By Abid Rather
The year 2020 was a star-crossed year for humanity. It was a year when human beings were caged by nature. The entire population of the world was imprisoned in their houses because of the fear of death by Covid-19. Many unseen and unexpected events were observed during this year. It was never expected by anyone that our livelihoods would come to a halt, and we would be forced to stay indoors.
The man was compelled by nature to close all the offices, industries, markets, and transport facilities. Everyone was petrified by the fear of death. Everybody was living a scared life as there were chaos and confusion everywhere. Every sector of human life experienced significant losses, and nobody could escape the fear of this dreadful virus. Man, who was bragging about conquering nature by science and technology, was compelled to bend the knee by a microbic virus. This ‘Chinese-born’ virus got spread around the world in just two months, which log-jammed world progress.
“There was a sigh of relief as the man was able to prepare a vaccine against the Covid. But the virus took a new shape, and the dream of controlling it is once again shattered”
It took thousands of years for man to understand nature and to take control over it. He came out of forests affrighted in search of food. He started cultivating crops near rivers besides hunting and learning to cook their food on fire. Then he made his settlements and in this way, human civilisation came into existence. Slowly, the man came to know that nature can provide him with the best wealth for a luxurious life and he can progress only if he can understand the secrets and principles of nature. This understanding of the principles of nature was given the name of science. With this knowledge, man progressed by leaps and bounds and revolutionised the world with industries which came to be known as the industrial revolution, resulting in industrial civilisations.
In this race of revolution, man forgot that all his progress is based on the principles of nature. He even forgot nature and started altering with the principles of nature. He polluted Mother Earth by his covetous thirst for wealth. He forgot that he is a speck of dust in front of the nature and his goodness and betterment lies in remaining within limits and not altering with the principles of nature.
We know that for every action, there is a reaction. This hauteur of man compelled nature to create a virus that incapacitated man and all his progress came to a standstill. The virus paralysed human progress and pulverised world economies. After working hard for one long year, there was a sigh of relief as the man was able to prepare vaccine against the Covid. But the virus took a new shape and the dream of controlling it is once again shattered. Now, man is once again afraid of the same menace in 2021 which we faced during the whole year of 2020. He is again incapable before the virus. He is crippled and screwed by it. He has hundreds of unanswerable questions again. He doesn’t know how to come out of this disaster. But man has never accepted defeat. He needs to come out of this trouble and its secret lies in nature. He has to understand the laws of nature once again to find the solution. Man has already controlled the worst epidemics of cholera, tuberculosis and AIDS in the past and, one day, he will control this pandemic too. But this time, nature has given a warning to human beings and we need to understand it and learn a lesson from it.
Coronavirus pandemic is a serious warning for all of us. Nature is sending us a message through this pandemic to stop altering with laws of nature for our avaricious means. It reminds us that we are from jungles but we have become their enemies. We are cutting them ruthlessly. We are digging the mountains which have given us beautiful rivers. We are polluting the air, which is essential for our survival. We are making our soil poisonous, which is giving us food. Man has progressed and reached the current level of modernisation by understanding the principles of nature but he is now playing with these principles, which is going to create havoc. If we will continue in this way and will not stop polluting and harming our planet, then our devastation is very near. Our planet is ready to fulfil our needs, but it will kick us away from our greed. Nature is signalling us through this pandemic to desist from our wrong actions or be ready for destruction.
There has been a stalemate in human life during 2020. Life seemed helpless and useless. Millions of people have died during this year. But this is not the end; it is just a warning by nature. If we continue to spoof nature, then surely our doomsday is near. Learning from 2020, we should try to find the solution to this pandemic in the new year and limit our ruthless activities. We have to slow down the race of industrial and technological revolution. The unlimited and unfair use of natural blessings needs to be checked. It is true that man can’t live without science and technology in modern times, but it is also true that there is a limit in nature that man should never try to cross. So there is a need to strike a balance between science and nature for the sustainable development of man and for avoiding such calamities in future. If we are still unable to find such balance, then humanity has to face nothing but destruction.
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