T Markandan
OPINION - WHILE Covid-19 rages across the globe, devastating families, there has been a surge in social media groups on the internet.
Long-lost family members confined to their homes with nothing much to do during the lockdown are using the social media platform to reach out to other family members.
People who lived just a couple doors away but for some reason or the other kept miles away from their families now suddenly realise that they have an uncle, aunt, nephew or cousin who they never associated with all these years.
That is the positive effect of the pandemic which is ravaging the earth. The internet has come to the rescue of people stuck and bored to death in their homes during the lengthy lockdown. They are able to reconnect with family, exchange greetings, reminisce about the old times when they were innocent, and dig up old family photographs and post them on social media.
While it must be conceded that the internet has revolutionised communications, I maintain that it is not better than the smile and hug of a personal meeting. Of course, that is out of the question for now.
So we have to settle for the internet. But I wonder what made people who grew up together become so distant before the virus sent all of us scurrying into the safety of our homes.
Is it some family feud, a conceited image of oneself, or is it plain envy that someone who once lived in a hovel now lives in a brick-and-tile dwelling? Or is it just that we are all too busy with our own lives in the hustle and bustle of modern day life to worry about others?
Be it what it may, coronavirus has shown, in no uncertain terms, that no one is out of its reach.
It’s the good and bad of Covid-19. It gives and takes.
On the one hand it takes away loved ones, but on the other hand it brings families together.
Daily News