THE PANDEMIC

We called it Pandemic

It was World War 3

Where we fought the Invisible Enemy….

 

We called it Pandemic

But it was World War 3

Every battle fought against the Daily Lonely…

 

We called it Pandemic

Every soldier had one task

To wear the weapon – A Mask….

 

We called it Pandemic

No condition could be worse

When humans became People Averse…

 

We called it Pandemic

It was World War 3

Imprisoned at home, no Longer Free…

 

We called it Pandemic

We wrote ourselves into history

By the failure of Human Society…

 

We called it Pandemic

It was World War 3

When will we ever return To Normalcy?

Nimmou Nilakantan

 

 

 

 

 

 THE MASK

We covered our face

But could not disguise

What lay deep within...

 

It gave us anonymity

To discover our true identity

And meet our authentic self...

 

Without beauty parlours and gyms

We realized the beautiful truth

That we could now uncover...

 

We found ways to connect

With the neighbour next door

Picked up the courage to talk

To those we did not know...

 

We covered our faces

And that opened our hearts

To unleash the human within...

Nimmou Nilakantan

GRIM REALITY

What is the alternate reality in these bleak Covid times? Where the 3^rd dimension, the 5^th element, the parallel universe or the promised Paradise? Where oh where and please tell me if you have found it. My life, like everybody else’s is fully engaged in the battle with the unseen but too well known disease. And yet we trip up almost daily… a hand not washed, a mask not worn, a distance not maintained, a crowded gathering – simple oversights now carry the threat of capital punishment.

We draw cold comfort wherever we can. “Next year will be better”, “This too shall pass”, “Soon things will be back to normal”, “We can soon travel freely”, “ We will see our loved ones”, “We will get our jobs back”…the list is a long cry of hope and despair. Meanwhile, we cling onto the vision of a cleaner, greener Earth and use phrases like “Heal the environment” and vow to become conscientious guardians of our precious planet, even after all this is over.

Covid 19 made us mindful and grateful that we were the survivors who beat the odds and emerged with a strong credo for simple, good living. Till the better times roll we try to do the mundane chores with mindfulness – cook, clean, buy the essentials, work, workout and shun physical human interaction even though we yearn for it

God’s punishment?  Hell no! There is nothing  Divine about Covid 19. Nor could Hell unleash a fury this toxic. This is Human folly, pure and simple. We did this folks- it is all on us. We got into it and now we have to find a way out of it.  And, from an uncaring, mindless species,  a new human shall rise and like a demi-God become the best version of the human while never forgetting to treat Mother Earth with the respect she deserves…

Get a grip on reality now

We have lost ourselves for so long now

On the merry-go-round of the mundane…

 

No longer can we fill our days

With little distractions and little treats

Just to keep ourselves sane….

 

Oh no, this is Grim Reality

That we confront with no backing down

Totally focused to conquer the grind…

 

There are no escape hatches or burrows

Every day is that hard won battle

Between our iron will and soft mind…

 

Pay utmost heed to the future now

But live, love in the minute to minute minutiae

While learning to balance on that thin fine line….

 

There is only one way forward

The one mantra or credo to follow

Repeat every day- “I am going to be fine”

 

Just mean it though!

Nimmou Nilakantan

 

DA COVID CODE

DA COVID CODE!

This damn virus has infected all of us – with gullibility. Never have we hung on every word, every Forward, every reported way to beat Covid. We watch videos, posted by the self- proclaimed ‘experts’, the jobless, the bored and those simply seeking their two minutes of fame. We hit our pressure points that according to one ‘expert’ activates our immune system and we end up with a sore body just because that idiot on a self- shot video told us it was a sure fire thing.

We are on an immunity enhancing diet which plunges us into a deeper funk than we are already in. I mean a turmeric latte over a good old butt kicking cup of caffeine? Nobody won a battle or a Pandemic war armed with only immunity boosters. Get real folks and stop believing every viral post – we have to beat this delusionary virus more infectious than Covid. I hope when they do crack the vaccine they will also discover an antidote for the herd mentality to boost our brain immunity.

Instead of keeping it simple we twist and complicate every damn thing. When bona fide scientists tell us to wear masks that is when our few remaining brain cells not hijacked by Whatsapp or Tik Tok videos, kicks in and rebels against proven theories. If the diktat had been “Cover your chin and throat with a mask” it might have saved the lives of those rebels whose masks dangle over everything but their nose and mouth…

Life has changed – deal with it. Immunity building has been added as the latest fitness fad – never mind that it has been trumpeted by our grandma’s good old cooking ages ago. Hand sanitizer and soaps have become numero uno in our shopping list toppling hand creams and lipsticks.  In addition to a shoe rack, a hat rack, a clothes rack we now have a mask rack – near the front door hangs our designer masks to ensure we do not forget the one accessory more important than house keys, car keys or wallet when you step out of the front door..

