Contrasting worlds

Yesterday, while scrolling through a few of my go-to online news sites, I stumbled across one of the most disturbing images I’ve seen in a long time: an aerial photo showing scores of bodies lining the banks of India’s Ganges River. All victims of that country’s impossibly daunting Covid struggles.

The deceased are typically cremated on makeshift pyres in India – but that’s become increasingly difficult because wood is in short supply. Families have no option other than to commit the dead to the Ganges and let Nature takes its course.

Somewhat ironical – given that submerging yourself in the Ganges is usually associated with spiritual cleansing and rebirth. More depressingly, it’s hard to see the situation getting better any time soon in a country of around a billion inhabitants.

Perhaps because the image was so unsettling, my mind instinctively switched gears – to scenes of lively, happy throngs wandering through the exhibits at the Hutchwilco Boat Show a few days earlier. Covid? What Covid?

From anecdotal evidence this year’s event has been a real humdinger – record attendees, scores of new boats, with plenty of enquiries and sales. It’s tempting to think this festive event was probably a knee-jerk response to the cancellation of last year’s show, but something else is going on.

It’s paraphrased thus: “The Covid pandemic has effectively ruled out overseas travel for the foreseeable future. Would-be travellers have instead elected to invest locally. New Zealand is a boating mecca. Let’s buy a boat – or a better one.”

This view is widely supported by local boatbuilders and marine equipment dealers – demand has outstripped supply by a considerable margin. And offshore manufacturers – fighting their own Covid battles – can’t do much to ease the boating demand in little old New Zealand. Bugger.

But, as my wife would remind me – these are first-world problems. The two images – the abandoned dead on the banks of the Ganges and the smiling throngs at the Boat Show – offer a sobering juxtaposition: Covid has emphasised, more than ever, the contrasting worlds across our planet.

At the risk of sounding like a sanctimonious prat, I’d suggest we should all take a deep breath, reappraise and cherish our luck. The next time some foam-flecked bogan shows you the finger in rushhour traffic, smile and wave cheerily.

Even though your new 350hp outboard won’t arrive for another six months.