When was the last time you remembered everything about a day as if it just happened yesterday, even though it actually happened a year back? This day is definitely bringing back memories, not good ones. This day reminds me of the tremor that a deadly virus was able to cause in my homeland.
This month in general is all about that, because entirely for this month I saw fear in my people's eyes, bodies, movements and everything. Even the air around contained a viciousness that was so scary. The pain I felt for my people for the entire month of May last year made me realize a lot of things about mankind and it just takes the blink of an eye for everything to change.
For me to clear it all up, let me scribble something about my native Kozhikode. Being from such a lovely place which is often referred to as Calicut by many people, I can definitely say that even though others name the place Calicut, 'Kozhikode' is more of an emotion contained in the mind of everyone from this wonderland. Yes a very solid happy emotion that will never fade from the mind of those people who knows exactly what it is. History has already proved that we are the most hospitable people in India, but it is not just that. When we say a place is this beautiful with its serene air, it is just an understatement, because it is not just a place but also the people who live there decides how a place should be. Once someone visits this amazing land they will get to know what I am talking about; the most grounded, loving, caring, hospitable, modest, kind, welcoming, harmonious, people dwell in this place. Our language might be a bit too colloquial for some to digest, but we have values that has the ability to convey everything with our hospitality and our delicious food. And I might also want to brag about the harmony with which we live in this place, because a majority of people have this approach where people are not actually defined by the Caste system rather just as people. What I meant is, this is one of those places where you won't see a lot of differentiation based on social impurities such as caste system, social class and the like; and even if such things exist it is not that substantial. So I feel I am lucky to be born in this place.
Nipah virus. The most deadly and dangerous virus which has the power to kill anyone who gets infected within a few days, and most importantly there is no proper antidote developed yet . It has this destructive capacity of taking down a person within a very short time span and finally when it affects your brain, it creates a mental confusion so deliriant that you tend to forget what you as a person used to be. This is the most deadliest thing I have seen so far. First reported in a small village in Malaysia, the entire village had to be quarantined to contain its outspread. That was not just a major blow to Malaysia's economy rather it was more of a realization that even with all the powers which we think we own everything can be just nothing. There has been reports of this viral spread since then almost every year. In India, prior to last year, it was reported in Siliguri district in West Bengal. And no matter when and where it was reported, it had this animosity to take down everyone affected. And the most alarming trait about this virus is that with every year it is literally evolving as in, first found just in pigs, then pigs to bats, bats to bats, bats to humans, and these days humans to humans; doing all justice to its name VIRUS. And those were the days I had dreams as annoying as who knows someday "Walking Dead" is going to be a reality because if a very complex organism rapidly evolving and is totally capable of controlling and confusing human brain, why cant it adapt itself into something more ? Let me not go further, because I know my thoughts are deviating elsewhere.
So, this day last year recorded the beginning of it all. This was the day when newspapers reported the death of the first person who got affected by the Nipah virus, though it was least recorded that way. But within a day or two, it was tested and verified that Nipah virus was the actual cause. But by that time, the virus had already had its way to more people. Later on, this month was all about the trauma which we as a whole nation had to go through and the pain it caused in the hearts of people who cared about others was immeasurable. The very own fact of not having an antidote to treat it put forth only one solution to those who got afflicted and that was to succumb themselves to it...
And still do we have an antidote developed against it ? I haven't read anything about such a discovery so my understanding is "No, we don't have an antidote developed against Nipah Virus yet"..
In simple words, what happened was that a person got affected by the virus and died of weird symptoms not known till then but the cause was termed just as a viral fever. Later on when his own brother started showing the same kind of symptoms, it aroused a bit of suspicion among the doctors and they got the samples tested in the best labs and got the actual cause verified. But day after day more cases were reported and alarmingly every people who got affected were connected in one or the other odd ways. Because, even a split second of exposure/close contact with the affected person was more than enough. As the statistics says, 18 or maybe 19 were clear cases of Nipah virus reported out of which it took the lives of 17. Yes, it is a very small number, but the chances of survival is less than 10%. Isn't it disturbing enough when we know that the antidote has not been developed yet.. ??
In the above paragraph, I haven't done any justice to what I actually felt and what my place went through last year. But without disregarding the importance of this trauma if we keep aside the thought of outspread of this destructive virus and its impact for a few minutes, is it the only thing that bugs me about this virus ? No, it is not. Because, I stayed for two weeks in the heart of all this outspread and I literally could feel the tremor of all of it; but also, how it can create walls to our compassion for other people around us.
So, the very own natives of my city that I boasted about earlier had a very distinctive way of dealing with all these. It was essentially precaution, but the path that we first decided to choose was of isolation. It was a bit disturbing sight at first then when we were led to think about it, we understood that containment is the true precaution to anything after its outspread but not isolation. The way this situation was contained and resolved was just epic. Let me just give out an example, it was not just about setting up isolation wards or taking preventive measures but it was also about identifying more than 2000 people who were either showing feverish symptoms or had chances to catch up the disease as they or their family members had exposure to the affected; and containing them at the comfort of their own homes by supplying all the essentials such as food and other domestic ailments via social workers on a daily basis until the threat was completely eliminated.
Yes, any other day, virus or whatever it is that can affect us and can turn us into something else is a potential threat to us, or more explicitly to the entire mankind. It will always be aiming at total destruction and we don't have much choice when it comes to that because that was something beyond our control. But if at all we are lucky enough to contain it in ourselves and neutralize its effect, most importantly sustain it, shouldn't we also be capable of not being the Walking Dead ?? and not being the cause of same to others around us ??? So what I think is that containment is what we all should do if it comes to that, only then can we neutralize it and sustain it and its effects...
Nipah is a very deadly virus, antidotes are yet to be developed. But Nipah virus with all those capabilities can't travel long and short living until and unless it gets into someones body. So precaution from this virus is very easy and can be followed along with our daily cleanliness routine. So true precaution is to follow whatever is best for us, not just for our betterment but aiming other's betterment as well.
This day is a true reminiscence because it reminds me that humanity is the true religion that can save us from utter destruction and altruism is its only idealistic principle... So no matter what you had to go through, what you are going through or what you are about to go through; don't let it change anything about you. And never, never let any virus that infects you make you into one!!!
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