How you choose to wear it will determine if your genes are passed on or if Darwin’s law of Evolution or Extinction comes into play. Newton got it bang on with his law – “Every action has an equal or opposite reaction” Mask up and carry on living folks – this is our Brave New World….

Nimmou Nilakantan

 

A PANDEMIC SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE

The word Pandemic has struck terror in all our hearts. Corona, Covid 19, Covid hotspot have become words that we dread to hear. What if we were to think of the Pandemic differently- give it an imaginary Avatar or defang it with a milder alter ego? Change its character and give a good spin to this droplet of mass destruction…here is my take…

Think of the Pandemic as a ‘TEACHER’. For years our mothers taught us to be good humans with basic values and principles to lead a virtuous life. We did not listen. Our teachers in school took over. We did what we had to do to pass and flee those hallowed portals of hell called centers of higher learning – or school. Our jobs taught us nothing but how to crib in a million different ways on how our bosses sucked.  And then along came the Pandemic – the Teacher from hell with a skull and crossbones in hand instead of a ruler. And we learned quickly…we learned to adapt, we learned to be brave, we learned resilience and we learned how to survive and remain human. We learned more in four months of lockdown than we learned in our lifetime – not withstanding all the B schools and A+ jobs. The Pandemic became the teacher extraordinaire and gave us immortal credos to live by much like Buddha, Aristotle and other great philosophers…

Think of the Pandemic as ‘EMPATHY TRAINING’ for those who had no empathy or sympathy for the old and infirm. We are now experiencing firsthand their world of isolation, loneliness and pain. We watch hours of T.V which has now become our lifeline to sanity. And, the more we watch, the more isolated from reality we get and become depressed. The worst is the isolation in our little islands of misery. One day, this will end for all of us and we will return to our normal busy, productive lives. Let us never forget the lonely and isolated old people for whom there is no parole from their lifelong sentence….

Think of the Pandemic as the ‘BESTIE’ – the one you never discovered up till now. The ever present one that lived inside of you – not the one on social media or the one you got wasted with when “life” became too much to bear. This one is with you night and day – the one who never outgrew you or left you. And when words like social distancing, sanitizing and self- isolating became the jargon for a modern day malaise that infected us long before the Pandemic raised its ugly crowned head – turn to this bestie for comfort….

Think of the Pandemic as a ‘TERRORIST’ – who tried to hijack your life and end it. Only this terrorist spread terror with a crown on his head while you cowered in a corner with a mask over most of your face. No terrorist has held the world to ransom indefinitely before we triumphed. With every attack, we humans emerged stronger, wiser and better prepared. Whether it was 9/11 in the States, 26/11 in Mumbai or terror in the form of a virus like Ebola, Sars, Mers, or Corona, this too shall be overcome and relegated to the bin where it belongs…

Think of the Pandemic as the ‘TIMEKEEPER’. Before Pandemic you hid behind “Busy”, “So Busy” and finally “Too busy”. You yearned for more ‘me time’ to be still with no obligations or needless distractions. Well now you have it! What are you going to do with it? You can take the time to change your perspective and humbly accepting this unique gift where the whole world is in the same boat, on the same page and the only connection that matters is the human one. Not the digital, not the social and certainly not the superficial – just the real in all its naked ‘gory’….

And finally, the Pandemic became the Death force that taught us to find our life force – within us. Breathe, live and love and yes, adapt! Embrace your inner pandemic before you set out to conquer the one outside…

Nimmou Nilakantan

Pandemic -2020

In the time of Pandemic

We discovered the world within our walls

We looked into the mirror and said hello

To the stranger within…

Good relationships became the currency

For purchase of all things invaluable

Our fingers and thumbs had no voice

To compete with the comforting sound

Of a hello on the phone…

Husbands whose fingers flew over the keyboard

Hung laundry on the washing line

While getting to know the child

They last saw as a baby in the crib…

Cooking became a pastime of instant gratification

As wives sampled delicious recipes

Dredged from their mother’s and grandma’s cookbooks…

Sons long silent and indifferent daughters

Re-discovered parents relegated by the lure of social media….

Social distancing repaired the fissures

Deeply embed in the family fabric

And brought us closer while renewing bonds…

The earth healed and birdsong sounded louder

In the deafening silence of crippled industries…

The oxygen in the air outside increased

As the disease kept us prisoners in a world

We had forgotten existed

Within the four walls of our home…

Nimmou Nilakantan