As I am a pensioner, I am not relatively affected by the pandemic as many have. I can afford to stay at home. My bills are paid online. I can abide by all the rules laid in the event I need to go shop for groceries. Besides this chore, there is no other reason for me to be out. I sit at prayer and try to meditate. Otherwise, I write this blog or watch those wonderful documentaries aired on TV. But those breadwinners especially the daily wage earners, and those who are paid only when they complete a sales or a given task, and those laid off by their companies are jeopardized as a result of the numerous lockdowns and partial lockdowns. Then we see our grandchildren and children all couped up in their homes. School-going children now sit before their computers following the online classes. My family optician once shared with me the reason for more and more children having to wear glasses to correct their eyesight. She told me that by staying without four walls their eye muscles adapt to this limited field of vision in comparison to those children outdoors who get to exercise them as they pan and look beyond the horizon. This was before the pandemic. Now as all outdoor activities are forbidden one fears for their eyesight getting even worse. The pandemic has indeed turned our world upside down.
It saddened me when family and friends found themselves having to live off their savings, with some counting the days before their funds are exhausted. The pandemic has been going on for far too long with many more variants and mutations taking place. The vaccines too need to be improved constantly. But we are equally helpless. We are told to save ourselves by adhering to the SOP's that are given. We are told that, that and the vaccine should keep us safe. We shall follow as told.
We then turn to the Siddhas for an answer as to what is happening here. They remained silent for the past year and a half, except for a couple of occasions. At the beginning of the year, Agathiyar told us to pray towards Lord Shiva asking him to show mercy and told us that he too shall pray for us. Meanwhile, he told us to adhere to all the rules and SOP's from the authorities. We did as told. Recently we gathered together again, each one of us in his own home, and appealed again. Lord Shiva told us that it would take some time, which made us understand that it is going to be a long uphill battle yet. He hinted that we have to undo what we have done earlier. So the ball is in our court now. We have brought it on ourselves. Have the Gods washed their hands of the case?
When the scientist warned us over the years of impending dangers to the earth and the world we live in, many nations turned a deaf year. As a psychologist mentions to Greta Thunberg that people were generally more concerned about making a living and the matters on hand rather than think about the consequences of their cumulative actions on the weather and climate change in the future. Climate change has never been treated as an emergency. But now when the pandemic rears its head it has called for an urgency and an emergency too. Individual behavior and politics have changed. It needed the pandemic to move heads of nations to clamp down on industries and public movement at least for a sufficient time to allow the Prapanjam to take a breath. Is this the change that the Siddhas have been telling us to prepare for? Greta Thunberg in BBC Earth's "A Year to Change the World" stated that "In a crisis, we change our behavior and adapt to the new circumstances for the greater good of society." Yes, "The crisis has given the energy to change." The pandemic has shown that everything can change overnight. Yes, it has indeed. But has it changed for good? Will we be back to our old ways once the pandemic is over?
Speaking of hope Greta says "Hope doesn't come with words. It comes with action." Marine Biologist Dr. Asha de Vos says the same too, “And as long as there is reason to hope,” she says, “We must keep working.” (Source: https://www.bbcearth.com/news/how-do-we-make-our-planet-perfect-again)
Greta mentions that she is often asked if her actions have seen results. She is rather disturbed and replies, "Do you really think this is up to children to do....?" Scientists "have both witnessed, first-hand, the myriad ways that humans have upset the delicate balance of our planet’s ecosystems."("https://www.bbcearth.com/news/how-do-we-make-our-planet-perfect-again.)
"The ‘Greta generation’ care deeply about the environment and are rightly holding those in power to account for their poor stewardship of the planet.”
When a guru predicted that an asteroid coming close to the earth in 2012 would have it turn anticlockwise and have us lose all traces of our memory momentarily and bring on a new perspective after the world was reset, if that had happened it would have brought us into that fresh state of mind without any effort on our part. The event was said to have been postponed to 2018. But it did not take place either. Could the Gods have rewritten the event? Could it be that the divine wants us to bring the desired change with total awareness on our part? Is that happening now?
Writer Jenny Offill in speaking about her book "Weather" on DW Channel's Arts.21's episode on "The World of Books" (https://www.dw.com/en/the-world-in-books-arts21/av-57958781) highlights the change she saw. "Scientists don't go beyond their data. They are even-minded (level-minded) but these days they too are sounding the alarm", she says.
Could the pandemic have given the earth a tremendous opportunity to reset asked the scientist? "Right now we don't speak the same language as the planet," says a scientist. "Not only politics but people's mindset has to change," says another.
Greta laments that she doesn't understand why people listen to her. "You are listening to me. But I don't want people to do that. I want them to listen to the signs before it's too late."
At https://www.bbcearth.com/news/how-do-we-make-our-planet-perfect-again, we are told to play a role in saving our planet. Dr. Asha de Vos asks "How do we remind ourselves that we are a part of nature and that by saving it, we are saving ourselves?” She says,
"I feel that we are at a turning point and it truly is up to us to use our collective intelligence for good, for the sake of the planet and ultimately ourselves....In empowering more people with the stories of our ocean and our incredible planet will help us to drive change.... It’s a constant reminder that we need to do better, we need to find balance."
Dr. Niall McCann, a biologist, explorer, and conservationist says "Sudden, dramatic changes are what stick in the memory, and really emphasize what we have done to the planet and the problems we face because of it.” Indeed if the scientist saw more major changes take place, a pensioner and common man staying at home like me too, am beginning to see its impact. The morning mists that brushed my face as I stood outside my home, not in the distant past but just some 27 years back, is gone. The dust that settles on my laptops and Tv set tells me that all is not well.
Dr. Niall adds,
“Thankfully many of the actions that reduce our impact on the planet are also very good for our health. Changing established habits is difficult for lots of people, but is made much easier when they know that others are also doing so....Each and every one of us has it within our power to turn the tide on climate change and biodiversity loss, through the decisions we make in our lives and the way we choose to interact with the world around us. As the Dalai Lama said, ‘if you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito’.”
We are told that we have to change our behavior. We cannot bring climate change without individual change. Greta was told that there has been a significant reduction and substantial lowering of emissions from Jan 2020 to April 2020. Just like Greta started bringing the change from home, let us ponder and act on bringing the change too.
For about two years, Thunberg challenged her parents to lower the family's carbon footprint and overall impact on the environment by becoming vegan, upcycling, and giving up flying. She has said she tried showing them graphs and data, but when that did not work, she warned her family that they were stealing her future. Giving up flying in part meant her mother had to give up her international career as an opera singer. When interviewed in December, 2019 by the BBC, her father said: "To be honest, (her mother) didn't do it to save the climate. She did it to save her child because she saw how much it meant to her, and then, when she did that, she saw how much (Greta) grew from that, how much energy she got from it." Thunberg credits her parents' eventual response and lifestyle changes with giving her hope and belief that she could make a difference.
Let us each make a difference in our own small way.