MYTH, HACKS, AND RUMOURS

moomal shekhawat

We at SEA believe that the pandemic has a granularity of meta, non-linear narratives that become useful in making sense of the relational complexities of the pandemic and society. Thus, we set out to collect stories of fears, joys, agilities, fragilities, friendships, networks, collectives, home, work, infrastructures, entrepreneurship, privileges, marginalizations, migrations, desperation, gender, equity, etc. The glossary as a method became useful to reflect on this granularity of experiences and account for slippages during these times. These spatio-temporal stories, when read together or as individual instances produce a new sense of the emergent contemporary. This framework also allows us to speculate on the kind of world we will inhabit once the storm has passed. We draw on multiple readings to bring out the nuances and patterns of social life produced in a pandemic. This we hope would allow us to collectively reflect on the restructured ideas of the self, the collective, society, space, and time. Individual micro-curated expositions are linked together for www.covidglossary.net in order to generate non-linear readings of the pandemic.

KESHAV SRUSHTI VANUSHADHI

My father and a network of ‘swayam sewaks’ are circulating vanushadhis (herbal products from the “jungle”) with their center as Keshav Srushti, Bhayander. I visited a friend of my dad recently, who is a local bag shop owner. He sews and sells his own bag, and also repairs bags, chains, suitcases, etc. He took an order from my father through Whatsapp and bought from us aloe vera gel, kadhas, chyawanprash, and other herbal ayurvedic products. He especially travels for these orders from Santacruz to Bhayander, to get these products for the ones who ordered them. When I was having a conversation with him, his phone rang, and the ringtone was “namaste sada vatsalye matribhoomi” , the prayer/anthem of the RSS. I have known him since my childhood, he had regularly taken his sons to the shakha every morning, and whenever he used to come home, he used to try to convince my brother and me too. My father just set him as an example for us but never asked us to come with him. I have just attended a few events, like the birthday of Dr. Hedgewar, since we had the photos of him and Golwalkar, with Bharat Mata (hanging right in my hall) which they needed to tie garlands over.

During the pandemic, a lot of fake news and rumors had been spread across. Also to tackle coronavirus, various futile advice and products were being circulated online. Because of the fear of covid-19 people started doing or believing all these things and it had a hideous impact on society. So, I would like to share all the myths, hacks, and rumours which I heard from the news and neighbourhood. Myth : Have you met “corona mai”? Coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in China and has thrown the entire world out of gear, is now a goddess in India. Yes, you have heard right with 33 million gods one more god is also added 'Corona Mai'. Corona Mai is being worshiped in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Assam. The 'goddess' is being pleaded to spare lives. In Uttar Pradesh, women in some villages have started worshipping 'Corona Mai'. These women have dug a small pit in the field, filled it with water and each one offers nine cloves and nine 'laddoos' to 'Corona Mai' to appease her. Women from adjoining villages are now flocking to the 'temple' to pray to 'Corona Mai' .

SK: So today the watchman in our building was telling me that he got some news that four people in his village died after taking the vaccine. His next statement was that “hummein faasi pe chadh do but hum vaccine nahi lenge”. I was like, how do i tell him, le lo bhai. Then he had this whole conspiracy theory, that hospitals are selling organs of the people who are dying. And i was like, MY GOD, DON'T EVEN GET THERE, PLEASE. Rehne do. It's so scary, people are so worried.

Take Bath in cow dung to tackle covid-19

As in our family Whatsapp group, all relatives started sending us different hacks and ideas to tackle coronavirus but there was one person who advised us to bathe in cow dung and putting a black mark on the small finger of a hand to ward off the effect of the disease. And that person is none other than Gopal Mani Maharaj. And whatever he's doing in Uttar Pradesh, people are following him. This self-styled godman Gopal Mani Maharaj released videos in which he is seen bathing in a mixture of cow dung and cow urine. The God-man who is also involved in cow protection has been seen addressing devotees while standing immersed inside a mound of cow dung. In another video, he is claiming that covid-19 is a venereal disease that requires a 'hidden' cure, which is cow dung. His videos also appeared a fortnight after Hindu Mahasabha members organized the cow urine party in Uttar Pradesh, many of whom were later arrested for it.

Going through the covid disaster and being tired of listening to news always flashing numbers of increasing cases, I was trying to find an escape through conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories helped me develop a new perspective to look at things. While I followed everything the government asked us to do, I always had my suspicion surrounding the pandemic facing it first hand as my mom had tested positive. Is it as deadly as the media tells us? Is covid a hoax? Maybe or maybe not, one thing we can do is never stop questioning. This statement might be very controversial but then, should we blindly believe in whatever the media says.

Hacks: When the world was trying to find a vaccination for coronavirus, there was one person who believed he made a medicine that can kill the virus. He wasn't only publishing his product but also doing and suggesting weird hacks. And that person is yoga guru Ramdev baba. He was publishing his Patanjali product which mentioned that would kill coronavirus and increase immunity. So, this time not only my relatives but also my neighbours are suggesting Patanjali products for example ‘Coronil tablet, giloy juice, etc. Ramdev Baba hasn't even stopped yet he also claims that holding one's breath for thirty seconds to a minute can be a self-diagnosing test for COVID-19 and another claims that applying mustard oil to one's nostrils can kill the virus in a person's stomach. Ramdev made these claims in a 24-minute video conversation called E-agenda with Aaj Tak and these ideas are not supported by scientific research. Newspaper articles have covered the story of Ramdev baba’s suggestions and hacks for the virus.

Rumours: As the impact and fear of the virus increased, rumours and fake news also started to spread rapidly. Because of the fear of the virus, an unidentified man in Indore threw 25 currency notes of Rs 100, Rs 200, and Rs 500 denominations on the road. Fearing that the notes were infected by the coronavirus, none of the apprehensive locals dared to pick them and instead informed the municipal staff. Even municipal staff and police personnel reached the spot and disinfectant was sprayed on the notes and used their sticks to collect the money in a polythene bag. There is also disappointing news. Hundreds of migrant labourers gathered near Bandra station after hearing ‘false news’ that the government was running trains to transport them back to their home states. That crowd, which had gathered for close to two hours. And that time Bandra east was one of the affected zones. After some time the crowd was finally dispersed after the police began a lathi-charge.

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