Greetings from India !

You have given me a tough job. I wish I had the credentials to write on this very complex issue. Nevertheless, let me make an attempt to articulate my thoughts as an ordinary citizen of India.

Past seventy five odd days have been a great learning experience from a number of perspectives. However, I will just pick up one for the moment and that is, the vulnerability/fragility of homo sapiens, which are considered to be one of the most sturdy and smart species on this planet.

The question that troubles me is, whether we are in a real danger or we are over-reacting to a problem? While I do agree that prevention is always better than the cure, but is our response to the Covid19 pandemic reasonable? I do understand that there is a threat, but then we should not create an environment of scare and despair. We must face it, learn to live with it (till the the time a permanent cure is discovered/developed) and move ahead in our lives. Long-term 'lockdown’ could be counter-productive, not only from an economic point of view, but also in terms of developing immunity to such viruses.

I have seen personally, humans surviving all kinds of hardships/threats like hunger, malnutrition and other critical diseases/ailments. If I may quote my personal experiences, I remember, as a child me and my friends used to play out in the open in not so hygienic conditions and in the temperatures going up to 47-48 degrees. If we get hurt, we would resort to indigenous remedies (like putting the leaves of some plants on the wound, etc.) and were back to play immediately thereafter. We would eat anything and drink water from tap, and sometimes from a nearby pond. Still, we would hardly fall sick. Hence, I wonder, why and how we have suddenly become so fragile and vulnerable.

Honestly, I have myself survived a couple of cancers (one of which is still considered to be fatal), tuberculosis, a good number of surgeries (including, bone transplant) and a few life threatening situations, but have never experienced the scare and fear, as in this Covid19 era. And I must say, social media (through inaccurate data/information, fake news, etc.) has not only added to the woes of the ordinary folks, but also affected their morale adversely.

Let me conclude by saying that, what cannot be cured, must be endured !! Let’s fight it out !! Yes, we need to be careful. And we need to act smart by dodging the virus, till the time we can take it head on.

My two cents !!!

Ravikiran Malik

Finance expert