [Where are you from?], but it was replaced by Menkhang ga tey in na? [ Where is the hospital?]
Of course, there were those, who
are not used to savor leisure or who could not usually afford leisure, had
overlapping emotions of boredom, solitude, sturmfrei [freedom of being alone], meditational
modes, Dadirri
[Australian aboriginal word- inner deep listening and quiet still awareness
and waiting], got into trance
like situation because they were away from the bustle of routine life and
grasped certain sense of Rasāsvāda [Sanskrit–the taste of bliss without impediments of thoughts going deep into aesthetic
consciousness], laziness,
loneliness seeking Iktsuarpok [in Inuit-Eskimo language spoken in some parts of Artic
region- The feeling of
anticipation that leads you to keep looking outside to see if someone is
coming] and visits to the door in Dor[Romanian -The feeling of
longing/craving/yearning for someone or something, combined with sadness], though
there was no Dobrodošli [ Croatian- welcome sign] on
door. One realized the wisdom of saying
in Angola ‘Seja
a sua melhor comanhia’ [Portuguese- be your best companion] and indulge in Mroja [ Belarusian- means airy dreams and
pleasant fantasies, or daydreaming].
Extended lockdowns lodged formal attires inside the
cupboards so much so the tight Karelu [Tulu -The mark left on the skin by
wearing something tight] of belt wearing disappeared but tummies expanded due to Shemomedjam [Georgian-the act of eating something or finishing a meal simply because it is
delicious, not because one is hungry] and torpidity
and
Toska [Russian- Misery, boredom, yearning, and
anguish]
turned up . Even Aymara babies
chubby faces peeping out of aguayos [ Bolivia- back bag like strong woven cloth in which Aymara women carried their babies] were also covered.
In Djibouti even Wagar,
the magical wand was not trusted to fight the Covid-19. They realized they had
to fight it [scientifically] to win over as they are supposed to do literally
on the first night of their marriage [According
to some senior members in the Afar community, it used to be fairly common for
newlyweds to fight on their first night of their marriage].
Expert
professional at work experienced fisselig
[German flustered to the point of
incompetence and sloppiness that is due to nagging from someone] at
domestic chores. Házisárkány [Hungarian- Literally indoor dragon, a nagging
restless spouse of either sex] reactions were
initially feebly audible through Zhaghzhagh [ Persian -The chattering of teeth from the cold or from rage] and
gradually became muttering of expletives which had enough decibels to penetrate
through the madh [Albanian-the bushy mustache] and varur [Albanian-the droopy mustache] as even ,
after all, at best many are Ilungas [Tshiluba (Congo)- persons who are ready
to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but
never a third time]. Well some children feigned /expressed discomforts and
difficulties in online tasks which immediately made their parents comfort them
as what they say in Botswana [in Setswana language] parents say, Go baya pelo [take
it easy] after all Pelo tshwaana boela mannong,mmatla sa gagwe o
se bone [The heart is like a man
that returns to his house].
As many present
generation parents are used to outsourcing child care and education exclusively
to schools found it difficult to handle the tirade of curiosity generated
questions from children , those pochemuchkas [Russian-A child who asks
many questions; an overly curious child] and so they now outsourced those activities to internet search
engine.
Even when some health care
worker arrived it was Mamihlapinatapei [Yagan
spoken in Tierra del Fuego an archipelago between Chile and Argentina-A wordless yet meaningful look shared by two
people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start].
In Dominica mascarilla / cubrebocas [ mask in Spanish] became a daily affair rather than a Carnaval de La Vega or Carnaval Vegano spectacle of scary
masks like diablo cojuelo or limping devil.
Multiple
social media shares of various arts brought out the Duende [Spanish-The
mysterious power that a work of art can have over a person, deeply affecting
him/her] even in impassive persons. Among artists the fights of jealously
fostered Fargin [Yiddish- To wholeheartedly appreciate the
success of others], perhaps, even Argentine Tango too went on web. Some artists, leaders,
scientists, self-help gurus became zavodilas [Russian- заводила -someone who often starts
up something ] who injected certain positivity in the atmosphere which was
stifling some of senior citizens who were feeling agowilt [unnecessary fear] and torschlusspanik [fear that time is running out to achieve life
goals] and made them participate and engage online.
