04 The People’s Chronicle | www.thepeopleschronicle.

in
Imphal, Monday, May 25, 2020

Regd. No. MANENG/2012/45461 Vol VIII, Issue 245

‘Fir Muskurayega India’ - India will Smile Again
Why different rules for REV. FR. HANS IGNESS SDB Rediscover your Smile you get one back in return from all that makes all the difference. I do that she doesn't wish to live her
There is a saying, ‘If life gives you those you come across. Hence smile not know when life will, if ever, remaining life in gloom and sadness

train, flight returnees? W

e all watch the news and 100 reasons to cry, show life that you is a beautiful gift, best medicine and become normal again. Presently, as it is not going to help her in any
see the dark side of Covid have 1000 reasons to smile’. It’s im- a sharp tool of changing and healing it’s about the lockdown, but such way, but being cheerful despite the

I
N view of the ceaseless inflow of stranded natives
in special trains, preceded by MLAs funding buses
to bring in people of their respective assembly con-
stituencies, it seems that the government of Manipur
has a lot of making up to do to ensure continuation of
the evacuation operations in the smoothest possible
way and at the same time minimise pressure on the
healthcare service providers. Regardless of the tangible
apprehension among the general populace, particularly
the resident citizens, who see the returnee natives as
possible virus carriers, it would grossly inhumane to
ignore yearning of own blood brothers to return home
from cities and towns they had been staying with the
hope of a better life but has been turning into unlive-
able places subsequent to severity of the coronavirus
pandemic. Extricating the citizens from such hostile
regions and reuniting them with their loved ones are
the primary reasons for Manipur becoming one of the
first states in the northeast region to launch the evac-
uation exercise. With the unfolding humanitarian crisis
getting grimmer in India, where the disease infection
rate has been showing no restraint notwithstanding
its comparatively low fatalities, coupled with tales of
the migrant workers’ harrowing sufferings hitting the
headlines of national dailies and news channels, it is
but natural that the government of Manipur had to act
compassionately to address plight of the state’s natives.
With the stranded natives posting emotional appeals
to rescue them apart from civil societies raising a hue
and cry, buses were arranged to bring back home the
migrants in the initial stages of the evacuation exercise
before the Centre allowed operation of special trains.
-19, which includes dev-
astating numbers of positive cas-
es and deaths, financial struggles,
disturbing scenes of migrants and
more. This is a strange and even scary
time that we are living with. Let’s
face it. Life can be brutal at times
and get you down but you can’t be
on a life journey without getting
through some tough times. In the
year 2019, Assam suffered a major
flood situation, wherein, around 80
people lost their lives, and more than
5 lakh people were affected during
the flood. It was in the month of
August, Halicharan Narzary, the
25-year old Assam lad, one of the
most prolific midfielders (Football)
of the present day, said during an
interview, “I want to make Assam
smile again. Assam has suffered a lot
from the recent floods. But it’s time
to make it (Assam) smile again.” Bol-
lywood's hope anthem 'Muskurayega
India', aims to send out the message
that the country will smile again if
the country supports each other in
the current crisis situation. Dear
friends, in this article, I will give you
an idea about you how to rediscover
your smile, put things into correct
perspective, regroup and turn your
tears into smiles again.
Social distancing or Social discrimination
Looking ahead to the days post Covid-19 through the lens of Science and Spirituality
ROBINDRO ARIBAM a greater good which is most
important for any community
portant to find reasons to smile and
laugh during dark times. Keep your
morale up, and the morale of your
family, colleagues and employees.
When you open your eyes and ears
to see and hear good, you’ll start
to notice even the smallest random
acts of kindness happening around
you. That alone is a good reason to
smile. Many people, in general, are
finding ways to give back joy and
kindness, often at their own personal
sacrifice. So, there is surely quite a
bit of “good” happening around us.
It’s hard to rediscover your smile
when you are hurt inside. But we
need to move on and learn to forgive.
Stop fretting, let go, and move on.
You can’t change the past, but you
most assuredly can change your
future. Cheer up! Believe in yourself
and never ever give up from con-
tinuing to be the best you can be!
