“Flip a coin,” they say, “if you are ever unsure of the best choice. It may not tell you what the best choice is, but while the coin is in the air, it will surely tell you what your heart truly desires.”
Life is indeed full of choices. Each day, one chooses to get up or stay in the bed; work harder or remain complacent; speak the truth or remain silent. Each step of the day, the choices we make speak volumes about our preferences, our priorities, and our personalities. Life is indeed full of choices.
It was difficult to decide whether to impose a curfew-like lockdown or go for a smart lockdown. We were always going to lose the battle against Coronavirus but we had to decide how we could win the war with minimal losses. There was no right answer and no ideal selection. Every path led to devastation and time was not on our side, as usual.
It is situations like this that immortalise leaders. History always gives it decision decades after the decisions and consequences of the decisions taken. Be it Churchill, Jinnah, or Gandhi, consequences of the decisions of any leader come to light decades after the leader passed away. It is always a high stake poker game with delayed results. Visionaries always gamble on what they see and propose that history will definitively decide in their favour.
Whether our “smart” lockdowns were the less expensive choice or not is yet to be decided, the choices we made speak volumes of our priorities and preferences. Our leaders had to open up businesses, else, millions would have died of starvation, if not of novel corona.
Mr. Khan gave a green signal to the property and construction businesses first, and poster boys and spin doctors spoke highly of this choice. They fantasized that it reflected Khan’s heartache for the labourers. Then dawned the scheduled opening of commercial markets as wives of the “supreme leaders” of Pakistan had to buy new clothes and jewelry like all the poor masses of Pakistan, who had scarcity of food on the plate.
Gradually, all businesses were allowed to work as per the prescribed schedule and SOPs. After months of critique on the devastated economy, haphazardly, the Khan regime opened up tourism. Thousands if not millions hurried to the northern areas so much so that the Motorway Toll Plazas fell short of cards and had to issue paper made slips on entry.
One wonders, if corona had emptied the pockets and the stomachs of the masses, where did this huge turnover appear from? Either corona hasn’t affected Pakistan populace as much as we sell, or these were the hoarders who profited from masks, sanitisers, sugar, and wheat.
Whatever the case may be, life is full of choices, and each day, one must make umpteen choices. These choices reflect our preferences, our priorities, and ultimately, our personalities. As preposterous and ill-witted it may sound, contrary to every other corona stricken state, we decided to keep our educational institutions closed and locked, and opened up every other lock in the trade.
From China to Britain, from Germany to the United States, no other state has opened up all of her businesses and kept schools closed. While only history will decide on the validity of this baffling decision, it shows that education is the last thing that Pakistan needs amidst a pandemic that has shaken the world.
Even during the world war 2, we are told that Hitler agreed on not bombing the schools and colleges. While millions were dying, schools were open. While Japan had lost herself, she made her conquerors agree on letting her continue to educate her children amidst the chaos and pain.
Only in Pakistan, the flipping coin suggests that clubs and saloons and parlours and markets must open but schools must remain closed. Life is indeed full of choices. And each choice that we make, speaks volumes about our character – as a person and as a nation.
Also read:Global Banking Challenges During COVID-19 Pandemic