Many realized that from food to leisure to work to time with family, in
everything there will be a logjam when there is no Lagom [Swedish-Not too much and not too little, but just the
right amount of anything.].
However,
there were at least observations,
if not acceptance, of
activities, approaches and attitudes of different age groups and generations. Some lead to communication, some to better
understanding and some to irritations.
Siblings had quarrels, fights as well as engaged in Gigil [Filipino- The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute], Mencolek [Indonesian- the trick when you tap someone lightly on the opposite shoulder from behind to fool them] Cafuné [ Brazilian Portuguese term- The act of running your fingers through someone’s hair in a loving way] Involvement into many activities swung between Aaasha [Hindi-hope or desire] to Jaksaa [Finnish-A lack of enthusiasm to do something].
Bistros [French-small, informal restaurant] , Utepils [ Norwegian-To sit outside on a sunny day enjoying a beer] and Hygge [Danish Relaxing with a few friends and loved ones while having a meal or some drinks went into long hibernation] as even Uitwaaien [Dutch- Going out for a walk or to the countryside in order to clear one’s mind] got wound up much less friluftsliv [Scandinavian- the feeling of being outside, exploring and appreciating nature] as Kuleana [ Hawaiin- personal responsibility and accountability for behavior in society ] required one to stay indoors.
No city offered any opportunity for the emacity [desire or fondness for buying things] of shopaholics.
Even the Middle East rueat muemariat haditha [Arabic- Modern architectural splendors] were less photographed in the past few months, and cox beach was empty and Kuakat was deserted and the Golpata Goor was missed [Kuakat in Bengladesh is the single point to watch both the sun rise and the sun set. It is also famous for “Golpata Goor" a kind of fragmented molasses only available in this area] and the date palm tree jaggery made from palm juice a delicacy. Brams [bajan a dialect of Barbados- dancing party] barely happened. When even neighbors became like appaz rando [Australian slang abbreviation- apparently random person], though very few could play Irusu [ Japanese-pretending to be out when someone knocks at the door] especially many wanted to do when health care officials came daily to check if anyone had symptoms. Nowhere in the world may we see in near future Kaapshljmurslis [Lithuanian Being cramped in public transportation during rush hour].
No hoping on any ‘Jitney ’ [Bahama slang for bus] for any journey.
Pakistan too lost its tourism
revenue from tourists to Biafo glacier longest glacial system
outside polar regions ; Deosai is often referred to as
the ‘roof of the
world’ at 4,117 metres (13,497 feet), the massive
plateau is the second-highest on the planet. Sprawling emerald-green meadows,
snow-capped peaks and glistening blue lakes is home to Himalayan Brown and second largest salt mines, the
Khewra Mines.
Kenya had to give up its kumbatia [Embracing someone and holding them close is
known as kumbatia] as no one was considered a Jabali who could fight against covid [Jabali literally means ‘rock’. The word is used to
describe a strong and sturdy person].
Hakuna mtu mwenye nguvu ya kutosha kupambana na
virusi vya aginst covid-19 [no one
is strong enough to fight the aginst covid-19 virus] among its 13 ethnic
groups with an additional 27 smaller groups be they ‘Bantu’ tribes such as the
Kikuyu, Luhya and Kamba or the ‘Nilotic’
tribes such as the Luo, Kalenjin, Maasai and Turkana. The ‘Hamitic’ people
include the Turkana, Rendille and Samburu or more than 10% of the population
are of non-African descent, i.e. Indian, Arab and European.
In Dominican Republic this was another dar una vaina [ Dominican Spanish suffer an ailment one does not know or want to mention]
Even in
Jordon where everybody cleans up everything, everywhere, when there is
a visitor. The few stranded tourists asked Wayn al-mustash-fa ? ( where is the
hospital?) Instead of Wayn Al-otel?