Recently, Indian skipper Virat Kohli
while spending quality time with
his actress wife Anushka said in a
message (social media account), that
their smiles might be fake at times
of distress, but they are not. Yes, it’s
simply not worth being sad! A smile
is very cheap, beautiful and conta-
gious and spreads joy and happiness.
And when you give a smile away,
thunam ca samanyam etat
pasubhir naranam dharmo hi
the world.
Put Things into Correct Perspective
We often hear a common reme-
dy for alleviating our anxiety and
pain that is putting things into
right perspective. We can think of
events that happened yesterday,
a week ago, a decade ago, and so
on. Likewise, we can imagine a
future of tomorrow, next month,
or twenty years from now. Imag-
ine yourself and your life a year
from now. You might not know
exactly what this will look like,
but do your best to envision what
you might be doing, how you’ll be
behaving, who you’ll be interacting
with, etc. The key to shifting your
perspective is to remember what
you're aiming for. For example: A
job where you perform habitual tasks
is going to continue being ordinary,
if you see it as "just a job." But a job
where you perform routine tasks
that could be seen as a way to learn
skills, is no longer "just a job." It's
an opportunity to learn. So in the
above paragraph, nothing physically
changed. You didn't move offices.
You didn't get a raise. You didn't
work with people that are "more
fun." The only thing that changed
was your perspective/attitude. And
underlying fabric that makes us
uniquely social as humans and
and maybe even more devastating
catastrophes can take place often or
more frequently. So, we must draw
a line somewhere to be balanced and
to put correct perspectives in the
order of daily importance.
Regroup and Turn your Tears into
Smiles again
Problems and challenges are part
and parcel of our life. It is a known
truth of life. But, that does not mean
that we should completely focus on
the problems and forget to smile.
In other words, if we remain sad or
grumpy due to the problems, we are
letting the problems to control how
we feel. Based on my experience I can
tell you that if you adapt this attitude
you will be able to deal with your
problems objectively and effectively,
and able to solve most of them. In
fact, I owe this valuable learning
of life from one of my colleague,
Sweta who passed away in 2013 due
to cancer. She was diagnosed having
cancer in 2002. Initially she was
devastated but over a period of time
she came to terms with this reality.
She remained cheerful most of the
time till she lived. When asked, how
she managed to remain happy de-
spite having such life threatening
health problem, she used to respond
bigger cause of concern in the
coming days and in days post
serious health problem will give her
strength to live her life. Because of
this spirit, she survived for 11 years.
Thus, I learnt from Sweta that
we can defeat problems rather than
letting the problems to overpower
us. This learning has helped me to
deal with problems in life objectively.
And, I am sure you too will adapt
this attitude successfully and live
a blissful life.
Conclusion
As India and the world fight this
virus I want to encourage the read-
ers and citizens to use this time to
enjoy the little joys, things, good
deeds, relationships, smiles, posi-
tive attitudes and so on and never
take them for granted again. Let us
turn our tears into smiles; uphold
and help each other to renew and
relive the forgotten moral values,
and discover joy amidst sadness as
rightful citizens with responsibility
and duties. Then only we can say
'Fir Muskurayega India' - India will
Smile Again.
(The writer is a Catholic
Priest belonging to the Sale-
sians of Don Bosco and current-
ly is the Principal of Don Bosco
Hr. Sec. School, Chingmeirong
– Imphal, Manipur).
“The humble sages, by vir-
tue of true knowledge, see with

W
In the national context, the main reason for migrant e are living through a
time where Covid-19
workers abandoning their jobs and opting to take the pandemic is set to or
arduous journey of walking or cycling to their home already has changed the course
states is apathy of governments of their adopted states of human history on this planet.
