By Jehangir Khan Tareen
MULTAN, Apr 26 (APP):Life is a question and how we live it is our answer. It is not what happened back there or what might happen up ahead. Life is like the rhythm of the heart — every breath, every blink of an eye. It is beat by beat, moment by moment. This…is all there is. This…is all we need.
It is replete with twists and turns having ups and downs as its part. Life is a storm that will test you unceasingly. Don’t wait for calm waters that may not arrive. Derive purpose from resilience. Learn to sail the raging sea.
Change is the only thing on face of the earth that is constant and this is what exactly happened in end of 2019 with sudden outbreak of novel Coronavirus that has gripped almost all the world in its jaws so far.
The pattern of life each one of us was following, has entirely changed now.
“I used to get up by 6:30 am daily to drop my kids to school and college before COVID-19 spread in the country. After dropping them by 8:30 am, I would return home and after having breakfast would leave for office. Since the closure of educational institutions in wake of lockdown and change in office working, the whole schedule has changed, said a government official, Muhammad Ali.
He said that it seemed as if life came to a halt after global pandemic.
“It is much difficult for a working man either he is a government servant, a businessman or daily wager to stay at home for so many days. I feel as if life has been halted,” he explained.
Working from home is a new experience and no one was expecting it. There is hell of a difference between office and home, he said adding that daily expenditure has gone quite up while staying at home.
Mrs Hameeda Jabeen, a household woman, informed that her hubby is a trader who along with kids is resting at home these days due to Coronavirus lockdown.
” Our routine has totally changed. We miss dining at restaurants specially at weekends. Neither, we have visited our relatives since long nor have invited family members at home normally on Fridays. Family get together does not seem possible in near future too,” she regretted.
No one knows when the table is turned, she noted.
“Abandoning maids from household chores as result of viral disease has multiplied the worries of women who cannot allow them to safeguard their families health,” Mrs Jabeen said and added ,”we must pray to get rid of these difficult times soon.”
People from all walks of life are perturbed as a result of global pandemic which is an unexpected phenomenon.
Prof Tausif, an academician said : ” Nobody comes, nobody goes, nothing happens. It is awful.”
These lines of Samuel Becket’s play truly express the prevalent frightening and explosive scenario enveloping the world he said adding that it seems that the whole human race is now like a character of the theater of the absurd. Global lockdown like this was beyond any imagination a couple of months ago. The way deaths are mounting and scaring the most advanced and developed centers of the world and how the fault lines in the health systems of the affluent countries stand exposed is not only astonishing, but deplorable as well.
Among other segments of society education sector is also badly crippled. The fear of the unknown virus has paralyzed the academic activities around the globe. This standstill situation, the uncertainty has badly damaged the education of the students. Some were taking the exams, many more were in full swing to appear in the exams in April when governments suddenly decided to pause the whole process. For students uncertainty is mind boggling. The rumor factory churning out one fake news after another is further aggravating their predicament. Academies, tuition centers all are closed. Innovative solutions like online teaching channel launched by the government and other online sources provide a good and fruitful alternative but majority of our students are not inclined to such platforms. They are very traditional in there working. Adaptability to this altogether transformed scenario is proving to be an uphill task for many. This situation is really going to bruise and hurt their academic performance and going to have a heavy toll on their future. If this paralysis persists longer, situation will worsen further. We all should pray to God to forgive us and rid us of this menace and life come to the normalcy yet again, he maintained.
BZU Dean faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Dr Masood Akhtar said: “I have never seen such calmness followed by sadness in my life in the university especially in the spring season when flowers are in full bloom, no one is here to capture its beauty, feel its fragrance to witness that spring is in full swing.
” I’m missing the students’ activities in these days, but I am not disappointed and have firm belief that after every darkness there is always light which contains more blessings. Someone has very rightly said: When one faces difficult time, knows that challenges are not sent to destroy you, they are conveyed to promote, increase and strengthen you. May Allah protect us all.
Artistes are no exception. They are much sensitive people. Their life has also changed a lot because of Coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Rahat Multinikar, daughter of Surriya Multanikar and an Educationist by profession whose passion is singing, says ” Life during pandemic is better for those who are affluent and can run the affairs smoothly but as far as artists are concerned it has become very hard as no music and arts because of lockdown and social isolation.
So, the life of an artist is on stake, their livelihood and survival have become difficult. It’s my request to all artists who are well off to support their fellows.
Life never stops. It keeps on moving leaving all those behind who cannot pick up its pace. Every dark cloud has a silver lining. Great Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley had right said: O’ Wind If winter comes, can spring be far behind.
Life is essentially an endless series of problems. The solution to one problem is merely the creation of the next one. Don’t hope for a life without problems. There’s no such thing. Instead, hope for a life full of good problems.
