“Home is a shelter from storms-all sorts of storms” – oncesaid by William Bennett is proving to be right in this quarantine period.The coronavirus creating so much havoc all over the world by killing so many people has forced the entire mankind to go into quarantine in order to save themselves from this deadly disease as there are no vaccines of yet for the coronavirus. Let us now see what quarantine, that is in the news so often these days, actually means. A quarantine is generally understood to be a restriction on the movement of individuals and goods which is meant to stop the spread of disease or pests. It is often utilized in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of these who may are exposed to a disease, but don’t have a confirmed medical diagnosis. It is distinct from medical isolation, during which those confirmed to be infected with a disease are isolated from the healthy population.The concept of quarantine has been known since biblical times, and is understood to possess been practised through history in various places. The quarantines that are notablein the modern history of mankind include the quarantines of the village of Eyam in 1665 during the plague outbreak in England; East Samoa during the 1918 flu pandemic; the 1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak, and extensive quarantines applied throughout the planet during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.
Well now, a question arises, “Is quarantine bringing us together while keeping us apart?” If I were to answer this question, my answer would always stand “YES”. Now, I would like to present some arguments supporting my answer.
- Parents are starting to give their spouses time:Families all over the world are now facing a brand new everyday life. Most parents have dreamed of getting to spend more time with their children, but this is probably not what they hoped for; having to balance jobs, children, and householding at the same time. “It is alright to be an imperfect parent during these times. Structure and quality time can help you cope with the new situation,” family expert explains.During the last couple of weeks, most families’ situation has changed dramatically. Parents are now spending more time with their children than ever before – involuntarily though. The quarantine period due to the rapid spread of coronavirus has provided the working parents a great opportunity to look after their home alone kids, spend quality time with them and take care of them themselves without depending on the housemaids, thus in turn bringing the parents closer to their spouses.
- People staying away from their homes due to work or studies are spending time with their family memebers at home: In this modern life of people that is always on the run, people often fail to give time to their loved ones. Lockdown as a result of Covid-19 pandemic has brought some positive changes in our cultural and social habits with families, especially youngsters, spending more quality time together in the provincial capital. As the wise say that there is always a bright side to every dark thing, so is the case with the otherwise the deadly pandemic. Earlier, due to different kinds of economic and academic engagements, it was quite difficult for all the family members spend a week or even a whole day together under one roof. However, now, when the federal and all provincial governments have taken drastic and strict measures to combat this coronavirus, which include imposing a quarantine and closing down all the educational institutions, the young and the old members of the families are spending more time together ,which is blessing in disguise.
- Getting in touch with the far off relatives and friends through social networking sites:Due to quarantine, people are stopped from visiting others. As a result, they are finding ways of getting connected. A recent Twitter poll carried out by Mashable revealed that 75 percent of users noticed that their screen time had (unsurprisingly) increased since governments across the world introduced stay-at-home orders to combat the spread of COVID-19. And with increased screen time, comes increased social media usage: keeping in touch with friends and family. To ease anxiety, some may find it beneficial to undergo a social media detox, or at least a scaling-back on the social media accounts they follow. This period of lockdown has also given rise to other, less-used social media apps for making video calls, so that people can virtually recreate the social encounters they are missing. Downloads of the group chatting app Houseparty, which launched in 2016, have spiked this month, according to reports from data insights company Sensor Tower. And shares of the video conferencing service Zoom have risen approximately 50% since last month according to Deutsche Welle. Thus, people are now finding ways of getting in touch with even those loved ones they were out of contact since long. As a result, the quarantine period is bringing one human closer to the other and turning into a blessing in disguise.
- Young ones are getting time for their elderly ones as a result of this quarantine:It is rightly said by Andy Rooney, “The best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person”. Before quarantine period, almost no one had the time for the ones who gave them this life, the ones who bought them up and the ones who taught them the world. But this quarantine period has brought the young ones connected with their beloved elders, thus bringing us together.
- The capable are helping the needy by maintaining social distancing which in turn is bringing mankind close to each other:“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone” is rightly said by Ronald Reagan. This saying of his is being rightly proved by people around the world, especially in India. Though this quarantine period has keeping us apart from each other, yet through their kind acts of help, the people are getting even closer to each other, showing the unity in mankind. People are starting to help the needy ones whom they do not even know, thus making them connected to each other. These acts of kindness are making the bond among people stronger which in turn is proving to be a blessing in disguise for the mankind.
Thus, the people who were getting lost in this busy world, have started a new life amidst quarantine by getting close to each other though they are kept apart. Hence, it is true that the quarantine period is bringing us together while keeping us apart. Lastly, I would like to conclude with a quote from Matt Haig, “One day this will be over and we will be grateful for life in ways we never felt possible before”.
Author: SNEHASISH GHOSH