The question is when this pan-
whereas in case of Manipuris the problems include loss demic subsides, nobody knows
of jobs, racial discrimination and absence of compas- when, either by natural caus-
sion of the landlords. es or by human intervention,
whether what is left of us are
There have been reports that even if states make only names framed in time or we
provisions for migrants’ access to benefits and support, live to share some good lessons
worth passing on to the future
no measures are put in place to make migrants aware generations?
of the relevant schemes and policies or to facilitate this We have been taught all
access. Migrants have little or no state-level support throughout our school days
and even during and after the
and are often scapegoated by local law enforcement university years that ‘Man…
and politicians for any trouble. They are underpaid, which means us humans… is a
underserved and unable to be fully productive. As their social animal.’
Merriam Webster’s dictionary
plights multiplied with the outbreak of coronavirus, it is defines ‘Social’ as
obvious that the migrant workers wouldn’t care about Relating to or involving activ-
words of caution by global health experts that migrant ities in which people spend time
workers returning home could become vectors carrying talking to each other or doing
enjoyable things with each other
the coronavirus to unaffected states and villages. Amid Of or relating to human
the grim prospect of stranded people likely to bring society, the interaction of the
home the deadly contagion, it is worrisome that there individual and the group, or
the welfare of human beings
was no health screening of over 1500 stranded persons as members of society
hailing from Manipur who boarded Indian Railways’ The meaning of ‘being social’
first special train from Mumbai on May 20. The train may never be the same anymore.
Social distancing is supposed
boarders exempted; to put it decorously, from the to mean ‘socializing at a safe
mandated health guidelines, suggests that some of distance’ and not to be become
the virus-ravaged states are more than happy to see ‘distant socially’.
The ability to ‘discriminate
the departure of non-locals. Nevertheless, it is not the the good from that which is not’
time to vilify either the Mumbai authorities or the native is certainly a gift that helps one
returnees. Rather, the government of Manipur should take humane decisions. Very
often than not, discrimination
follow the basic rules for containing Covid-19 such as takes up a completely differ-
mandatory health check-up of the state natives and ent definition: the practice of
putting them in institutional or community quarantine unfairly treating a person or
group of people differently from
centres till they are medically confirmed to leave for other people or groups of peo-
home quarantining. It is also desirable that the gov- ple. This generates a conscience
ernment reviews its latest order issued in connection that lacks empathy, servitude
with resumption of domestic flight services wherein and the spirit to sacrifice for
family members would be allowed to pick up the re-
turnees from the airport, thereby signifying that the
latter wouldn’t be put in quarantine centres like other COVID -19 Pandemic and a subtle social contract
returnees. It must be noted that the coronavirus spread VIRJEET NINGTHOUJAM
in India after the same was imported with the return of
Indians from abroad. As such, there is no guarantee the
N
ovel Coronavirus or COVID-19
pandemic has set in motion an
state natives returning to Manipur in the flight from unprecedented amount of dis-
other states, including many virus hotspot regions, location in human lives in terms both
wouldn’t be carriers of the deadly disease. social and economic. From reducing
an already weakened economy to near
standstill to chilling news report of
Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan & economic exhausted people trying to return
assistance package to kickstart the economy home being run over by speeding train,
COVID-19 has all the elements that are
OINAM NABAKISHORE SINGH, IAS RETD 45 days of announcement on nothing less novel. The pandemic laid
13th May, 2020 will infuse bare old fault lines noticeably while
to thrive. Such attitude then tesam adhiko viseso dharmena which differentiates us from Covid19 whether or not we are equal vision a learned and gentle
acts as a catalyst in the meta- hinam pasubhih samanah other social animals and insects able to contain the effects of the brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a
morphosis of social distancing [Hitopadesa 25] is ‘dharma’; being aware, being virus and the virus itself. How dog and an outcaste.” (Bhagavad
to social discrimination. Why “Both animals and men share sensible and sensitive to the ser- much are we, as individuals, Gita 5.18)
such a metamorphosis takes
place? Because people do not
the activities of eating (ahara),
sleeping (nidra), mating (mai-
vice we can give to others. World
Health Organization (WHO) is
prepared to minimize such an
outcome? Because once we
Marie Curie, Nobel Laureate
in Chemistry, echoed a similar
understand what life is, what thuna) and defending (bhaya). taking up the same principle lose our instinctive social na- concern.
