Nature has its unique and cruel ways to bring about humility to the human civilization. But, only once in a while, does it incur atrocities so brutal, that they bring the entirety of the system to its knees. The lockdown will go down in history as an event that managed to touch each and every life in the world. I had my own share of uncertainties, but curled up and coddled in the comfort of a home, I could not be obtuse enough to rant or complain about them. Instead, I was introspecting. A recent piece of information had hit me hard. Apparently, in Information Technology Multinational Corporations, there is a protocol called Risk Management, under which, if a country were to undergo a nuclear attack, the organization would find a way to be fully operational within 48 hours of the contingency. And yet, when a virus broke out, the mechanisms of the world came to a standstill, and lives became mere statistics. I began to question the nature of the system, and its misguided priorities, and found some weird solace in the fact that one of the best movies of all time, had come to this realization long before I did.
हर इक जिस्म घायल
हर इक रूह प्यासी
निगाहों में उलझन
दिलों में उदासी
यहाँ इक खिलौना है
इन्सां की हस्ती
ये बस्ती है मुर्दा–परस्तों की बस्ती
यहाँ पर तो जीवन से है मौत सस्ती
ये दुनिया अगर मिल भी जाए तो क्या है
-Sahir Ludhianvi
Pyasa(1957)
Takhallus-e-Haqeeqat 