This one was another famous 8pm address,
When the PM came on TV to digress.
About Coronavirus he spoke at length,
Said he ” we’ll fight it with all our strength “.
“For a day a Janta curfew I’ll impose”,
To which the nation did a toast propose.
Clapping their hands & making utensils clang,
People applauded it with a bang.
Soon after another lockdown was announced,
For a week all activity was to be renounced.
Stay Home, Stay safe, were the new buzz words,
All people were now confined within like herds.
Till now the enormity of the crisis didn’t sink in,
Since most were united at home with their kith & kin.
The unlucky ones were caught completely off guard,
Little did anyone realize this was going to be hard.
The notice for shutting down was too short,
A few days rations was all people had got.
Still lasting out a week wasn’t a tall one,
With everyone hoping that soon this would be undone.
One wonders why candles were called to be lighted,
Twas as if common sense had been blighted.
People didn’t seem content lighting a flame,
So they burst crackers to complete the frame.
Once again opening the lockdown was further delayed,
This time our migrant brethren were feeling utterly betrayed.
The government had failed to spare for them a thought,
Now efforts to hold them back were coming to a naught.
So these folks set off to their homes on a long trudge,
Deep within they would have been nursing a deep grudge.
There’s no doubt that the migrant populace has been wronged,
The authorities insensitivity only made their misery prolonged.
For God’s children it was a long walk back to home,
They must have been exhausted & drained to the bone.
The apathy of the state only made matters worse,
The life of a migrant in these times has proved to be a curse.
We watched these images helplessly with a blank stare,
Feeling numb as the heartless soul of a nation was laid bare.
It seemed as if humanity had taken a long flight,
An end to their troubles was nowhere in sight.
Meanwhile Covid-19 tightened it’s grip by the day,
The infections were only increasing to our utter dismay.
Most businesses collapsed in the lockdown time,
Reviving industry is going to be an uphill climb.
Unemployment is going to be the biggest bane,
Even as the world is finding Corona hard to tame.
Everything around us seems to be going for a toss,
How the future will pan out, I’m at a loss.
The economy of the nation has been hit truly hard,
In decades the GDP is set to witness a retarded.
Financial devastation on this scale no one has ever seen,
A contraction in our economic growth there never has been.
In this crisis, the government couldn’t get it’s act together,
All the more why we’ll find the storm hard to weather.
Mishandling of the issue has been the biggest bane,
With whosoever the buck stops will have to take the blame.
The upside of this pandemic is hard to tell,
Only a die-hard optimist can in this seeming hell.
Spending time with family is just about the silver lining,
A laid back vacation if you may, with lounging & dining.
The lockdowns will end but Corona is here to stay,
For a cure to this, lets collectively pray.
Till then we’ll have to live with this, without cry & hue,
Lets join to invoke Divine blessings for mankind’s rescue.
A mechanical engineer with a masters is business administration, GS Khatra is a serial entrepreneur who operated a Kraft paper mill before diversifying into other businesses. He lives in Barnala, Punjab.
