Covid-19 has robbed us of the right to mourn

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funeral, coronavirus, Vohra, india, covid-19, mourning, closure, ritual, religion

Dubai - Anyone who breaks the safety parameters must be held accountable. Covid-19 is not a passing fancy. It is a lousy painful way to die.

By Bikram Vohra

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Published: Mon 7 Sep 2020, 6:43 PM

Last updated: Mon 7 Sep 2020, 8:46 PM

My brother didn't make it. He died 9pm Sunday night. Covid-19 romped home not caring a hoot about a life well-lived or the fact he was writing a book on Indian politics since 1947. The virus doesn't see any distinctions nor does it give concession to human endeavour.

On the contrary, it has robbed us of one major emotional quotient and continues to hijack us, and that is the right to mourn. The way things are there is no closure.

Zoom funerals or WhatsApp instant videos do not hack it. Whatever one's religious beliefs these rituals are bed-rocked in a certain logic. The family comes together, there is a certain healing and a sharing, acts of kindness and a walk into the past - a grieving that cleanses.

Now, they shun and isolate you. You cannot even say goodbye. No one flies in, relatives and friends stay away, there is no fourth day and thirteenth day and fortieth day and the phrase 'life is for the living' gets a whole new meaning.

Even neighbours are loath to come, and make cooing sounds on the mobile phone.

It is all so demeaning and uncivil and that is a message that needs to go out. If Covid-19 has no respect for the responsible, imagine its contempt for the irresponsible who fail to realise that they put others in jeopardy with their criminal casualness. We cannot afford to be tolerant of such conduct.

Anyone who breaks the safety parameters must be held accountable. Covid-19 is not a passing fancy. It is a lousy painful way to die and no one has the right to endanger another. So, get responsible for yourself and for others.


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