Fatima Tariq – May 20, 2020
^{Edited by Rabhia Shuja}

As many of us reach out to our touch mobiles to get in contact without friends, family, and hoping to be with them virtually, we proudly boast of social distancing for the sake of others and while trying to minimize its adverse effects on our mental and social health. Can this social distancing be already happening? In another more lethal form? Even before Corona hit us, and drove us apart, were we even together in the first place? What if I tell you we were already social distancing?

From the Jamadar, who sweeps the streets, steps down into our gutters, and clears out our pipes clogged from ignorance and plastic? Whose grimy hands, feet and face, are lost beyond the cakey layers of dirt and mud?

From the kamwali, who sweeps and washes our clothes, the pajamas that the kids wet; and washes the dishes piled from last night’s dawat and scrubs our bathroom tiles off our putrid defecation to a sparkling shine. Whose clothes reek of sweat that she washed out of our clothes, and spattered from the flecks of scat we left for her to wash off.

From the mangnay wali, who begs and clings to us, desperately, whose bit of share of food we devoured with delight, relished only last night and when she comes to ask for her share, we look at her disdain, repulsion, and hatred, for how dare she ask us.

From the rakshay wala, who doesn’t know how to drive straight and we are careful not to touch and yet speed by to show him who is boss.

From the chat, channay, aloo wala, and many other vendors, whose offering we look at with suspicion but cannot help pick the fly off, bicker to discount even the only pennies he asks for, and put it in our mouth with pride, for here at least we were not ripped off of our right to bargain.

From the mazdoor, whose blood and sweat poured into making our castles of glass, marbles, and state of the art sanitation, upon whose skin we built our pyres to sleep on at night.

What if I tell you, we as a nation were already social distancing. We kept more than six feet apart from these people. Yes, for their own sake. Yes, for our own sake.

Let’s stop the spread. Stay Home, Stay Safe.

Surely we must be responsible and keep it to ourselves. Yes, go in isolation, let’s sit behind our huge walls, let’s not get any contact with anyone, what is there need for you to go out or send anything out. Let’s not risk it, sharing, shall we? How could we let it spread? The wealth, the compassion, the rights, the honour, the dignity, the virtue, that had fallen in our lot. Surely, we must stop the spread, be the one to break the chain. Must stop it from claiming in any more lives.

Indeed, we have been doing that for a long time. We have been drilling for the Corona for a long time, this is almost as good as a routine. We will stay inside, stay at home and the world will go on.