FRONT LINE WORKERS- SYSTEMIC MANAGEMENT AND COLLAPSES

Vastavikta Bhagat

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. The second wave of the pandemic got about a systemic collapse where the front-line workers became the first to experience the violence of the virus.

Ever thought about how family members of frontline workers feel like. there is no end to the anxieties of their families and well-wishers who can't seem to decide what worries them more - the fate of their beloved sons, daughters, husbands, and wives fighting the pandemic or the brutality, stigma, and public outrage displayed against them in various parts of the country.

It happened to me too. My sister went for 3 months of covid duty. There was a constant fear in my mind whether she was safe or not. She sacrificed meeting family for 3 months for the world's betterment. I had no idea if she was even getting proper food.

It is said distance makes the heart grow fonder and there was a constant wish to see her at least once. Even after returning home after 3 months, she was quarantined in a room for 2 weeks as a precaution. It was the most difficult 2 weeks of my life where I had my sister so close but couldn’t meet her. When she signed up for this profession she also signed up for all the risks that came along and I am proud of the choices she made along the way.

KHAKI WARRIORS

You have clapped, clanged utensils, lit diyas during this pandemic. This halt brought many changes in our daily practices being at home. To buttress the government’s efforts to keep people at home to ensure social or physical distancing, various TV channels have entered the retro-race, replaying popular serials of yore. Many of us explored new hobbies some enjoyed this situation some didn’t. But there’s another side where these people fought much bigger than the pandemic itself — the fight against their fears. My father was on duty during this period which led to distancing even at home with all the precautions. Many colleagues at my father’s police station were infected due to this virus and some even lost their life.

ST: I don't know if my answer is valid or not in this case, but.. I'll share the experience my father is facing right now. So, in the past couple of months, and then the second wave started to take ….no started increasing… so, he every day he said some another….something happening with the partners which he is working with right now, there were total 5 people, 5 other police officers in the same…. in the same….car…..which you know, they use for patrolling every day and you know… another five right now, only my father and the driver is in the car… the other three have tested positive... apart from that the remaining officer who is in the police station …..minimum past three months ….minimum four officers have died because of the pandemic. When we say that is the system holding us together...the system itself is failing at some point?

PS: It is under stress you mean?

ST: Huh? Yeah!

PS: Like it is not because of its.. that that's definitely the….

ST: Like he told me… the driver with whom he used to go for patrolling even he's tested positive. It is very difficult right now.

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