Corona virus breaks out – A Gift

The night before Coronavirus break out in Pakistan, I was at my university hostel, literally suffering from stress, tension & depression of morning classes & exam, I was tired of my daily routine waking in the morning, moving to class, taking 5-hour lectures & returning back with the burden of assignment & tasks, burning midnight oil in completing them and sleeping late night & waking again in the morning & continue my routine every single day. I was tired because from last 3 months I haven’t visited my family as they live in another city, I haven’t taken proper food beside that hostel maize & rice, I haven’t slept in peace from very long time. I had forgotten myself in the race of survival, forgotten who I am? My body wanted me to have time to rest, and read, and relax; wanted me to stop working so I could enjoy the world, and my life; wanted me to re-think how I operated and consider whether there might have been a more sustainable way to live.

Coronavirus pandemic outbreak in Pakistan was hell catastrophic like any other country of the world. “We can't see it, but everyone is terrified”. The moment the government identified coronavirus outspread in Pakistan it brought some serious consequences which involved lockdown. In this moment of Lockdown people were fearing for their lives but while sitting at my home in Karachi, Pakistan. Writing this write-up I realized Coronavirus is nature’s gift towards humanity, yeah I know people are dying but it’s because they are not taking precautions & going off-limits to bring this virus to them else it is not the case that virus is coming towards us. This contagion is the gift of Mother Nature to whole planet Earth to take rest & reset lives.

This is the gift of exchanging time, I once spent away from my family, rest and mindfulness. The time I would have spent doing errands exchanged enjoying a walk in nature. Rather than eating out, I have more time and inclination to have food at home with my family cooked by my mother. Today at 5^th day of lockdown, I am at my home, sitting free of the worry of tomorrow, doing nothing but taking rest, spending time with my family, eating food & relaxing. Yeah, that’s really the gift! And looking more farther being an educationalist, I can see this lockdown is the gift for transformation where school leaders are experimenting with virtual learning in K-12 settings, which could routinely benefit ill, low income, and rural students globally in the future. Oh god, I’m loving this.

Now continuing while sitting on the roof of my home, I am looking far down the city, silence everywhere, no sound of car horns, no sound of violence, no sound of fear, it’s all calm & peaceful. Once I was moving in the street, a dog was injured, crying on road for help but no one came, and where ever it went people hit him & shove him off. Humanity was nowhere to found. I helped the dog at that very moment but thought what had happened to humans? And now at home standing on the roof I am looking down, dogs are free to wander, birds and animals are free, “No human being to stop them.”

It has to be said, Planet Earth would breathe a long sigh of relief if humans were to vanish. And temporarily, in many places, they have. Amid the unprecedented coronavirus global lockdown, scenes worthy of Movies have emerged; from swans gliding through the now-clear canals of villages to blue skies over metropolitan cities like Karachi where the air is usually choked with smog.

Hey, Human beings, 'Nature has set the reset button'. The Earth, I think, is still beautiful, fruitful, alive and sacred. It’s just having a break from these human beings. I don’t care for those billions of people dying down there, let it be me and my family affected, but at least Mother Nature will take its time to heal from ruthless behaviors we have towards it, our 4.5 billion-year-old planet needs rest.

 Writer: RoMie