Reap as you sow

The current Covid situation, particularly in Assam, reminds one of an English adage – "You reap what you sow". The proverb "you reap what you sow" is also expressed as – "as you sow, so shall you reap". This clearly means that people get what they deserve. In other words, whatever one gets is the outcome of one's own investment. This proverb has its roots in the Bible. Good and bad happens accordingly how one reacts to things happening around. When one does a good, one can surely expect an upcoming good one. Similarly, if one does bad/evil things, the same reflects or bounces back. It is easier to understand with the example of the mirror. When a person stands in front of a mirror with a smiling face, the mirror reflects the same on its surface. If a person stands in front of the mirror with an angry or frowning face, then the same will be reflected back to him or her. Proceeding from the above proverb, one can also state that one's behaviour and attitude decides the upcoming things that happen in one's life. In the instant case of a sudden spike in the number of Covid-positive cases, it is nothing but what we all deserve or have got back from the kind of attitude and behaviour we had adopted despite the presence of the deadly virus in the country. Though a series of measures were adopted since the outbreak of Covid-19 in late 2019, and though the people had suffered immensely due to the pandemic spreading to our country too, both citizens and the governments have apparently failed to learn a lesson. It was only a few weeks ago that Government officials were patting themselves on the back by claiming that India had successfully handled the Covid situation. India had also claimed to have achieved huge success in developing and cheaply producing the Covid vaccine. The Union Health Minister had even gone to the extent of declaring that the country had entered "the endgame" of its own battle against the pandemic. Given this enthusiasm, the people too had started behaving in a rather carefree manner. India anyway is known for the majority people's tendency to defy rules and orders. In the case of the Covid pandemic too, there was a large section of people who had blatanly defied all Covid protocols, most of which are simple, cheap, easy to follow and result-oriented. There are people even among the so-called empowered sections who have hardly bothered to put on a mask covering the mouth and nostrils. There are people who have hardly thought it important to maintain physical/social distance. There are people who think washing hands with soaps and using sanitisers are intended at making certain manufacturers rich. And such people include government employees, college and university teachers, artists, and above all, the all-knowing politicians and political leaders. The just-concluded Assam Legislative Assembly election is one easily available example to prove this. While most common people have been practising the use of masks quite religiously, it were the politicians – leaders, ministers, MPs, MLAs and other elected representatives, so-called star campaigners, as also the local lollipops – who were at the forefront of defying the basic Covid protocols during the Assam Assembly election campaigns. While the basic rule of maintaining social/physical distance was thrown to the wind, people were encouraged, and even paid and transported, to attend election rallies in thousands for nearly a month. The outcome is here for all to see – the number of Covid-positive cases is increasing at an unimaginable rate. And then, a section of the Bihu committees as also a section of artists who are paid for their performances from "donations" generally forcibly collected completed the remaining task by attracting common people to flock to the Bihu pandals in the past few days. In northern India, it is a section of sadhus and sanyasis who did the same in the Kumbh Mela, as what a section of the Bihu organizers and artists did in Assam. Yes, indeed, the proverb – "As you sow, so shall you reap" – has once again come true.