In Vanuatu the elders kept saying putum mask ova long nus mo maot blong yu[in Bislama language -place the mask over your nose and mouth]
Even ordinary
folks walking with masks scarred the world that there seem to be no need for ‘Perchtenlaufen’ or
‘Krampuslauf’ [Austrian - Scary mask processions]
The
usual Patois language greeting in Jamaica 'Mi Deh Yah,
Yuh Know' and ' Mi Irie( everything is ok] were missing.
In Palestinian artists Dergham Qraiqea and Samar Saad painted protective masks and drew
patterns on medical masks in Gaza City in order to encourage people to wear
them as protective measure amid the COVID-19.
Kazakhstan-The nation with one third
of steppe and the origin of modern day
apple [алма] known to its native people
as an alma managed to export them from May [national geographic DNA analysis indicates that
apples originated in the mountains of Kazakhstan, where the wild Malus
sieversii—the many-times great-grandparent of Malus domestica,
the modern domesticated apple—still flourishes.] .
In Italy the words resounding all around in April were Cruccio
[worry], magone[ sadness] because preoccupazione e tristezza hanno iniziato a
mettere in discussione lo scopo della vita dopo troppe morti troppo presto
inizialmente in Italia [worry
and sadness started questioning the purpose of life after too many deaths too
soon initially in Italy].
International
travel restrictions and virus everywhere people started valuing the beauty of
their homeland like the proverbial Armenian saying, “The stones of my native country are warmer than the ovens of Babylon”.
Frequent visits to the mirror turned even those who loved clean shaven faces to
become pogonophiles [lovers of beards]
Of course there were those Nefelibatas [Portuguese-A creative person who lives in the clouds of
one’s own imagination or dreams] who
were oblivious to their
surroundings and were engrossed in their creativity
Even
indifferent dozy parents deliberated on Dozywocie [Polish-Parental
contract with children guaranteeing lifelong support].
In Palauan language of Palau there was a refrain of
these
Lak be mtobed.[ Don't come outside] Lak be mtuu [Don't come inside.] Msisichau e a tutau a
kmedang[Be
strong, morning is nigh]
Covid-19’s Agathokakological [Composed
of both good and evil] emodiversity was universal.
It ranged from paranoia to pronoia with
too many prescriptions and pastimes. For some persons every dawn was
a matutolypea [morning depression] and for some others
it was unending extensions of Dolce far niente [pleasant idleness].
The lockdown of
COVID-19 not only took many away from various busy activities and grueling routines which
ranged from extremely vital, useful, entertaining and meaningful to the band
wagon of boondoggles.
It also took in many to look farther using Bayesian
reasoning and be ready to make reasonable adjustment in terms of priorities,
post covid-19 possibilities, personal life of pleasant and leisurely time with
family, parleys into proverbial Russell’s In Praise of Idleness [a]
pronouncements which were prevalent all over social media with everyone
displaying and sharing their hidden talents, new skills, creativity etc.
However, it also pushed some into deep worry about,
at least their near future livelihood, worries about shattering disruption with
cascading effects on the lives of many dependents of these people. Though most
governments and organizations have pitched into help them tide over the
difficulties to some extent possible.
There
were two stark realities: -
1. The nature of the
pandemic and its impact which took the entire medical fraternity by surprise
and Paul Romer’s concept of conditional optimism was the only probable answer
without any concrete cause or remedy in site for some time.
2. Its impact was near
universal wherein it gave an important message that evolution [especially
evolutionary biology -either with zoonotic adaptations or otherwise- is a very
important subject to be studied and human race has to primarily know at least a
bit of evolution [of everything à la Matt
Ridley’s way- his book Evolution of Everything] moves on unmindful of any
of our definitions and explanations and the best tools to deal with the emerging world
are rational, scientific [ be extension all advanced technologies], humanitarian
and environmental friendly approaches to encounter life à
la Steven Pinker [ his work Enlightenment Now].
The beauty of life consists in the unknowns and
the unending searches and researches –the unending process of evolutionary
trends in everything.
Growing up and growing out of certain things
are natural process of evolutionary metamorphosis both biologically and
psychologically.
