The drudgeries of life
Monday, May 03, 2021
Lost for words
TW: Death
In these terrible times of sickness and death, I count myself quite lucky and extremely privileged to be experiencing a loss for just words. Not of a loved one. Not of a family member. Not of a dear friend. Not of a job or a source of income. Not of a roof over my head or of food in my belly. Only words. Yet...
Yet the unprecedented loss of lives and livelihoods, even if of complete strangers, around the world is palpable and heart-wrenching. It's hard to make sense of anything and everything that has been happening since the early months of 2020, and there's a constant feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, and a persistent sense of impending doom. Added to all of this is the costant dissonance, presently between the return to the "business as usual" atmosphere here in the States and the tsunami of sickness and death in my home country, India.
What makes matters worse and adds to the anger and frustration is the utter incompetence and indifference on display by the so called "leaders" and celebrated "stars" of the country, and the callousness and utter disregard for science and humanity being exhibited by some apparently educated and privileged folks. Given the concerted attack (a series of surgical strikes, rather) by the virus and its aforementioned collaborators, plus the lack or absence of support from governments and institutions whose job is to serve and protect them, people in India are finding themselves getting blindsided, stupefied and decimated by the severity and enormity of the disease.
And being halfway across the world from loved ones in these crazy times just adds to the desolation, stress and anxiety, fearing the worst of updates at every single buzz of the phone. For the past few days, my good friend and colleague in the US has been helplessly keeping track of his mother's fortnight-long battle with the COVID-19 virus in India, and he has been trying to support in any which way possible despite being so far away. After miraculously being able to arrange for a nearly impossible to get medicine that her doctor had prescribed yesterday, there was a glimmer of hope that her condition would improve. But today morning, I woke up to this heartwrenching three-word text from him that hit as if it was the end of the world:
"mom passed away.."
Words don't suffice when consoling someone who has lost a loved one, more so to an untimely death and under the current circumstances. It's impossible to comprehend if, how and when one can come to terms with such a devastating and irreplaceable loss, and cope with the accompanying overwhelming grief. When the last time you met and embraced your loved ones is more than two or three years ago, how can you seek closure if they are cruelly snatched away from you without as much as a final goodbye?
Please pray for my friend and his family, and for the countless others who are going through such hell in India and across the world. Many of us might be tongue-tied and at a loss for words, but the least that we can do is say a silent prayer for all those whose lives have been ravaged by this terrible pandemic. Please take care, be safe and remember that
“There is no grief like the grief that does not speak.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Hope we all let our collective grief do the talking - to allow ourselves to heal, and to hold those culprits responsible who allowed and are still allowing this massacre to continue unchecked and ubabated, while helping each other in trudging through this quagmire...
