Death, Disease & Dissent

Death is not a fearful possibility, but an inexorable inevitability. Society’s death rate may change but the mortality rate  has remained constant at one per person. But humans have always taken it as a little further away for themselves and a randomness which may just by-pass them for some time. That is how the mojo of life is built. We work, we frolick, we  plan and we sleep with an  idea of a tomorrow. But we have our own metrics of risk of death. A normal householder may think that sea faring trader has more risk of death in the sea and hence must be having more fear. In a quaint story from Odisha, this question was put to a ‘Sadhava’ a sea faring trader of yore. The answer was a pearl of simplicity.”” Are you scared of your bed, where you sleep and will die?”. It is an epiphany. No one has seriously thought either about the larger question or the minutiae. Philosophers did and they were no wiser at the end of it. They just learnt their own brand of coping mechanism and ratiocinated. If decay is inherent in all component parts, as Buddha said, we should work out our salvation will diligence But we postpone it to another day.

Disease on the other hand, is a very immediate risk with ensuing suffering. Suffering invokes an image of jagged pain, a helplessness and a dependence which no one likes. Humans learn to live with them as they are mostly marked by finite and short-term. As long as recovery and remedy are envisioned, they know the disease will pass, cure will arrive and the intervening period will be like a bad dream. Humans have always desired life to be lengthened and may be death to be defeated, near sure that all diseases will have cure thanks to ingenuity of man and inventiveness that define science. Without cure in sight  swirling pestilence can create the fear of death, moving from acceptance and coping to irrational attempt to avoid it.. Death’s imminent possibility forces us to value our life immensely.

Then enters the politician, a canny customer. The fear which was muted and often remains muffled is given a life. A disease which is just a fever but spreads faster, and kills a number of people  is demonized beyond recognition, made larger than life size and the politicians say we would solve it and save you. Fear has strained peoples’ limbs, and loosened their mind. They accept, without asking what are your credentials? What is the scientific data? Where is it prevailing more? Whom is it likely to affect? It does help him that there is no established cure or vaccine to prevent it. Fear grows multi fold for the citizens. What they always believed, the randomness of it all of a sudden becomes immediate adversary with red-eyed unforgiving and tongue – flickering right before them. Each citizen surrenders her space, her thinking, her ability to question and make sense. Information only comes through the govt and they decide what  is the dosage to divulge. It also helps that pseudo – knowledge masquerading as technical knowledge is flaunted. Most doctors who are flaunted before the TV channels are established names from different specialization. Pandemic of fear  overtakes the pandemic of virus. But the emergency power is already appropriated, ability to feed news or to hold back facts is near complete. There are police and armed forces to assist in spreading the narrative, court system which is supposed to be a bulwark against state’s rapacity are enfeebled or co-opted. The control is complete.

Fear does not lead to death awareness,  nor  to a fulfilling life, nor a serendipitous  discovery of meaning ,. We do not regain our sense of wonder or get hungry to make our life worthwhile. It is the fear introduced to the herd and we move as member of the herd, We have not understood the precious finitude of life, but  try to avoid the death. The control is complete.

But society is a motley crowd. Some want to give vent to their suffering, some see the larger picture and question its efficacy of approach.. The problem is if the control is complete. No one liked Vidhur in the sabhagriha  of Duryodhan at the time of  Draupadi’vastraharan. when he tried to address to the conscience, no one liked Yujishu  when he pointed out the sheer barbarity of  action.  Who wants the party to be spoiled by inconvenient questions. Instead, adulations and cheerleading should have come for effective decision making and management. Here the decisions are being questioned ab initio. That is the essence of democracy, everyone’s right to question. But the democracy has been willingly been suspended with knowledge of all. Deaths are to be avoided, disease to be vanquished. The new arrangement gives power to the politicians to remove everyone who spreads canard. Questioning is also spreading disinformation requiring exemplary punishment. Dissent is the new whipping boy to continue the theatre. A theatre where disease and death are seemingly immediate and enemy has not moved away from the walls. Questions cannot be allowed to work as road blocks.  Honest criticism can be edged out with impunity. Evidence based approach which is essential for handling public health issues suffer with the  control of information flow.Dissent becomes deviance and then a crime. It must be controlled to accomplish the task.

Meanwhile, the disease takes it toll as it is supposed to. A fire can rage as long as fuel is there, the fuel gets exhausted and the fire stops. The death toll is like that of another fever, a flu, but the fear associated was disproportional. But the centralization continues in bits and pieces and the lives are devasted along with the economy. Eventually the solution came from time science, though the politicians leveraged on fear  and people empowered politicians to fan their fear when they had better recourse available.