A Perspective

By Shivang Sud

In 2020, the war against Covid19 had begun,

Yet we continue the fight and have still not won.

Where did we go wrong? What was our blunder?

As I prepared for my exams, I started to wonder.

It started a bit slow, only a few were infected,

Therefore, its severity was completely neglected.

Life continued as usual, with no one willing to pause,

Only to witness the havoc this ignorance would cause.

The disease spread like fire and death rate started to rise,

All the medicos around the world were taken by surprise.

Saving humanity was now a difficult and daunting task,

But not impossible, thanks to sanitization and face mask.

Even though this virus was not selective,

Social distancing and sanitization still proved effective,

And since these measures were then renown,

Governments worldwide initiated lockdown.

Most of the work was now being done online,

And we all thought that everything would be fine,

But while we were worrying about economy and wealth,

We forgot to account for physical and mental health.

Everyone was now made to stay at home,

Which left no place to socialize or to roam.

The new government policies were indeed hard to abide,

People pretended to be happy but were suffocated inside.

Covid then unleashed its wrath, the first wave started,

Even all the statistics could not be properly charted,

Loved ones of many unfortunately passed away,

Due to lack of infrastructure or so they say.

Some people were fortunate to be with their loved ones,

But this privilege was not granted to tons.

While some enjoyed their summer sipping soda and lime,

Others could not even see their families for one last time.

But the deaths were not the only sad part,

As many relations and friendships also fell apart.

While some moved on to form a new alliance,

Others sat heart-broken and suffered in silence.

The first wave was over, and cases decreased,

Outdoor activities resumed and restrictions were eased.

The plan was to keep the death rate low,

And go back to normal, nice and slow.

But this news was not clearly understood,

We started making plans as if everything were good,

To take a vacation or socialize with buddies,

Or go back to office for work, or college for studies.

Things then went good for a little while,

After a long time, people finally started to smile,

But who knew that it was all about to flip,

As the first wave was just the iceberg’s tip.

The virus mutated and started to spread again,

Soaking out all the joy, delivering nothing but pain.

Even though vaccines had been devised by 2020 fall,

Due to “some reason”, they weren’t sufficient for all.

The signs were clear, that it’s going to get rough,

And our current precautions were simply not enough,

But even then, we refused to behave,

And as a result, we birthed the second wave.

Number of cases and deaths shot up once again,

Leaving some to panic, and driving others insane,

As no matter how much money one was willing to shed,

It was near impossible to arrange for a hospital bed.

Even for the hospitals, the situation was hard to manage,

As arranging for oxygen also became a challenge,

And while those affected did fight with full power,

Unfortunately, not everyone was able to recover.

The virus was ruthless, and its impact was deep,

People cried and doctors had no time to sleep,

But as the second wave settled, reducing the pain,

Having learnt nothing, we went back to normal again.

Most of us now don’t seem to care anymore,

The presence of the virus, we now ignore.

Though we have watched others suffer this brutality,

We still refuse to change and accept the reality.

We continue to remain uncertain about what’s at hand,

But there is one thing that now I clearly understand,

That even mental depression and mass cremation,

cannot outweigh the importance of examination.

By Shivang Sud