By Ittoop Panikulam
Mumbai: We are eagerly waiting to get over with Covid-19 episode and return to normalcy. Or is this going to be the new normal? Coronavirus in one way or the other is entwined with the element of air. Now masked noses are the most common sights covering up some hidden airborne insights.
Be free of prejudices and biases as the air is.
The air does not know what prejudice is. It is least bothered about the size, the shape, the colour of the noses. It respects all varieties of noses. It happily journeys inside every type of nose, male and female alike, belonging to a Hindu, a Moslem, a Sikh, a Tribal or a Christian nose. With equal respect and care, it moves freely inside agnostic and atheistic noses too. It is equally comfortable inside a European, American, African, Russian, Chinese, Japanese or any available nose. For the air, a nose is a nose is a nose. And the air it sends to every nose is fresh and pure. It had been like that from the time air was. It behaves like God who too transcends all religions. You shouldn’t be surprised to know that such a freeing and all-embracing attitude will enhance the quality of your immunity to fight viruses.
Be good and do only what’s good as the air does.
The air ever keeps on coming to our nostrils, adjusting perfectly to the uniqueness of our noses. It comes in gently without any sound and fury with the sole purpose of sharing life with us so that we may live and live fully. Irrespective of what we will do with it, whether we take it for granted or be ungrateful for it, it keeps on doing what is best for us. Whether we vitiate the atmosphere, pollute it, abuse or curse it, we can count on the goodness, faithfulness and the generosity of the air. You shouldn’t be surprised to know that such an attitude of accepting differences will enhance the quality of your immunity to fight viruses.
Practice the mantra of giving as the air does.
Giving is inherent in the marrow of the air. It never asks for anything in return. Hoarding of it
would act like a killer virus. Possessiveness is an existential impossibility as far as the air is concerned. It does not know what it means to be selfish or egoistic. It has full faith in its superabundance. Air does not need us and yet it keeps on giving, sure of its unstoppable supply. So far its source has never dried up. The air stays perfectly and permanently close to about 7.9 billion pairs of noses and spreads its generosity all over the world. You shouldn’t be surprised to know that such an attitude of giving will enhance the quality of your immunity to fight viruses.
Find ways for everyone to have enough.
The air makes no distinction, partiality, subjectivity or favouritism between a billionaire or a pauper, a governor or a governed, one on the top of the ladder of hierarchy or the lowest. It does not have a special admiration for the noses of those reclining on the thrones or squatting on the floor. All are given equal amount of oxygen. And it is free. It charges no GST. The only interest the air has is our health and welfare. Everyone’s welfare. Sounds God good; doesn’t it? And it lives the principle of equality and equal distribution. You shouldn’t be surprised to know that such an attitude of equality will enhance the quality of your immunity to fight viruses.
Have an eye of care for your neighbor’s needs.
The air stays with us in good times, bad times and all the time. Its consistency is unequivocal. It does not depend on our whims and fancies to give us what we owe. It does not allow us to affect its way of being what it is and what it is supposed to do. We can totally trust the supply of air. It does not know how to cheat or to be malicious. It is always what it is. Transparent, genuine and sincere. It is not bothered about our reactions of being pleased, recognised, rewarded or punished. It does not seek success, victory, or achievements. It keeps on doing its duty without any fail. Its aim is our life. That’s all. You shouldn’t be surprised to know that such an attitude of care for the neighbour will enhance the quality of your immunity to fight viruses.
Be humble and live a simple life.
Two qualities stand out in its constant arrival into our noses. Noses are not like broad high ways. The passage for the air is rather crooked and cumbersome. We do not make it easy or give a warm positive welcome in return for its regular friendly visit and generosity. The air appears to be by its very nature simple, humble, egoless and unassuming. That may be the secret of its everlasting life – simplicity and humbleness. You shouldn’t be surprised to know that such a meek attitude will enhance the quality of your immunity to fight viruses.
Cultivating such attitudes is as utopian idea, isn’t it?
We are humans aren’t we, and not just air? During the world wars, humans got somehow divided almost into two groups. One against the other! We had countless heroes and martyrs depending on which side we belonged to. Some have begun to count the start of a third world war.
Meanwhile I believe, with the sound of a gentle breeze an unannounced borderless war has begun. And this unfamiliar war is between the humans and the Cosmos. Who are the culprits: we or the air? War with air began long ago. Air pollution didn’t begin with the announcement of Covid-19. It’s one of its concluding chapters.
We seem to have mistreated or desecrated this mysterious, invisible element – air. Just like every unseen thought affects each cell in our bodies; human negative energies similarly contaminate nature. And the air has lost its original purity, cleanliness and goodness. We do not know how. We know we need to wear masks.
The creator’s original plan of keeping our nostrils ever open is being challenged. The most existential aspect of living seems to be in jeopardy. How long will it last? As long as we continue to live the way we had been living! Or bring about a change by following the airborne insights!
Kudos to you Fr. Ittoop What an enjoyable time I had reading your article. It is worth reading and re-reading several times until it sinks into our very beings…… like the very air that we breathe.