Soldier on...

Day 71 - “Sometimes life's going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did” ―Steve Jobs, Apple. 

The world is throwing unprecedented curveballs at us in 2020! In New Delhi, India, felt we are stumbling from one issue to the next. It started with inferior air quality, followed by riots in parts of the city and now the worldwide threat because of the spread of the Novel Coronavirus.

How we react to this is going to shape the future, hence thought of sharing a few anecdotes with you.

Story 1

During the Kargil conflict, dad was posted in the relatively peaceful North Eastern Command. Our family was concerned about the War but happy that dad was far from harm's way. Then suddenly the news of 2 MIG 21's being shot down came from the front. Dad, being an Electronic Warfare expert, opted for moving to the conflict zone to monitor our response and make sure no further losses occurred to the Indian Air Force. I was a cynical kid then who felt soldiers die fighting someone else's wars, I remember asking him why he opts for it! 

The answer was "I will do whatever I can because someone has to, not engineered to sit and wait for things to play out." 

Story 2

In 1999 I was in Orissa when one of the worst cyclones flattened almost all parts of Orissa after our food and water ran out, we bundled into buses and made a run out of the state cause armed looters were attacking everyone and robbing people. After driving for more that 8 hours, we finally stopped next to an Army convoy which was headed in the opposite direction. Met this young Lieutenant who was commanding this small platoon of 40 soldiers. After witnessing the horror of what nature's fury had done to the land, I asked him what he hoped to achieve with 40 soldiers !!

His answer was the same "we will do whatever we can because someone has to …"

Coronavirus is being written as World's Chernobyl and the worst part of this pandemic is its timing. Just when the World was expecting trade to take-off post a prolonged US-China trade stand-off, this virus surprised us all by becoming one of the most contagious disease of the century !!

So that brings us to our reaction.....

Hats off to Medical staff, Cleaning staff, Researchers, Pilots, Technicians who are manning their post and doing what can be done!

But is this someone else's war? Can we sit out?

These tough times especially disruption in the Global Supply Chain is a reality, this has also become the business communities WAR. The slowdown in the Economic Activity is OUR battle, and we can't sit out of it.

People are not talking about it, but if the economic engine of different industries grinds to a halt, humanity will suffer huge cascading impact for years to come.

However, much that doubtful voice asks you to sit out of it, contribute to the BEST you can to get things done!

Cheers Sid