No matter how we explain the present crisis, and how we analyse the response to this crisis at the governmental and societal levels, one thing is clear: things will be worse before they get better. It means that we have more weeks ahead that would challenge our patience and test our capacity to hold the nerve. This is true not just for the government and the systems it has put in place. It is equally true for the civil society, and those in the society who are organised to work in such disastrous situations. Not just that, it applies to every household, and each individual. In the beginning of this crisis, last year around the same time, there was enough talk about the psychological impacts of the pandemic. Since people were confined to their places, and the routine activities were disrupted, it was bound to bring stress to mind. That was then thought of affecting the overall behaviour in the family. In fact we witnessed a steep rise in the cases of domestic violence. We even had our children affected because of the tense atmosphere in homes. Two main reasons were ascribed to this catastrophic impact at the level of families. One, loss of livelihood. Two, disruption in normal set of interactions and activities. To meet the first challenge many in our society came forward to help the needy. We can’t have an accurate estimate of the financial assistance rendered to the affected families, but an overall sense of things is enough to convey that people did contribute in this time of distress, and saved the society from a total collapse. The second impact was minimised by organising counselling sessions, most of them held on line, and also through dissemination of relevant stuff into the larger pool of our society. These efforts did make an impact. Right now the crisis is bigger than the one we witnessed last year. It simply means that if we want to save a societal collapse more needs to be done this time than before. This is the month of compassion and charity. All those who have need to share it with those who stand devastated.
As the crisis prolong