The
ideology peddlers [ from religious and political outfits] and
media sprayed some of the following negative attitudes like dystopian
rhetoric zeal, immature emotional doomsday resignations, advocacy of outdated,
unscientific (by which I mean not empirically tested documented, proven and
universally accessible methods of remedy) methods hovering around in the name
of much accepted conventional wisdom, preening of one-upmanship in crisis,
radical responses, fanatical fights and many other irrelevant or irresponsible
outbursts.
However, pandemic taught that
there is no panacea and we cannot deny or defy the importance of anything and
everything has to be prioritized according to contextual relevance.
Universe was vociferous in its sentimental outpourings and also
whispered some sane perspective for everyone to involve in at least some amount
of self introspection.
Talk of
value of art, science, literature, philosophy, compassion, family values and
health care, all resurfaced, in some cases merely as an academic outlook and in
some others it gushed forth suddenly from a pipe burst.
If ‘Death
was a leveller’ as per James Shirley, Pandemic was a silent universal philosopher who made everyone to
relook into many subjects and activities and what they must be viz à viz one’s
life.
It revealed the lust for life, longing for relationships and
value of togetherness [ironically when the wrong word was coined as ‘Social
Distancing’ instead of mere ‘Physical distancing’].
Universe
is UNI+VERSE.
The
romance of this verse manifests through many broad subjects of study and
multitudes of activities. Ultimately, this VERSE teaches us that there
are no more ‘this versus that’ demarcation or divisions but '
this and that' or ' these and those' interconnectedness, interdependence and
interrelationships.
We must
realize that the following versions have become too redundant i.e.
Science
versus religion; Materialism versus spirituality; Tradition versus Modernity;
Technology versus Humanity;
Most of
us are ambivalent and ambiverts, now, with Covid-19 we are
also ambi-digital using palm and phalanx as well as knuckles
and opisthenar.
From
young students to successful professionals were reconnecting with fundamental
subjects, debating about their importance, relevance and so on. I drafted a few
sentences to convey to all how every subject is or can always be of importance
and be part of our life.
Art must be part of our
life so that we look at things with sensitivity to grasp their aesthetic
aspects;
Science must be interred in
our sub- conscience to guide our perspectives;
Compassion must be in our
emotion to guide our attitude with humanitarian values;
Philosophy must be in the
trenches of our psychology so that we have rational approaches towards most
things;
Environment must be felt as
part of our tissue and not an issue apart and away from us;
History must carry the story of our pride of ancestry and bring us
maturity to bury the blunders;
Geography must sketch the
photographic sketch of the splendors of topography of our wonderful planet;
Mathematics must reveal the tricks of
underlying patterns of everything and enable us to revel in wonder;
Literature must capture the
inner nature and intrinsic features of anything that it touches on;
Language must engage in
eternal romance with increasing:- number of
users, geographical areas, the wide range and variegated vocabulary to
communicate and express as many ideas or events as possible in as many fields
of human activity. It must have the syntactic plasticity; flamboyant
flexibility suited to both simple and complex modes of expression, and an enormously
evolved derivational morphology and also must entice people involved in various
domains of activities to use that language. It must visit the harem
of other languages add variety and spice;
Sports must bring out all
sorts of human enthusiasm;
Music must bring out the
intrinsic vibrations of as many nice frequencies and create memorable
melodies and hubristic harmonies;
Religions and cultures must
nurture ventures to enhance a heuristic syncretism bringing out the
interrelationships even if they want to keep intact individual identities;
Professions of all hues must be
combinations of passions and/or trade off involving compensations useful for
life/one wants and some freedom in terms of individual space and time;
Social life of all hues preferably
imbues with values of humanitarianism starting from firm foundation of family
to further extended inhabitants all around and everywhere without any
superficial and unreasonable discrimination;
Life is formed out of
all these and not merely funded by the world of commerce and trade or
engineered by social engineering of political ideologies or doctored to
perfection through any doctrines, though they too play their part in our life.
When we become aware that everything is/was/will be
within us, then, we enjoy the world around us without
any inhibition but with a sense of belonging, sense of balance with sensible
attitude without hurting the sensitivities of others and thus we can become
better person with less ego but willingness to learn more.
