Change is not a constant

Remember this image. It is the image of a Happy Independence day from Assam’s flood waters (2018). How our hearts swelled with patriotism when this image surfaced. And why shouldn’t we be proud? The image gave us a lesson to always hold your head high and respect the flag. These kids and their teacher made the most out of their difficult and tiresome situation. But has the country payed it’s dues for providing a better life to them?

This is Assam today after two years. What changed is the date, the statistics of number of people displaced, number of people who are missing, number of animals dead, number of people rescued by the relentless efforts of NDRF team etc. But what remains constant is the misery. The misery of being helpless. The misery of not being able to satiate the connoisseurs sitting in the newsrooms so as to be heard or discussed. And the biggest misery of believing it deep down that it is this misery that is a constant and not change.

Those kids may once again would be risking their lives to teach the country a lesson of patriotism in another one month. This time a more dramatic one, with masks.

None of us can actually go and help Assam physically. But are we helping the city or state we are actually living in today? Think about it. Apart from paying your taxes on time are you not accountable for the environment? If you think the answer is yes, then do your bit in preserving our natural resources and in turn preserving the nature. The onus of doing things right lies on us. Do we really want a change or are we good with our personal air conditioners, water tanks and air filters?