With the Catastrophe of Coronavirus, a contagious disease being,
people in common are uncannily scared of it. You can blame the information
explosion and some sources that are too busy to create panic through their
websites, WhatsApp group, Facebook Page, discussion forum, so on and so forth.
However, being alert harms no one and on that count we need
to realize the adage – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Its virus is spread by coming into contacts with others, more
particularly with air and droplets of sneezing, sniffling or spitting. English
Greetings that allow handshakes, hugging, kissing or other physical contacts
are apt to cause a virus-like corona. It has taken the lives of more than 3,000
people of China from where the killer infection has stemmed out and outspread
all across the world. Bat soup is reported to be the root cause. Media reports suggest that it has made an
inroad into populous India also. Then, it is national as well as international
concern.
Take it from me, for precautionary and corrective measures
India can lead the world, showing how Indian ways of greetings and lifestyles
are both preventive and curative at this juncture of the global crisis. In
pursuit of prevention is better than cure, what is needed to be done is to
revert to or adopt the Indian practices of social graces, etiquette, and
lifestyles. Avoiding non-veg food is more advisable in this situation.
Namaste, a respectful greeting is said when a meeting a
person or parting from him or her. This exclamation of salutation is derived
from namaskar, an Indian tradition of greetings or showing a gesture of respect
to others. When doing so, we bring our palms together either before the face or
chest, tilting our head slightly without coming into any physical contacts at
all. This Namaste system is derived from the Rig Veda, one of the four epics of
an ancient Indian scripture.
An advisory has been issued not to handshake, embrace, hug or
kiss given that each of such greetings, compliments, good wishes is prone to
the outbreak of the virus. Here comes into play the Namaste which asks you to
maintain a distance of at least a meter and shower someone with your innermost
feelings. Hence, a Namaste can never cause a contagion whereas the English
greetings or Muslim embracing can.
The yogic Namaste, taken from Anjali Mudra of Pranamasana is
used to mean ‘I bow to the divine in you’. Such is the great philosophy of the
Indian culture that holds you in the highest esteem and paves the way for
cheerfulness and the wellbeing of mankind.
Anjali Mudra is performed as part of our yoga to achieve
several benefits associated with it. One of them is to alleviate mental stress
and anxiety. It takes to the meditative state of mind that controls our body,
emotion, feelings and overall our thought process. There is hardly any need to
link it to Hinduism which the ignorant frown at.
It would not be out of place to mention the Sanskrit maxim
here अभिवादनशीलस्य नित्यं
वृद्धोपसेविन:। चत्वारि तस्य वर्धन्ते आयुर्विद्या यशो बलम्।। It means if you greet and respect
your elders, such manners augur well for four things in your life- greater
longevity, education, reputation and strength.
However, respecting elders and paying homage is a social
practice all across the world. India too has its own prehistoric style of
saying a Namaste providing a kind of immunity in case of coronavirus doing the
rounds. The term corona now associated with the germ virus is no longer a crown
to long for. All you need do is prevent yourself from any temptation or
occasion linking to this bug. Instead of scaring the people, you may care for
them for the sake of humanity.
Dr Birbal Jha is a noted author and the Managing Director of
Lingua Multiservices Pvt Ltd having a popular trademark brand ‘British Lingua’.
He is credited with having brought out a revolution in English training with
the slogan ‘English for all’ in India.
