The art that we paint today shall be discussed and analysed some time in the future. So pick up that brush, load the palette with colours and paint it in vibrant hues so that when historians look back at 2020, they see not a speck of black but a smorgasbord of undying human spirit, says Ashish Ahuja
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life — it goes on.” Robert Frost, the great American poet, who lived through turbulent times, has given us a peek into the future. With the world facing one of its worst crisis ever, these words help to balm the excruciating pain being experienced by humanity. The truth behind this balm is firmly nestled in fact and experience, buried in the annals of history. All we need is to look back, understand, learn and appreciate the resilience of mankind to come back each time and make our world a better place. It has happened before. It is happening now. And it shall happen in the future. The crazy choreography between short intense periods of suffering followed by healing, rejuvenation and progress.
History is witness to the first World War that began in 1914. For the next four years, over a hundred nations were involved in the conflict. Eight million soldiers were martyred, twenty one million injured and hundreds of millions lost their livelihoods. During those dark times, it would have been very difficult to imagine a better future. But Earle and Josephine Dickson, the couple invented the Band-Aid in 1920. The war did not kill their dreams of a better future.
The end of World War I plunged humanity into the cauldron of the Spanish Flu. It raged from 1918 to 1920, and wiped out 3 per cent of the world’s population. But life went on. Hope and resilience helped humanity overcome. Humanity did not give up. Sir Fredrick Grant Banting was one of them. He was busy finding insulin and finally he invented in 1922 because he believed in a better future. Imagine if he gave up.
The American stock market crash in October 1929 heralded the start of The Great Depression. It lasted until the spring of 1933. Global GDP declined by 27 per cent, one out of every four persons was unemployed. Poverty, hunger and despondency were all encompassing. Life, in general, was too bleak. But Charles Darrow was busy inventing the board game Monopoly because he was convinced that better times await and that the world would need leisurely board game nights. Monopoly has been selling since 1934.
The deadly affliction of The Great Depression and the ensuing period of a massive recession culminated into the start of the second World War in 1939. Sixty Four million lives were lost in combat. Millions others suffered. The misery that lasted over six years would have normally broken the dreams of most but Willem Kolff was adamant. He gave the world its first kidney dialysis machine in 1944 and made the world a better place.
These dark periods of history, starting from 1914 to 1945 were probably the most poignant portraits of threats to human survival in the last hundred years. Would those suffering during this period have imagined a world so beautiful or advanced, as it was in the winter of 2019, just before COVID-19 struck? Probably not. If asked at that moment of suffering to paint their view of 2019, most would have splattered it with black ink. However, we have the benefit of reading and perusing through history. We know, that while dreams were being shattered, lives being lost and human spirit being tested, there were millions who lived in hope. There were millions who were resilient enough to dare dream again. There were millions who kept working on ideas to give us inventions that made our lives better in 2020. Sir Banting, Josephine Dickson, Charles Darrow and Willem Kolff were among those who painted their canvases with a flourish of vibrant colours. It is this hope and resilience that defines humanity.
As we deal with the repercussions of COVID-19, we see immense challenges all around. Someone has lost a loved one, a loss that is irreplaceable. Another is struggling to pay bills because the pink slip landed on the desk. Yes, it is tough. Yet another is grieving over the loss of a business that could not be saved, a case of shattered dreams. Many are hyperventilating over what the future holds. Yes, it is understandable. But take a moment and rewind back to 1916, 1918 or 1930 or for that matter 1940. The current theme was being played in almost similar fashion, causing as much anguish if not more. The striking similarity does not end with the pain. The similarity portends a future worth being dreamt of. Our fore-fathers went through all of it and emerged to give us what we call “our world” today. As, shall we.
Someone rightly said that history repeats itself. The present is simply mimicking periods of history when humanity suffered. And this present would soon be history morphing into the future — one which mimics the progress humanity made after each such crisis.
The temples are closed. Schools are shuttered. Facial expressions are hiding behind masks. But the canvas is begging us to paint. The art that we paint today shall be discussed and analysed some time in the future. The year 2020 would be assigned to history, sooner than later. Pick up that brush, load the palette with colours and paint it in vibrant hues so that when historians look back at 2020, they see not a speck of black but a smorgasbord of undying human spirit. Simply, imagine what the world should be in 2050 and make it happen.
Yes, life goes on. To learn from the past, to build a resilient today and to dream a far better tomorrow.