is the meaning and purpose of But the special property of the as educative measures to fight ture based on the principles of “We cannot hope to build a
the human form of life. humans is that they are able the Covid19 (Learn more to be dharma, we are no longer social better world without improving
The first aphorism in Vedanta to engage in dharma, spiritu- Ready for #Covid19: www.who. animals. Remove the world so- the individual. Toward this end,
Sutra says ‘athato brahma jijna- al life. Therefore, without the int/COVID19). cial from “Man is a social ani- each of us must work toward his
sa’ (Vedanta Sutra 1.1.1) which practice of dharma or spiritual Be KIND to address fear, stig- mal” and you get, “Man is a (an) highest development, accepting
means ‘Now, one should inquire life, humans are on the level of ma during #coronavirus animal”. We cannot avoid ‘Social at the same time his share of
into the nature of the Absolute animals”. Show empathy, solidarity Distancing’ in our fight against responsibility for all humanity.”
truth or God.’ Further inqui- The word dharma has been with those affected Learn about Covid19 but the stigma of ‘Social Eve Curie, Madame Curie – A
ries stem up from here: Who misinterpreted or wrongly the disease to assess the risk Discrimination’ will only slow Biography by Eve Curie, Galli-
am I? What is my relationship defined as religion. Dharma is Adopt practical measures to down the efforts. How would mard Press, 1938, p.53
with the cosmos and all the liv- that which gives an identity or stay safe. you heal the scars of a person Whether we survive to tell
ing entities? Madhvacharya, a existence to the object; it is the We need to question our- who was physically, mentally, our side of the story or perish at
great teacher in the Vedic tra- occupational duty of a person. selves, “Are we supposed to be emotionally traumatized by the nature’s will, we can still leave a
ditions, proclaimed that only Religion refers to a kind of faith afraid of the virus or the person public just because there were legacy of goodwill to tell our sto-
when a man asks such mean- and hence people change from infected or whom we presume or could have been chances ries so that generations to come
ingful questions and embarks one faith to another. Dharma, to be infected by the virus?” of his or her being exposed to will find inspiration from their
on the scientific quest to find on the other hand, is fixed and Survival of the fittest may still the virus? We have seen just ancestors who faced a global
their answers, has he become
a human being; otherwise he is
unchangeable. For instance, the
dharma of sugar is to be sweet,
be at work. Nature may elim-
inate the weak but it is good
numerous cases where none
other than the frontline Covid
pandemic called Covid19, just
as we were inspired when our
only a two-legged animal. It is sweetness is the defining char- to keep in mind that nature or workers who are our first and grandparents told us stories of
interesting to note that Erwin acteristic of sugar. If sweetness the virus will not discriminate most effective shield against the those amazing lands from the
Schrodinger, the founding fa-
ther of Quantum Physics asked
is taken away from sugar, it is
no longer sugar. Fire must give
between the privileged and the
less fortunate. Anybody can be
virus, namely the doctors, nurs-
es, hospital staff, police and law
bygone ages. Everyone loves a
good story. “Social distancing
the same fundamental question heat and light; if heat and light affected. We used to hear of a enforcers are harassed, physi- without Social discrimination”,
in his monograph ‘What is Life?’ is not there in fire, it is not fire. time when leprosy was consid- cally assaulted, called names. definitely not a bad idea for a
which was published in 1944. A Chemically, every element has ered incurable and lepers were These are wounds that will take storyline.
synthesis of Science and Spiri- its distinctive solubility, con- shunned by the society. We have a long time to heal. (The writer, Robindro Arib-
tuality, is therefore, necessary ductivity, bonding and reactive come a long way from those Chanakya Niti says, ‘… atma- am (Ramanuja Das) holds a
to pave the way into days to properties, atomic structure, days and in 2020 if we are still vat sarva bhutesu, yah pasyati Masters’ Degree in Botany and
come post Covid19 so that our etc. which defines its dharma. shackled by the same mentality sa panditah’ (he is learned who trained in Science and Spiri-
existence on this planet proves What, then, is the dharma of a of shunning the sick instead of treats others as he would expect tuality by Dr TD Singh (H.H.
