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[su_quote]Garbage is not that which we see openly in our surroundings but that which we get rid of secretly, in a way which one is unable to grasp that how much harm that causes to our environment, and in the long run to mother earth. Be it physical garbage or abstract. [/su_quote]

Imagine an Indian household almost 40-50 years back. One will picturize one coming back from outside, washing all the uncovered parts of body before entering the house, changing the outdoor chappals with the inhouse one at the entrance. Now let’s imagine a social gathering, where disposable crockery made of bamboo or banana leaves was used, that is not only handmade and cheap but also causes absolutely no harm to the nature.

Imagine the Jain saints who keep their mouths covered with a (mask like) clothe at all times to maintain their hygiene along with preventing themselves from causing harm to the microbes and who walk barefooted and very attentively keeping ahimsã (non-violence) as the foremost priority. Now let us portray ourselves either making fun of or criticizing all these.

Be it the Indian style of greeting, to our ancient ethical choices of food and selection of possessions, from the environmental-friendly way we used lived in history to the present day heavily conditioned, consumerism propagating, western influenced way of living. Today in the times of CORONA, our Indian way of living makes all sense. Where even today approximately 70% of the population works to produce one of the most basic necessities of a living being. That makes it efficient enough to supply the same to the countries in need in these tough times.

For at least 100 years or so, we will be able to divide the history of the world in two time zones, i.e. pre & post Corona. Many patterns of our lives will change. Like work from home, online meetings & classes etc. For sure Corona has invoked the lost equanimity in us, for it has travelled through all nations from east to west, taking in its lap whoever comes in touch. It’s like the whole planet has been paused and like a Hollywood movie some alien has attacked the humans of our planet and we have to rescue ourselves by staying at homes.

On the contrary it has made us think and reanalyse the things we used to prioritise previously, like we used to love pretend that we are busy. But one may wonder where is that busyness now and still the life is going on? People will start valuing joint families more because I, living in a family of 13 people, cherish the big family time even more, during this pandemic. During these times we don’t need an outsider to pass time. We’ve celebrated few festivals together during lockdown, we are sitting together more often, playing fun games, spending quality time, eating, chatting. Illegal and violent trades like drugs and animal agriculture, have come to a halt too, which is soothing for mother earth. One may remember Gandhi ji’s saying, quite a lot these days, that makes more sense: the planet has plenty for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.

Never ever we imagined that we will be able to see clean, blue skies, but surprisingly we are breathing in purer air and observing cleaner skies in the heavily polluted cities like Delhi. Sooner or later, with all of us’ joint efforts, Corona will leave us. Hope we will be wise enough to value ours as well as others’ lives with more importance along with prioritising mother earth’s health in each of our endeavours. Else we must know, as author Paulo Coelho writes in his book, ‘The Winner Stands Alone’, “The planet is, was, and always will be stronger than us. We can’t destroy it; if we overstep the mark, the planet will simply erase us from its surface and carry on existing.” We must understand that we are in the shelter of mother earth and not vice versa.

[su_highlight]The mind is that which equips us with rationality, on the other hand we need intuition to understand life.
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Now is the time that we free ourselves from the clamp of mind and let our inner voice take over. Which has been telling us all this while to stop and return to innocence.

Good health, peace & happiness

Medhavi Jain
Writer, Life Coach, Research Scholar

Facebook Page: Life Coach Medhavi Jain
Blog: Dharma For Life
Profile at the Academic Portal: Academia
YouTube Channel: MJ Talks

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