Defeat Defeat before Defeat Defeats you.

26 March 2020

My dear friends, these are truly challenging times. Never in my 51 years of existence have I seen a situation like this. In 1976, when I was barely 7 years old, I could vaguely remember the emergency imposed by the then Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi. I still recollect the tense atmosphere that prevailed in the then Madras. I could only imagine how it would have been during the world wars. The Japanese were thinking of bombing Madras during WW2. I have read about the bubonic plague in Europe that wiped a lot of population. There is an anecdote that the nursery rhyme, "Ring-a-ring-a-roses..." referred to this plague and the last sentence, "…and all fall down" alluded to, the impending but sure, death. I have read about plague in Tiruvannamalai around a century ago. The European invaders introduced small-pox into the Americas that wiped out significant native population - not to mention the heartless wars waged by Europe (especially the Spanish) on the native Americans. These were wars between men. Clash of civilizations.

The world has also seen natural calamities. In 2004 we all experienced earthquakes and Tsunamis. In 2015 we suffered massive flooding in Chennai. These were wars between nature and man.

We are experiencing an entirely new war now. Little did mankind realize that globalization has also made diseases global. Little did we know that a tiny virus could choose to wage a formidable war against mankind and take us all by surprise. Our survival depends on containment of these little viruses; which scientists are yet to classify as living or otherwise.

Our little earth is nothing but a tiny spec in this unfathomable cosmos. The world goes through changes and transformations all the time. As Heraclitus said, “The only thing that is constant is change”. He was correct when he understood that, ““No man ever steps in the same river twice, for neither is it the same river, nor is he the same man.” The world has been designed to embrace changes – big or small. This could be one such significant moment of change for all of us to reckon. Suddenly we realize that the pettiness of the world has been brought to naught by a virus that is almost infinitesimal in size. Suddenly we have become helpless, albeit momentarily, when a tiny little virus tries to bring us down on our knees.

The resilience of humans, however, is unimaginable. As always, human civilization would find ways and means to demonstrate its one-upmanship. We don't give up that soon and we won't. The current self-quarantine is our way of thumbing our nose on the virus. We are trying to simply prevent this enemy from invading our fort.

Our universe has been estimated to be 14 billion years old and earth, perhaps, 4.5. Modern humans have been around for approximately three hundred thousand years and every new anthropological step-forward has only set-back this estimate by a few more thousands of years. Ours is therefore one old lot to have been on earth, and with lots of experience in dealing with both good and bad. Therefore, have no doubt that the ingenuity of humans is never to be underestimated. Necessity is the mother of inventions and our resourcefulness would prevail. We can think – the virus can’t. So, mankind might lose a battle here and a battle there, but in the end, he has consistently demonstrated his mastery over his surroundings. This crisis would also be won; much the same way as he had been winning for thousands of years.

All said, man hates uncertainty. He detests fuzziness to the level he seeks recourse to astrologers, soothsayers and other charlatans. This virus has challenged our existence. It has set us back on our march forward. It has forced a certain amount of uncertainty in understanding how it would all turn-out in the end. It has made us introspect. It is forcing the world to evolve for the better.

It would be anybody’s guess as to how the same time next year and the years thereafter would be. However, we could reorient our own perspective towards life and society. That is our choice. It is somewhat demotivating to stay at home for long periods wondering whether the next news would be good or bad. It is depressing to question one’s own relevance under the current circumstances. Do we really have the mental grit or are we simply putting a bold front? It is daunting to do sanity checks on how productive one is in an atmosphere charged with self-doubts. It fills with anxiety to introspect if one is giving his fullest. It is challenging that the current situation stymies one’s effort to convert his potential to performance.

But yet, it would be apt to recollect the wise words of Viktor Emile Frankl, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” This comes from a man who had survived the brutality of Nazi concentration camps. Stephen Hawking pursued astrophysics enthusiastically and aggressively despite his ALS, which made everything except his brains dysfunctional and permanently confined him to a wheelchair. We have the complete responsibility to choose our attitude wisely and no force in universe can stand on our way.

We could take this time to reflect on who we are and what we want to be as professionals and more importantly humans. We could complete pending activities with sincerity and gusto to the best we could. We could improve our knowledge by catching-up on reading. We could write reports. We could take 5ML courses of corporate HR. We could register for online courses. We could meditate, pray and contemplate. We could learn new subjects such as computer programming, big data, AI, etc. Or, we could all work on a great and inexpensive ventilator that could save lives. This is a great opportunity for us to bring the best from within us in an atmosphere where we have been left to our own devices. Character is what we do when there is nobody around to monitor us. This is a once-in-lifetime opportunity to challenge our own character and put our determination to test. Let us recollect Kennedy’s words, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.  Let our mind be led forward into ever-widening thoughts and actions, as Tagore had entreated. 

We are only limited by our own imagination and the attitude that we choose. 

God bless us all (assuming there is one).