The battle between good and evil in the time of coronavirus.
These images are from the festival we last celebrated before the big lockdown - Holi. So many of our festivals have stories of victory of good over evil while they also seem to mostly about how seasons change and its relevance to the agrarian economy and communities that depend on it.Coronavirus: Fight against evil?
You may have already seen references to fight over good and evil w.r.t. the COVID-19 challenge. It is a challenge and it is a fight. However, the half-alive virus that needs us to replicate is invisible and what is visible is the hate against people from the North East or Indian-Chinese because of how they look.We shall bear witness:
The orchestrated hatred against the Muslim community in BJP dominated states and on media (both mainstream and social) because of a major incident of the virus being spread at a religious conference of one group belonging to the community.
What has been even more widespread has been the way doctors, nurses and healthcare workers have been treated because of their role on the frontline of the fight.
Against the poor who have no protection and live in a system where they are reduced to people who provide services to the rich and can't live in lockdown.
Before this ends, there will be many labeled as evil.
We can avoid it, one person at a time by stop blaming invisible and imagined evil.
When there is a battle between good and evil, remember the mythological story of King Mahabali and Vamana (the Kerala version) before assigning labels.
