The images of reverse migration from locked down cities – millions of people walking on highways, stranded at state borders, crowding relief shelters and bus stands, hungry, tired and pretty much without any other option – will haunt us for a long, long time. Or until the next big thing happens. Inequality is also a life consuming virus.
“Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man you have seen, and ask yourself if this step you contemplate is going to be any use to him.” – Mahatma Gandhi
looking up at the night sky –
who thinks
of the sun
Also read:
Curfew: Day 3
THOUGHT PURGE 
We cannot un-see and un-know now that this virus has taken the covers off inequality. Can the upper classes? How effective this poem! I will love the night and still seek the sun. I’m afraid of the dark ,and live with the paradox of love and fear.
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The privileged seem to live in some kind of frosted bubble, unable to see outside. Fear reminds us we are human and love lets us rise to our potential, if we allow it.
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Thank you for the Gandhi quote and for your lovely words. My heart is with India and the entire wold. My hope is that love wins, and we are brought closer in caring for each other.
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That would be the best outcome… thanks so much, Myrna.
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Sadly many the people of some countries are suffering considerably as with less work all the employees can do is to try to get back home, bringing nothng with them for their families.
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Absolutely – it’s a terrible situation for daily wagers and the like. And the threat of unemployment will continue until this is resolved. Thanks Robin.
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Right On!
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Thanks ZQ. 🙂
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Blessings as you stay in, doing your part in this new pandemic challenge.
Luv your haiku, luv the mahatma quote
Much❤love
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Thanks so much, Gillena. Stay safe.
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Your words touched my heart. I am filled with prayerful thoughts for those who suffer much.
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Thanks so much, Beverly. I think that compassion and empathy means a lot at a time like this.
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Inequality is the worse virus of them all, always taking so many lives…
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Thanks, Magaly. Take care and stay safe..
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This distills the horror and brings it home.
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Thanks so much! Stay safe wherever you are.
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I wonder, too, about the fate of the people in the huge refugee camps around the world.
Here, in my small town, it is different. I had to go out briefly a few days ago, and the streets were almost empty and so quiet. Now I am self-isolating.
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Yes, the story plays out differently in different regions – deadly in varying degrees. I think this pandemic further underlines the need for safety nets for the most vulnerable groups.
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It’s like watching a horror movie now. Being stranded at borders sounds so grim to me. I have an immigration stuff to sort out in 48 hours. Sending you positive vibes!
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Hope your problem was sorted, Hazel. Thank you for your kind thoughts and sending some right back to you.
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Very few think of the sun, and even fewer think of what they are stepping on or tripping over in the dark. Hopefully there is room in enough hearts to remember others who have no shelter to stay in play in or food to horde during this crisis.
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Much appreciated. Thank you, Rommy. We can only hope the privileged find more empathy in their hearts for those who seem to have no options.
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So, true, at times like these, it is the basic necessities that we look up to
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Take care, my friend.
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Thank you, Anthony. Stay safe wherever you are.
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You are right, Rajani, Inequality is a life consuming virus. The British government has only just thought about organising safe havens for the homeless in the UK. I imagine this is an enormous task, in India, where so many people live on the streets. The haiku is perfect.
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Thanks Kim. The problem really is unemployment for daily wagers with everything shut down, that is precipitating an exodus back to the rural hinterland from where these workers come to the main urban centres. They just want to go back home. Hope things stabilize soon, everywhere.
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A poignant and timely write, Rajani. May we get through this difficult time together … and soon!
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Take care, Sanaa. Stay safe. Hope things are OK in Karachi. Are you guys locked down too?
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Yes, we too are under lock down. Stay safe, Rajani! This too will pass 🙂
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Inequality is also a life consuming virus. A great very powerful statement. I love the quote from Ghandi It brings us back what should be really important
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Thank you, Marja.
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A provocative post, a challenge to continually question my humanity, what it means to be a good human being.
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I think staying home and helplessly watching events unfold is the ultimate mirror…. thank you TioStib. I hope you are safe where you are. Do take care.
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Rajani, I am thinking of the people of India in these times. I love the Gandhi quote. In the middle of self-preservation, how heroic are those stepping up to take care of the most desperate. I can’t imagine how difficult things are going to get in the weeks ahead. I am glad you are staying in. I am too. I feel fortunate to have a room with a roof and some food, which would seem like heaven and sanctuary to the millions who are without.
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The ones out there on the frontline – NGOs, healthcare workers and essential administration can never be thanked enough. With no timeline for when this will recede or end, we will come to rely more and more on them…. hope they think we are worth it.
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NGO workers are true heroes, trying to help the most destitute in a world that has never been equitable.
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So true. And they are still out there fighting for the rights of the the workers and the abandoned. So many fall through the cracks in public policy.
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