Thought-process

We in India are going through a catastrophe. There are no two names for this situation. The suffering is immense and heartrending. As tragic stories pile up, a feeling of hopelessness and guilt seeps in.

We are hoping that after this steep climb in COVID cases we will see some respite in the sufferings and deaths. However, make no mistake. The next debilitating wave to follow will not be the one that the Corona virus brings but the one that will be of our making. Imagine a small child having to go through the agony of seeing her parents being taken away in body bags. Think of ageing parents losing their children because of COVID. These situations are not going to leave us unscathed. The mental trauma and its repercussions are going to hit all of us hard, real hard.

The Supreme Court has ordered the District Authorities across the country to identify and take care of those children who have been orphaned or rendered homeless as a result of the pandemic. This should be done at a war footing. Reaching out to each child for basic amenities (food, clothing and shelter) is a given. It is every child’s right and the State and the Centre are the guardians. But what about security? How do we do that? It is time MNCs and NGOs look into ways for providing that support to the children. To bring them some sense of normalcy, they would need to lead a regular life with a regular routine which includes reaching out to them, having conversations with them. What kind of a routine can we give them? Do the Govt or the Non Govt organizations have a plan? If not, we are in for an upsurge of issues related to mental health which goes on to affect the entire person, emotionally and physically.