Ringing in the Distance!

Social distancing is now the new healthy action move! It did not come from the new trainer at the Gym!!

I recall, the last time the Olympic flag was hoisted it was interlaced/interlocked. The 5'rings', in the limitless series of posts over COVID-19,are now separated to symbolize the importance of distancing socially, to keep safety priorities a necessity. It hit me as a profoundly disturbing picture considering the sports ground's only discrimination was winners and losers. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else separated spirit from competition, courage from determination, winners from losers. They came together as one united forceful platform for the celebration of the games. This has changed. We as a people are scrambling to keep our scoring podiums steady in a racing virulent world. Today - Is a bad day. is a sad day, is a mad day! Today, like in the past two months, the world is in virus turmoil. It's scary, it's weary, it's a frenzy!

……And the rings stand alone, at a distance from each other. Quiet a picture!

My first elbow 'touch-nudge' greeting felt cold. It wasn't the everyday warm hug my friend, Samantha Aktharzandi Das, also my boss, would exchange with me on a Monday morning. It was, indeed, a warm beginning to Monday blues. Suddenly, my elbow had a role to play. Unlike the Eskimo kiss of the noses, it was the kiss of the Elbows and over a few weeks it flowed to the kiss of hands we know as 'Namaste'! Sam (short for Samantha) and the world have learnt this gesture fast enough. She hasn't even spared the husband! Keep a 6 feet distance, we've all been told. Social distancing is the new move while our Mother Earth is in repair mode! The old call for help from wives to husbands, friend to friends, sibling to siblings, subordinate to bosses, me to you and you to me is, indeed, the one we use the most, " GIVE ME SOME SPACE"! Now, we see it best reflected on a designed post gone viral, as seen in the picture above and the need it poses for social distancing between us all.

The world has seen posts of every kind at 3minute intervals, these past few weeks, wreaking havoc into minds and hearts of mortals. The variety of emotions displayed in them is larger than all the menus of the food world put together! Then came the fresh load of rules and regulations and our worldly everyday ways were changed forever. This is the first serious scare in my lifetime, as I sit here in isolation, in the United States, watching the most powerful nation in the world, humbling, crumbling and bowing to' this' and I quote from a post arrived 3 mins ago, " ……the tiniest primitive invisible life form that is now controlling the behavior of the most arrogant, powerful and evolved form on earth!". How many of you got this? I have to say, this post and many like it, have truly been creative enough to keep us informed, humbled and surrendered to the day before us. Then came the version of the virus separated rings of the Olympic flag! This was followed by responsibility on self - distancing….old Nike rang a bell, "Just do it" was the call……and so, I have, out of sheer fear! Add to this an 8am call from my Dr to ask I stay home and distance myself because of my preconditions and age". I might be passionfruit for the virus. Theycrave you at a ripe age!

Come July 2020, we are set for the biggest games there is, the Olympics. Japan. The 'Land of the rising Sun' is to host it. What are the possibilities the rings will interlace by then? Good? Bad? Maybe? How is distance to be managed till then? How soon can we jump start back into starting position if its ok to, by then? How do you say 'keep your distance' in Japanese? " Kyori o tomotsu"! Can't run the Olympics like this, can we? And the rings? Well, what of it? Can't have a flag with distanced rings, can we? If the five continents it represents is at distance with themselves, it seems alright then, does it not? Not for sport. NO! Not for the biggest games on our planet! No can do! So, lets follow the rules of self- distancing till we win this war against COVID-19. Let's truly pledge our allegiance to our planet Earth. Keep a safe distance, respect our boundaries. We the people forgot to do just that and yet hope to fight and win the war against the enemy we can't even see! If not for the rules, this battlefield would be a bloodbath indescribable!

Ah! I hear the pings on my phone. The posts are coming in! What next? Oooooh! I see a conspiracy in the brewing even. This is what it says, "What If Humans Are Virus To This Earth And Corona Is The Vaccine?" This has got me thinking people! What if? Bullocks, I say! Ping! This is a good one, "Viruses are contagious, but so is panic, fear, hysteria, peace, grace, empathy, love and kindness. Choose wisely which one You spread!" On this note (I'm less fearless from when I started!) I want in on this race! This race is between The People vs. Team Corona. The challenge? The winner gets to change the 'Rings' to its original honor come July 24^th at borderline Japan! We have 4 months to close in on the distance!

I just want to hug Sam again!

About the Author:

SEEMA AZHARUDDIN

Senior Consultant, Leadership &Communication, Actor, Producer, Activist & Journalist, Writer, Orator –An Empowered Woman in the quest for needed causes and campaigns

Email: seemablanche@gmail.com