The entire world has experienced change in its daily routine due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and the need to reduce or stop travel for the sake of global health. From new strict hand washing regimens to cancelled events or having to work from home, this is without a doubt affecting everything in our daily lives including our carbon footprint. In fact the environment might just be the only beneficiary of this scary social distancing scenario we are all part of. We human beings might have evolved physically but mentally we remained stagnant. Before this pandemic showed up, we never use to spend so much time with our family, we never sat by the window to get a glimpse of the beauty nature holds, we never became so health conscious and worked out so much. We have always ignored to see the true form of earth and its real beauty because of our daily struggles to earn a living. We have forgotten that what is helping us in our survival, we are the only ones, killing that source of our life. Cries of an environmental crisis have echoed through our modern societies for the last 50 years yet life goes on. Just because we got locked up and have to stay home now, we started to shift our perspective from living this everyday fast moving life to living a quality peaceful life. When the violence and vexation created by us faded, all the birds came out, creatures like dolphins are seen in shallow waters again, pollution in the air decreased and ozone layer started to heal and repair itself. We used to visit the zoo to see animals in cages before this pandemic and now animals come to see us in those cages. The thing which we took from nature is being released and returned to it now. All the rivers which turned into sewers hold fresh water now, a massive river like Ganga, which was nearly impossible for humans to clean, holds crystal clear water just because there is no washing clothes, funeral practices, bathing, etc. Maybe it’s time for us to learn the lesson that nature, mother earth is trying to portray. We need to take care of her, only then we can survive orelse our salvation is not far. Whenever earth has tried to repair itself it has restored itself in a condition better than it was before. Mankind’s craving to control nature and exploit all its resources for profit can be wiped out in a stroke by an organism we cannot even see with the naked eye. Let’s remind ourselves that our ancestors saw nature as mother, and asked us to respect it. At some point in history, we forgot ancient wisdom. When pandemics and abnormal weather phenomena are becoming the norms, it’s time to pause and wonder where we lost the way, and how we can still make a comeback. Nature is reminding us to acknowledge, with humility, our equality and interdependency. It’s a lesson, imparted at a heavy price, that will come handy in mitigating global challenges like climate change as well as in building a better, common future.
Soul Spectrum 