Naive for a day

Last night, we said goodbye to what can safely be called one of the most misery-and anxiety-inducing years humanity has suffered as a collective in recent years.

The fact that this misery was felt by the ‘whole world’ (aka the great powers, the white man, the world elite) and not just by those from the Global South who are expected to somehow bear drones and wars and famines and disease with forbearance may point to the extreme feeling of helplessness seen from March right through December, 2020.

While the realities of the skewed way in which we view struggle and grief are very true, the sigh of relief heaved by the world once the clocks turned 12 on December 31, 2020 was in remembrance of all those we have lost this past year and who died alone and afraid – an ode to the lost human touch, to the memory of social interaction, to the underpaid, overworked angels in PPE suits as they worked to save lives.

Cynics will point out – and rightly so – that it’s not as though today as we enter 2021 we have left behind the killer Covid-19 pandemic, economic disparities, the sheer evil that humans are capable of, the vengeance with which Nature can strike us after the abuse it has suffered (at our hands). The cynics are right; nothing has changed – except numbers on a calendar.

But for one night and one day, we can perhaps hope – with all the naivete we can muster – that the lessons learnt and the lives lost last year will not be in vain. That humanity cannot survive without ensuring healthcare and education for all rather than the one percent. That the disease of disparity needs a cure fast. That maybe world powers will realise the toxicity they have spread across borders.

That it’s better to understand the message than shoot the messenger. That politics doesn’t mean abuse of power or deference to the powerful. That speaking truth to power should be rewarded with honour and not abduction. That women are not your possessions, to be killed and raped and destroyed. That children need love, safety and nurture; and not war, poverty and abuse. That there is strength and beauty in diversity – religious, ethnic or political. That we can persevere if only we gave back even a little to the planet we continue to plunder. That there must be a way to marvel at our technological and scientific advancements other than living in a world of isolation and death.

For me, 2021 will be a far better year without having to edit pieces by older citizens wondering when they’ll see their children again. If I could just go back to fearing the masked rather than the unmasked. So, goodbye 2020; and may you never return in any form

The writer is deputy editor, oped at The News.

Email: zburki@gmail. com

Twitter: @zburki