Everybody loves a good pandemic

Year 2020!!!. Oh where to begin this tragic year's heart wrenching stories from?  Bushfires in Australia, wildfires of USA, Delhi riots, Beirut explosion, locust attack, Black lives Matter and the king of all tragedies 'COVID-19 pandemic'.

Covid has rightly become the pole bearer of all things bad that could happen to humanity- mass migration of people across the world and heart wrenching flight of poor migrants from cities, collapse of gig economy, massive pay cuts and deliberate salary delays to death of millions of people. This makes one wonder how still everybody loves a good pandemic when all it brought is misery, stress, apathy, anxiety and debilitating effects of social, economic, political and environmental aspects of life? But there is a catch. There always is a catch in such sweeping statements for they seemingly look as if they are a simplistic view of the tragedy. But trust me when i say it truly is everybody's favourite. The catch is that this 'everybody includes anybody who is a somebody'. This is not for those wretched mortals who scrape the earth to fill their empty stomachs and hopeless desires. They do not count in this everybody. Rest all who survived and are still doing so know how good this pandemic proved for them. If you don't believe me ask those recent crop of start-ups which started 'manufacturing' hand-sanitisers, masks, PPE kits etc. Also, knock the doors of the so called 'unacademic' tutors of online classes whose stream of money did not dry up rather it expanded to become a gigantic river like the holy ganga. Mind you they are in this holy business of education not profit. Oh that brings my attention back to other endless you tubers who have become over-night sensation not because their content is good but because their histrionics, their 'art' of attacking other similar 'content-generators (whatever that means !!!)'. COVID has done what even Reliance Jio could not have done single-handedly (Airtel and Vodafone really shouldn't bother). My monthly quota of You Tube, Netflix, Prime and Hotstar has hit the roof much before the glass-ceiling that women encounter in their jobs. Women, the creature which saw the highest rates of domestic violence, biggest burden of pink slip and gigantic pressure of work and domestic chores. But everybody else got a good 'me time', leisurely time to pick new hobbies (picking a broom to help your mothers, wives, partners etc would certainly have cleansed your home as well conscience but that so humdrum.)

And the other creature which showed its true colours during this pandemic is the ever present but always absent when it's a matter of employee's rights, 'the boss'. COVID gave credence to their claim that we are hard pressed for liquidity due to zero sales, lockdown and zillion other payment glitches. But the boss never took that necessary pay cut. On the other hand, employees so massive cut with extra burden of work in the name of downsizing the company to the bone and to retain the job of the most essential workers. So basically employees got shortchanged by believing that they managed to retain their job when in reality they have been made to cut the salary flab, put a lot more extra hours without being compensated for it. Technically, by making teams slim and trim, company saved on the cost of salary of the dismissed workers and still got their work done by creating a sense of uncertainty in the mind of those who remained. It is like the classic 'Carrot and Stick' or 'RCS (Repress, Conciliate, Suppress) Strategy' where the weakest and vulnerable staff was removed while the ones who remained were conciliated with the possibility of a job during a pandemic and then suppressed to the hilt with excessive work and slashed salaries. So isn't it a good pandemic for those who always wanted to use this sneaky strategy for so long but could not as they lacked a justification to do that. Pandemic gave that seemingly legitimate 'reason' for that.

The other crop of money makers in this were those doctors and hospitals who made money in tonnes playing on the fear and vulnerability of patients. Many activated their design of extracting more money by recommending unnecessary tests and medicines just to appear more genuine while all the while what they were doing was unprincipled act. This is not to paint every doctor with the same brush but quite a few did resort to this unholy practice. Whatever happed to their Hippocratic Oath!!!!

The point is this pandemic became a blessing for those who know how to squeeze out some benefit from the misery of others. Along the way, it made us wiser too to be mindful of our blessings but on the whole humanity suffered immensely. 

Gaining Wisdom at this agonising, harrowing cost? Count me out please.