A Story of Corona Warriors and Entertainers

SHASHI DIP narrates how residents of her housing society beat the Covid-19 blues, while the essential staff assumed the role of corona warriors

The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown following it has been a tough and challenging time for us all. This is an unprecedented situation for the whole world. The hardest thing to accept is the uncertainty about how long the coronavirus will continue to ravage the people.

As soon as the corona havoc started, people remained glued to the TV, watching news channels or were busy flipping through WhatsApp and Facebook for the status on the coronavirus. People panicked whenever the media reported news about new cases. I heard about a sudden increase in the number of cases of brain haemorrhage, apparently because of the fear of the disease.

One day I was discussing this serious matter with some friends, when many questions cropped up. But the most common question was: “Can we do something to alleviate the problem?” When we brainstormed further, there was a consensus among us all that the best way to overcome the dread associated with the disease was to engage in  creative activities to keep ourselves entertained. In the next few days, the outline of the entertainment programme was drafted and posted in our WhatsApp group of Viceroy Court Co. Housing Society, Thakur Village, Kandivali (East) in Mumbai. 

But before we started this entertaining programme for ourselves it was most important to ensure that people manning our essential services were all fine.

They had been serving us tirelessly. During the lockdown our security guards and housekeeping staff didn’t get a single day’s rest. When most of the people were sitting at home, they had to work at the risk of their lives. We realised the tyranny of this deadly pandemic, and the hazards faced by these brave people. 

All of us in our housing society empathised with their plight from our hearts and decided to do something for them. Two Volunteers were appointed to collect money from residents and the amount contributed was confidential, so there should be no competition. Next we thought about serving them food and beverages in regular intervals.

Tea stalls and outside eateries were closed, so women volunteered to provide snacks and other items. Society members have been treating them like family and tea and eatables are given to them on scheduled times, so that irregular timings should not harm their health. It’s a huge society still everything has been transparent.

We house owners consider ourselves very lucky to be protected in our homes and it is they who are exposed to the virus and are the real corona warriors.  By helping them in the time of crisis, we have added just one drop in the ocean of humanity.

To divert people’s mind from this deadly virus, we thought of an online cultural event in which members had to make videos or audios of anything they love to share with all the society members. The WhatsApp group  was like a packed hall of hundreds of audience, not by virtue of numbers but because of the enthusiastic response to the videos and audios. And volunteers had to release the  entertainment packages at a particular time. So the audience could watch it peacefully and give their reactions.

We got amazing entries of dance, singing, health talk, tarot card reading, homeopathy, and some heart touching true life stories. People were unable to meet anyone, but the programmes rendered an unexpected way to meet many friends and relatives online. We used to clap, laugh and talk through text after watching each video or listening to an audio. It felt no less than a grand party or celebration. 

So apart from household chores, cooking, parenting, managing homes, this small endeavour generated tremendous positive energy to  keep people in good spirits and happy. This was much needed because many had started feeling sad and lonely after sudden disconnection from family and friends. Our home grown entertainment programmes have gone a long way in spreading positivity and cheer, which is the most powerful way of keeping stress and worries at bay.  What a grand success this entertainment programme has been for us all.

For many of us, we discovered that apart from work, we also had hidden talents like dancing, painting, singing, health talks, and storytelling. And the best blessing of all this is that in our housing society, by the grace of the Almighty, we have not had a single serious coronavirus case.

ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः

सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः ।

सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु

मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग्भवेत् ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah

Sarve Santu Niraamayaah |

Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu

Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet |

Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Om, May All be Happy,
May All be Free from Illness.
May All See what is Auspicious,
May no one Suffer.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

---

Shashi Dip is a thinker, bilingual writer, poet, columnist, social activist and an author of the book ‘Waves Within (Horizon and Beyond)’. She is associated with various literary associations and has written more than 200 blogs, 500 quotes in Hindi/Urdu and English and 100 poems in both Hindi and English.

More Stories by Shashi Dip