meaningful. human being? To render service. helping them recover then will himself to be treated by others). Bhaktisvarupa Damodara
For human beings, socializing The father serves the family, this mentality not be considered Bhagavad Gita gives the basis of Swami), who was the inter-
goes beyond mere gathering of the mother serves the children, primitive? Will it not be worth- being social as a human being national director of Bhaktive-
the pack to determine who is children serves the parents and while to introspect what values which is to see everyone with danta Institute, a center for
the alpha, grooming to show elders, people serve the society, of life have we gained from our equal vision because the learned advanced studies in Vedanta
allegiance, maintaining terri- citizens serve the nation, the so-called modern education person, a pandita, sees the spirit and Science. He has delivered
torial boundaries, fighting off king serves his subjects, the and advancement in science within and not just the external lectures on science and spiritu-
intruders or leading the group to prime minister or president too and technology? body. ality in numerous educational
a waterhole or better pasturing serves the citizens. If somebody WHO fears that depression vidya vinaya sampanne brah- institutions and government
grounds. Or it is supposedly so? has no one in life, he or she keeps among those who are in quar- mane gavi hastini establishments in India as well
The Vedic scriptures point a dog or a cat and render them antine centers, isolation wards suni caiva svapake ca as overseas. He may be reached
out, ahara-nidra-bhaya-mai- service as pets. Therefore, the or being hospitalized will be the panditah sama darsinah at ramanuja95@gmail.com).
living previously to question why now in point is that of PM CARES (Prime selves have the capacity to test their Making of a new normal
and not then. Another set of argument Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief own people as recommended. With The pandemic has effectively halt-
is that they are facing enough hardship in Emergency Situations) fund. With their own set of priorities to contain ed private enterprises and state is
in the form of social discrimination minimum contributable amount of the pandemic and a rapidly crumbling looked upon as the sole redeemer
apart from the inadequate access to 10 INR and no restriction on upper health care system, their attention is from disruptions. Opinion makers
essential items in other states which limit, people from diverse economic as expected on the other side. Add to are advocating complete obedience
warrants their constant appeal for a background have made regular con- it the deliberate inability to identify to state regulations which are often
passage home. After all they are our tribution to it. Interestingly, there is people with a whole set of different ambiguous if not contradictory. What
own, ‘one of us’. The pandemic has a provision of income tax exemption social and physical attributes as their we are forgetting is the fact that quar-
transformed this concept of ‘one of for those contributing to PM CARES. fellow countrymen, their approach is antine centers are in a mess, their
us’ into a liability effectively unrav-
elling the rhetoric produced around
While states have their respective CM
CARES fund, people have a tendency
predictable. This is precisely where the
idea of nation needs to be reassessed. A
functioning a big disappointment.
Anything going wrong and we blame
the construction of ‘us’ and ‘them’ in contributing to PM CARES given nation according to Benedict Ander- people both returnees and residents.
binary. Our own daughters and sons the provision of income tax exemp- son is an imagined community living If anything is expected it is out of peo-

T
he Government also pro-
poses to spend a sum of
Rs.1000 crore to create
a corpus and leverage it to
raise Rs.40,000 crores from
investors to have a total sum
of Rs.50,000 as Fund of Fund
to infuse equity capital in MS-
MEs. These proposals, if im-
plemented, will give a boost to
the capital structure of MSMEs
and make them more credit
worthy for additional credit.
Merging of services and
manufacturing in the defi-
nition of MSME is a desirable
step. Raising the limit of in-
vestment and turnover in the
new definition of MSMEs will
help them in enjoying the in-
centives of MSME better. Pro-
posal to release the receivables
of MSMEs from the Central
Government and Central Pub-
lic Sector Undertakings within
the much-needed liquidity
to the MSMEs. Promotion of
e-marketplace for MSMEs is
a good step if implemented
with handholding and guid-
ance. Many MSMEs may not
have the wherewithal of using
e-marketplace to compete in
tenders for procurement by
the government and its un-
dertakings. Restricting global
tenders upto Rs.200 crores
announced by the government
shall help in promoting local
procurement.
