June 2020 started off very well for Mizoram. On the 1st of June, 2020, Mizoram was still having the unique status of being the only Indian state with no active CoVid-19 positive case. [read: Mizoram Zero]
And then the tables turned quickly from there on, and by the 2nd of June, twelve new cases were detected. [read: Mizoram 12]
Things spiralled down pretty quickly from there on, and as of this morning, 11th June, 0700 hours, Mizoram has more than 100 active CoVid-19 cases!
The number you see above may increase by the time you read this post as there are more than 200 tests awaiting results as of today, according to DIPR.
The Government of Mizoram too declared a Total (but not exactly total) Lockdown across the state earlier this week as the number of detected cases started increasing.
However, this ongoing Total Lockdown is very different from the first Total Lockdown we experienced. Most shops are allowed to open (but at specific timings, which differ from locality to locality), state borders are open, there is no curfew, all government departments are operational, and even home quarantine is allowed for those entering the state. It's like a "Lite" version of a Total Lockdown.
Well, is the government correct to declare such a lenient Total Lockdown in spite of crossing 100+ positive cases? That's not for me to say or opine because I'm sure the government is doing what it thinks is best for the people and the state, but here's a question I would like to ask you all - Are you scared?
I mean, of course I know you're all worried. So am I. And it is perfectly natural to feel so. But you aren't exactly as paranoid as you were three months ago, right? That same level of anxiety or panic that seeped through our community is no longer there.
Some of you may have short-term memories, but I still remember how all of us felt at the beginning of this pandemic. The beauty of blogging is that we pen down all our thoughts and feelings right when something happens, and when those memories start to fade, we recollect those thoughts by revisiting our old blog posts.
The amount of fear we all felt back when we had just ONE positive patient was astronomical compared to how we feel today with 100+ positive patients. And this is evident not just from an individual's point of view but from the way our government is handling this situation.
We're no longer as scared as before because we have slowly come to accept the ground realities.
The psychology behind this is simple - this is because of the Kübler-Ross model, more popularly known as "The Five Stages of Grief". Your psychologist friends will know what I'm talking about, you know, those people who wish each other with: "Hello, how am I?" "Oh you are fine, how about me?" greetings. :D :P
Just kidding, psychologists are one of my favourite people because there's just something so intriguing about them, the way they speak and communicate, how they perceive things in general. The Five Stages of Grief, also known as DABDA (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance), is a popular structure and framework used by grief counsellors to handle patients with anxiety, depression and trauma.
From my observations, these are the five stages that we have seen in our Mizo community:
Stage #1. Denial.
Remember how we all felt in the beginning when we had our first positive patient? We tried to convince ourselves that the test result could be wrong because back then we didn't have a testing facility in Mizoram and so it was done at Silchar Medical College. And the fact that he was a Pastor, a Man of God, further made it harder for some of us to believe the news.
Stage #2. Anger.
Once the confirmation had sunk in and he was admitted at ZMC Hospital, we were no longer in denial. Some people expressed their anger, accusing him of being irresponsible and endangering the rest of us for returning to Mizoram. A few others even wrote scathing posts and comments on social media, attacking not just about him but his family as well. That was indeed a sad day for our Mizo ethos.
Stage #3. Bargaining.
As we remained confined to our homes under a strict lockdown rule, gospel revival movement on television took off like never before. We prayed and prayed, asking God for forgiveness, and many spiritual speakers even proclaimed that Mizoram will be cleansed of this virus once we have all atoned for our sins. We felt immense guilt and desperation to change our life, which were all a part of the bargaining stage.
Stage #4. Depression.
This is the point where we all felt helpless and empty inside. And the fact that people just kept forwarding more and more unfavourable news on WhatsApp, even factually incorrect ones, made it even worse. We felt like we were trapped in this twisted and terrifying nightmare that we desperately wanted to wake up from. The daily ritual of staying behind locked doors and listening to the local town-crier announce information seemed to somehow drain us of all senses, including life itself.
Stage #5. Acceptance.
Now that there are more than 100 times the number of our original patient, we ironically seemed to be pretty cool about it. This is because we have reached the acceptance stage. Slowly, we have learnt to accept that this virus is not just going to go away any time soon, and that many of us cannot just stay locked up inside our homes forever because we have mouths to feed, businesses to save, and lives to live.
Those are the Five Stages of Grief and I think this is where we are currently, based on my observation - The acceptance stage.
By the way, these are all just my own interpretation of the Five stages of Grief within our Mizo community, and it should by no means be taken as a professional insight or technical postulation because I have absolutely no degree or experience in psychology.
I could be wrong in many of the aspects above. Even Elisabeth Kübler-Ross herself admitted that the stages do not necessarily follow a linear progression as everybody deals with grief in a different way, while other notable psychologists pointed out that the Kübler-Ross model is just a theory with no empirical evidence. David Kessler also mentioned that the stages may repeat themselves, and there need not be a definite end point as well.
Having said all that, just take this as a layman's observation, the musings of a blogger with too much time in his hands.
Like I mentioned before, we should be mentally prepared to face more negative news about new positive people from the thousands of Mizos who returned home recently. Crossing the Century threshold in just a few days seems alarming, but the saving grace is that, at least all the infected people are our recent returnees, and there has been no case of community transmission... yet.
Hitting a century is usually a remarkable achievement, but in this case, it is a milestone that we neither want nor need. From the number 1 position in the official Indian CoVid-19 chart under "active cases", we fell down to the 9th position in less than two weeks.
Remember, we can face this together. It is only the first time experience that leaves the biggest impact, and after that, a repetition feels normalized. We have seen this happen to us during the past three months. I'm not just talking about the acceptance stage that I have mentioned above. Take for example, the ambulance that carried the remains of a departed Mizo from Chennai to Mizoram.
Yes, you all remember that one, right? It was all over our Mizo social media. People hailed the drivers and the Mizo companion as heroes. They were given gifts and accolades at almost every town in Mizoram that lies in their path. Mizos shared their story and pictures everywhere, from Facebook and Instagram to WhatsApp statuses.
Now, do you know how many such ambulances carrying the remains of other Mizos entered Mizoram after that?
Yup, me neither.
I know at least five such ambulances but I definitely do not know the total. Because, people stopped talking about the next one and there weren't that many shares and likes on social media either. Suddenly, the next instances weren't considered to be that much share-worthy anymore.
Similarly, when the first batch of Mizos returned to Mizoram by train from Chennai, everybody was talking about it. Even I wrote a blog post about them. People praised the CMWA (Chennai Mizo Welfare Association) for what they did, and the Mizo welfare leaders were highlighted and even interviewed all across Mizo social media platforms (and they rightfully deserved to be praised too).
But how many other trains from other cities entered Mizoram after that batch, how many other Mizo welfare leaders of other cities worked tirelessly to send home Mizos too? Those news never made as much impact as the first batch.
The point I'm trying to make is, even this current situation will soon feel normalized, so don't feel disheartened. We need to adjust our lifestyle and carry on with our lives amidst the pandemic, while following all the rules laid out by the authorities. It is the least we can do for all our frontline workers who are the ones in the thick of the battle. We owe them that much.
I hope my next blog update do not see a very large increase in the number of positive cases. With more than 200 test results pending, which might be announced tonight, let's keep our fingers crossed and continue praying for all our doctors, nurses, lab technicians and other frontliners out there.
We will prevail.
See you all in my next update. Cheers.
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