Letter to granddaughter offers hope in dark times

Hi sweetheart, Soon, you’ll be four years old, a big girl indeed! It’s been more than two years since we met, and I wonder if we’ll be able to meet anytime soon. Though watching you growing up and enjoying your pranks on virtual platforms is a soft consolation, that palpable feeling of cuddling you in my arms remains elusive.

Today, I’m writing this letter to share with you certain things that you will understand a few years down the line.

Both of us, you in the US and I in India, belong to two worlds separated not only by the seven seas but also by social and ethical values. Perhaps at your end of the world, the lockdown and social distancing didn’t have much impact as people there are used to leading somewhat closed, private lives. But here things are different.

The Covid condition and restrictions changed us, our lives, and our thinking. There have been times when a medical emergency in the neighbourhood would find the men hurriedly taking their cars out of the driveways to ferry the person concerned to hospital and women would take care ofthe kids and the kitchen. In case of prolonged hospitalisation, relatives would come over by turns to help the family.

But today, this pandemic doesn’t allow this to happen, even if people want to come forward to help each other.

The second wave may have passed through your lives without much impact, but here it acquired catastrophic proportions with lakhs afflicted and dying. These are difficult times when visuals ofhospitals and cremation grounds break your heart, choke your mind and tug at your conscience, finally resulting in tears trickling down the cheeks.

But as they say, even in the darkest ofclouds, there is always a scope for the light ofhope to penetrate. The heartwarming scenes of common people coming forward to help those suffering retain our faith in human kindness. The concept of oxygen langar, a pragmatic extension of the Guru’s tenet, took the world by surprise. It’s so heartwarming to see people getting oxygen, anywhere and everywhere, in cars, auto-rickshaws, pavements; families helping out each other, sharing their pain and anxiety, and offering all possible help.

This amity and empathy is the mainstay that is seeing us through these dark times.

I wish and pray that when you will be grown-up enough to understand these things, you’ll be able to stay connected to your cultural roots and have the same love and kindness for your fellow beings.

Remember, systems may crumble and collapse, but societies have the resilience to sustain and survive.

God bless you.

SYSTEMS MAY CRUMBLE AND COLLAPSE, BUT SOCIETIES HAVE THE RESILIENCE TO SUSTAIN AND SURVIVE