YOU MAY BE TOO BIG TO FIGHT, BUT I AM TOO SMALL TO WIN - Corona Virus.
I
am very fortunate to have read W B Yeats' The Second Coming, and T S Eliot' The
Waste Land. I find the poets' prophesies come alive in the present global pandemic
of Corona Virus. Both the poets believed that the world was heading towards an apocalyptic
revelation. They question, all these man-made fury of brutal wars, heinous
crimes, unparalleled exploitation of nature, highest use of fossil fuels,
dumpling plastic wastes and chemicals, polluting seas with oil spills, and most
dastardly acts like mutilating and sodomizing fellow living creatures...ALL THESE
TO WHAT EFFECT?
In
"The Second Coming" W B Yeats notes, “Things fall apart; the center
cannot hold”; anarchy is loosed upon the world; “The blood-dimmed tide is
loosed, and everywhere / The ceremony of innocence is drowned.” The best
people, the speaker says, “lack all conviction, but the worst are full of passionate
intensity.” All this chaos and disorder is finally leveled by the "Second Coming"
of Spiritus Mundi. A beast so ruthless that it sets off slowly on a course as
"its hour come around at last." Is the poet visualizing the arrival
of Corona Virus which for him is Spiritus Mundi.
To
draw an analogy from T S Eliot' The Waste Land, where the poet exhorts
"Son of man, You cannot say, or guess, for you know only, A heap of broken
images, where the sun beats, And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no
relief, And the dry stone no sound of water." He goes further to draw an
analogy with the poet's revealing narration of Thames with that prevailing in
the present times in London with Corona's spread.
Refering
to London and life at the Thames river, the poet says, "The river’s tent
is broken: the last fingers of leaf Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind
Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed. Sweet Thames, run
softly, till I end my song." The narrative is explicit with the nature
referred to as going with its usual routine. But there the pitiable man who has
now self-quarantined himself for a life-time' of deep self analysis and introspection.
Yesterday, the Daily Press confirmed this to the world by its headlines "London
deserted: UK capital becomes Ghost Town as workers flee over Corona
virus."
The
natural forces have kept their cool since long, definitely with an optimism and
ray of hope that one day humans would change to realize that life isn't just to
exist but to live happily alongside all creatures and creation. However, the malicious
actions and selfish deeds of humans continue unabated. It is time nature said,
I HAVE HAD ENOUGH. All havoc was let loose by unleashing of an army of Corona
Virus which is less than 5 micron in size. The message of nature is clear, YOU
MAY BE TOO BIG TO FIGHT, BUT I AM TOO SMALL TO WIN.
At
this point of time, in the face of Corona, the pride, attitude, and brutality
of human race have come into question. Surely, the hollowness of human existence
stands exposed. There is now a new awakening to understand the simple rules of
nature. Nature gives everyone the needful. The variety of produce changes from
season to season. Each member of the creation has a role to play in the Natural
cycle. If humans learn to co-exist with fellow creation, there would be greater
survival and continuity of the human race. However, the question still remains
unanswered. Will this revelation dawn on humans?, If so, when?
SANJAY
NANNAPARAJU
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