To the editor:

I recently watched a news report. A journalist was walking beside a group of impoverished Indian laborers who had set off on a 200-kilometer journey on foot back to their rural homes. The strict (poorly executed) COVID-19 lockdown by the Indian government had forced these migrant workers back to their villages, with a mere four hours’ notice, without the facility of public transport. At a point in the video, the journalist walks up to a girl who seems to be about 12 years in age and is carrying a sack of her belongings on her head. The journalist asks her what her age is. She says she doesn’t know. (This hints that she is illiterate and likely has never celebrated her birthdays, which is sadly typical for the class of society she currently finds herself in.) The journalist next asks her how she plans to walk for days on end. The girl’s reply: “I will manage.” “What will you eat?” asks the journalist next. “Bread,” the girl replies, matter-of-factly, seemingly puzzled at what the journalist is really after. 

This poignant moment reminded me of an Urdu poem by Asrarul Haq Majaz:

mehnat se ye maana chuur hain ham.

(We admit we are shattered by our exhaustion.)

aram se koson duur hain ham.

(We are miles away from the place of rest.)

par laDne par majbur hain ham.

(There is no other option than to fight.)

mazdur hain ham mazdur hain ham.

(For we are the laborers, we are laborers.)

My hope is that we gather inspiration from this girl when we feel tempted to complain about the minor inconveniences of COVID-19, such as inability to travel, boredom, and having to wear masks, social distance and work from home. Furthermore, I’d like to bring to attention the irony that repeats itself whenever any society is hit by a calamity: It is often the most vulnerable who suffer the most, and yet it is also the most vulnerable who garner the greatest strength and bring forth to the utmost the creativity and resilience that is so deeply embedded in the human spirit.

The aforementioned poem switches to a message of hope and resistance:

banne ka tamanna rakhte hain.

(We desire to make something of ourselves.)

miTne ka kaleja rakhte hain.

(And yet, we have the heart too, to be wiped out.)

sarkash hain sar uncha rakhte hain.

(We hold our heads high in rebellion.)

mazdur hain ham mazdur hain ham.

(For we are the laborers, we are laborers.)

Regards,

Nandan Pai

Lake Placid