APRIL 8, 2020
KARO-NA! Saluting Our Heroes
We all in our lives look for “heroes”, whom we love, emulate and want to be like them. These heroes can be our parents, a friend, actor, athlete or a political personality. Somewhere deep down we all want to look, behave and act like them, however, cannot gather courage to work the way they work and make sacrifices. Our idea of this hero image is dominantly based on our aspirations, beliefs, faiths and fears. Generally, our heroes are successful, smart, strong, good looking and above all extraordinary - but certainly not ordinary. In this era of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, where every “like”/“follower” matters so much- who looks for ordinary heroes in streets, hospitals, government offices, and police stations?
This pandemic has cut across all boundaries and it does not discriminate based on caste, religion, color, rich, poor, smart, strong or weak. It spreads like wildfire and is infecting our big heroes all around. It has changed the definition of heroes and we have started valuing ordinary heroes and saluting them out of our balconies. Their heartbreaking videos, where every night they only see their children but cannot take them in their lap, are breaking the internet. All frontline workers including doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and policemen are our new heroes and fight only one battle that is to save us in this theatre of life.
A fine line from Gulf News deserves a mention here:
“This war on coronavirus has shown there are those who shine in their finest hour, who act with dignity, serve with humility, help with grace, lead with generosity and give their lives in the service of others”
There are stories after stories, which deserve a mention of their courage, dedication, selflessness and humility. The New York Times has dedicated an article “What the Heroes Have to Say”, which shows bruised faces with string marks of doctors and nurses on the frontlines in northern Italy and their heart wrenching stories of the last three weeks. The Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar has decided to work as doctor in this time of crisis, Bhasha Mukherjee, Miss England 2019 has joined her duty as doctor in London, Indian model Shikha Malhotra, who has a degree in nursing, is volunteering at Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Hospital in Mumbai. The list around the world is endless, when these heroes with the nerve of steel are jumping one after the other to join the battle which is looking long, arduous and uncertain.
In our countries, where we struggle to achieve a little over the years, these heroes are willing to sacrifice their lives for us. God, how do you make them! These sleep deprived heroes are available at every hospital, police station, municipality office and fire station. They are not adequately protected, paid, or acknowledged yet, undeterred they are standing tall in line of their duty. We salute them!