The above-mentioned mea-
sures and assistance are to
help the MSMEs to resume
their businesses as soon as re-
laxations are available during
the lockdown. However, there
remains many questions
which are to be answered to
achieve the envisaged goals.
TO BE CONTD...
new fault lines are drawn. The idealized
notion of cooperative federalism and
understandings on the question of
‘nationality’ need a complete reas-
sessment in light of persisting racial
and xenophobic approach exhibited
by different communities based on
physical attributes.
Homecoming of the “intimate en-
emy”
Answering to distress calls from
marooned Manipuris living in different
part of the country, the Chief Minister
has allowed their return into the state
subject to compulsory fourteen days
quarantine as arranged by the gov-
ernment. As anticipated, few of the
returnees turned out to be carriers of
the fearful COVID-19 virus after their
nasopharyngeal swab test samples
were reported positive. Netizens of
all ilks had their say. Opinions range
from why cause a spike in number of
active cases with their arrival instead
of staying put to wherever they were
of the soil intimately attached to the
social psyche have overnight become
nothing less than an enemy. If we could
only shift our gaze from victim blaming
to critiquing the appalling state of our
health infrastructure, we could have
made some difference. What we are
witnessing is a situation where respon-
sibility is demanded not from those in
powers but from the helpless while
pitting ourselves against one another.
Cooperative federalism revisited
The idea of India is conceptualized
as a union of states not as a federation
with power balance hugely in favour
of the union. Yet, constitution makers
espoused for some federalism in mat-
ters of centre-state relations in part
11 and 12 of the Indian constitution
indicating certain autonomy for the
states. More strikingly, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has been expressing
desirability of cooperative federalism
for some time now. However, evidence
points to a complete incongruity. A case
tion. Already under serious financial
strain with GST implementation and
the pandemic forcing economic ac-
tivities to a grinding halt, states are
effectively left to the mercy of the
centre in financial matters. The irony
however is the fact that health and its
associated matters are items on the
state list. This point to an overt top
down approach with states left with
little room for autonomy in decision
making. Even more alarming is that
such concentration of power in fewer
hands in the centre is replicated in
the state where we are experiencing
often ambiguous impositions being
made intermittently. Such ambiguity
is exploited by law enforcing agencies
against the already incapacitated mass.
Problem of difference
The point that these returnees should
have been scrutinized at departure
points prior to their journey home is
valid. But this point overlooks the fact
that the states they left do not them-
in a territorialized space. But Partha
Chatterjee’s question of whose imag-
ined community resonates remarkably
well in our case. In imagining a com-
munity and defining a nation-state,
our imaginations are hardly figured
in while it is the ‘mainland’ with all
its paraphernalia that went into this
process of imagining. Nobody with
a sound knowledge of transmission
of the pandemic would want to risk
their health travelling several hundred
kilometres. Circumstances forced their
return and unusual their circumstances
are. While migrant workers across the
country are leaving workplaces for their
homes out of economic hardships,
stranded Manipuris had to deal eco-
nomic difficulty and social ostracism
simultaneously. While arguing that
they could have returned earlier since
there was enough time for them to
do so, we are glossing over people’s
means of livelihood and sidelining
the exclusion they were subjected to.
ple. If any credit should be extended it
is the ruling dispensation. It must be
remembered that power once accu-
mulated, it tends to hold up. Instead
of asking why there is a complete lack
of planning on part of the government
in bringing back stranded Manipuris,
we are questioning their intention
and timing of coming home. Such
line of thinking is symptomatic of
a larger social malice that absolves
leaders from accountability while
fixing responsibility to commoners.
About time intellectuals pose uncom-
fortable questions on a self-serving
and self-perpetuating system while
confronting the new normal. High
time leaders take a moral stand and
abdicate entrenched convention of
“private enterprise at public risk”
with emphasis on improving public
healthcare and allied sectors.
(The writer is PhD student
NEHU, Shillong. Mobile num-
ber 9015108612).