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Articulating creativity during extreme stress: a reflection on Covid-induced pain |
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"A lot of poor and not-so-poor people were ill-prepared to deal with lockdowns and the consequent shutdown of normal economic and social activities. Despite the best efforts of the state, private sector and civil society, many people in India and around the world suffered. But amidst all the pain and suffering, there were glimmers of hope.
I will try to recall some of these hopeful signs, not to belittle the sufferings, but to show that even in such unprecedented calamitous times, there were notable instances of courage, conviction, R&D breakthroughs in limited time and effort to lessen the burden on the constrained infrastructure.
Let me begin with the situation of labourers; many walked hundreds of kilometres on foot, while others were abandoned by their employers or contractors. There were well- meaning do-gooders who bandaged their feet wounded by relentless walks, often through rough roads, and offered them water, food and, in some cases, transportation. Later, the government started running trains to ease this pressure. For others, many groups stepped forward to feed them. Annapoorna, a food for knowledge programme, was run by GIAN. Food was more easily delivered, but knowledge of migrants was more difficult to access. The reason for restricting the movement of people was to prevent the spread of Covid in rural areas from cities. The quality of infrastructure was poorer in villages, casualties would have been higher if the movement had not been checked. At the same time, in retrospect, one can say that the lockdown could have been enforced over the span of a few days to give time to labourers to reach their homes. That may have appeared to be the best public policy response at the time. Nobody knew how virulent this virus could be, so they exercised extreme caution.
There were numerous challenges ahead. From almost zero capacity for diagnostics, personal protective equipment/gear (PPE), vaccines and a variety of other important services for dealing with the spread of the virus, India became self-sufficient within a few months and even exported the vaccine and diagnostic kits. This was made possible largely due to the biotechnological research capacity built over the years. There was a scarcity of oxygen-generating equipment for both home and hospital use. The technology for the same was scaled up in record time. During the Amreli Shodhyatra, we came across a case where oxygen cylinders were arranged but no regulators were available for them. A small fabricator, Mr Joshi, contacted doctors, understood the design imperatives about flow rate, safety and other parameters and designed one, got it tested by medical experts and then made
150 such regulators and distributed them for free. So many lives could thus be saved. The police were also on extended duty, often without adequate supplies of water or food. Many responsible citizens took their permission to provide such services while observing due precautions.
Many start-ups worked around the clock, developing indigenous solutions for diagnostics and providing help, though those using imported Chinese components sold far more to the state agencies due to lower prices and rapid turnaround. However, the situation was salvaged well in time. Many temporary hospitals were created by the defence and other organizations at short notice to deal with gigantic problems. Many medical students and seniors sacrificed their own lives while saving that of others. They need to be remembered and honoured posthumously. Civil society needs to be better trained to deal with emergencies, as was attempted following the attacks on India in 1962 and 1965.
Nature had reverberated quickly and demonstrated its resilience. Nobody wishes to stop industrial growth, but the lesson was clear. If we stop polluting the air and water, nature has the ability to rejuvenate and restore its vitality. Many concerned citizens fed stray dogs who would have gone hungry due to the absence of food during the lockdown.
It was extremely difficult to reach children, particularly those from government schools, through online education. It is the poorer families who send their children to government schools. Parents of these children did not have smartphones and thus could not get the benefit of online education. Several teachers, including Bala Jhadav, used the conference call feature of phones to reach their children. Ashok Bhai and his team used cable TV to reach thousands of children. There were dedicated teachers who mounted blackboards on their motorbikes and went to villages to teach the children, some used loudspeakers installed in villages to broadcast lessons, and many more methods were used by dedicated teachers. But still, a very large number of children remained out of school. They need new pedagogies and tools to catch up on two years of missed education.
What are the key lessons we learn from various efforts made by valiant scientists, public administrators, and citizens? When there is a crisis, such as the massive migration that took place in the early stages of lockdown, the police and other administrative systems could have been more kind and considerate to the plight of poor migrants walking miles on foot. Many people were forced to leave their bicycles and other small assets behind. Could such migrants be given a one-time catch-up grant to help them repurchase bicycles?
Can we rewrite the emergency manual for how people will reorganize themselves during such crises if they were to recur? Drills and discipline, both of which need to be strengthened in schools and colleges, are required for disaster preparedness. Let us hope that we will not have to face such a one-in-hundred- year calamity again, but if we do, we will be better prepared. During such times, creativity and innovation become even more critical for saving humanity and other life forms.
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Honey Bee, 32(3-4)1, 2021 |
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