Life's journey when it sails with awareness in the oceans
of all the above then it is a journey of synergy between the
composed inner self and comprehensive outer world.
If at all any important lesson that
humanity has to take from this most disruptive last few months of Covid -19,
though one may dismiss this as a one of rare occurrence of pandemic, still we
cannot ignore, on the whole as a general outcome, all the following were
evident and exposed,
besides the fact that no one or nothing is omnipotent or omniscient:-
The unreliability of many of the past templates to encounter present
new problems;
The vulnerability of human
physique;
The fragility of human psyche
and emotions;
The naivety of human
innocence was exploited;
The brevity of lockdown
extended into eternity of boredom;
The torpidity troubled the
busy bodies;
The temerity tucked into
timidity;
The morbidity muted delusions
of eternity of life;
The timidity tunneled in
uneasy thoughts of human mortality;
The inutility of many of the
claims of various institutions (political, religious, academic) of importance;
The indispensability of
interdependence of nations;
The un-sustainability of many activities which
were supporting the economies;
The paucity of crisis
response mechanisms;
The velocity of conspiracy theories gushed forth through various media
platforms without bothering to back them
up with verifying the veracity;
The levity of gossips and
phobias pervaded;
The reality of multitude of
capabilities crumbled into illusions of humanity;
The calamity along with all the above casualties also threw the
following encouraging signs:-
The sanity of positivity of human hope continued amid all these
chaos;
The diversity of dexterity of human beings inundated the social
media as more people sought attention;
The alacrity of science and technology driven attempts were in place
to find real remedies including possibility of an effective vaccine in vicinity;
The generosity of help heaped beyond all hindrances of identities;
The utility of relevance of reciprocity in every relationship got
manifested.
The unity of humane spirit organically evolved in many places,
undirected by any instructions from institutions of social engineering
(political parties, religious institutions etc);
The ingenuity of human spirit to bounce back along with its
adaptability to the new normal is a certainty.
Pandemic also taught us, perhaps, there may be no panacea.
Circumstances or crisis like everything
else evolve, I repeat evolve or emerge. First we need to accept the
fact and then we need to respond.
However,
how we respond will create a template of attitude, even if it
does not offer a total remedy.
In
general, not necessarily about health, even all other realms, like economy,
education etc we must face and accept facts and act with maturity, rationally
with scientific, humanitarian and environmental concerns.
As
Ayn Rand says, "We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the
consequences of evading reality.”
We must put aside all or at least most of the
following approaches and attitudes.
All types dystopian rhetoric zeal, immature
emotional doomsday resignations, advocacy of outdated, unscientific ( by which
I mean not empirically tested documented, proven and universally accessible
methods of remedy) methods hovering around in the name of much accepted
conventional wisdom, preening of one-upmanship in crisis, radical responses,
fanatical fights and many other irrelevant or irresponsible outbursts.
[a] Above all, there will be happiness and joy of life,
instead of frayed nerves, weariness, and dyspepsia. The work exacted will be
enough to make leisure delightful, but not enough to produce exhaustion. Since
men will not be tired in their spare time, they will not demand only such
amusements as are passive and vapid. At least one percent will probably devote
the time not spent in professional work to pursuits of some public importance,
and, since they will not depend upon these pursuits for their livelihood, their
originality will be unhampered, and there will be no need to conform to the
standards set by elderly pundits. But it is not only in these exceptional cases
that the advantages of leisure will appear. Ordinary men and women, having the
opportunity of a happy life, will become more kindly and less persecuting and
less inclined to view others with suspicion. The taste for war will die out,
partly for this reason, and partly because it will involve long and severe work
for all. Good nature is, of all moral qualities, the one that the world needs
most, and good nature is the result of ease and security, not of a life of
arduous struggle. Modern methods of production have given us the possibility of
ease and security for all; we have chosen, instead, to have overwork for some
and starvation for others. Hitherto we have continued to be as energetic as we
were before there were machines; in this we have been foolish, but there is no
reason to go on being foolish forever.