Summary and exercises of Corona Says : By Vishnu S. Rai

 

Corona Says

[ Summary, Analysis and Some Important Question-Answers ]

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Corona Says

(Vishnu S. Rai : The Poet)

Some major themes of the poem :

1. Corona is the outcome of human's irrational and irresponsible behaviour to the earth and nature.
2. Humans think themselves to be the master of the earth. So they have always exploited it for their selfishness. 
3. If we don't change our attitude, many more such epidemics and pandemics will come in future too.

Summary : 

(Short Summary):

In this short poem we find disease 'Corona' standing before us as the speaker addressing human beings. It denies the blame that it is responsible for the death of thousands of people (being corona positive) and the ruining of world economy. 

It didn't come on its own. It is the result of irrational and irresponsible behavior of human beings towards nature. Humans think themselves to be the master of the whole earth, including all living and nonliving things. They have always used these according to their need and whim. They forget the earth to be a common habitat of all the living things.

In the lockdown period, when all the human activities were almost stopped, the nature got back its old appearance -- the blue sky, pollution free atmosphere etc. This also proves that we are responsible for the catastrophe (any event causing great damage) and misery of the mother earth.

At last Corona warns that if we do not correct ourselves, many more such devastating  pandemics will come, with still more death and destruction.

Summary:

As the title of the poem is clear, here we find corona saying something to human beings. It wants to give us a message.

The name Corona needs no introduction. Even a child has heard about it. This pandemic has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the world.

This poem is the speaker's perspective (point of view) of the whole event. The speaker (corona) rejects the blames on it, and says that it is not the speaker, but humans are responsible for such a big destruction. It didn't come on its own, but has been brought here by humans.

 In fact, it was invited. Corona, (like other pandemics), is the result the irresponsible behaviors and activities of humans towards the nature. 

Here the speaker shows mirror to humans. Humans think themselves to be the king of the creation and the master of the whole earth. They think all the other creations and other aspects of nature to be their slaves, which they can use in any way they like. But it's not that.

Then the poet presents the other side of the situation. In the long lock-down period, almost all human activities were stopped. Mother earth got a little rest. And the nature has returned to its previous state --- the blue sky and a pollution free atmosphere. That is the positive aspect of corona period. It also shows that if we (humans) don't misuse nature, it will  be again serene.

The earth is not a private property of humans. It is to be equally shared by all the living things.

In the end, the speaker warns humans. No doubt, corona will go back one day. But if we don't change our attitude and irresponsible behaviour towards nature, many more such pandemics will visit the earth.

Not only that, such behaviours will finally take us back to the prehistoric era, when people used to live in the caves and had to hunt for their food.

(People living in caves)

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Exercises

Before Reading

Answer these questions :

a. What is pandemic? Describe a pandemic that you have heard about in the history.

Answer : A pandemic is the world wide spread of a new disease. Every pandemic is a type of epidemic. The only difference is that pandemic spreads at  a higher geographical area. A large portion of population is affected. 

The most deadly pandemic in the world history was The Black Death (1346--1353 A.D.). It was responsible for the death of about one third of the world population. It spread through out Europe quickly. 

Dead bodies were so widespread on the streets that there were almost no body to clean them. They remained rotting on the ground. They created a constant bad smell in the cities. This plague changed the economic circumstances of the world.

(This painting of 1348 shows how Plague destroyed European cities like Florence)

b. Is Corona Virus a pandemic ? How ?

Answer : Yes, Corona Virus is a pandemic. Any disease is a pandemic which spreads very rapidly, affecting a wider geographical area. Large portion of people are affected in a pandemic. 

(Corona Virus)

c. Do you think that human behavior is responsible for the pandemic ?

Answer : Yes, there is no doubt that different human activities and behaviors are responsible for this pandemic. 

The direct reason of the spread of Covid 19 is more and careless contact between humans and animals. It has come from a wet market in the a central Chinese city Wuhan.

Domesticated animals, such as cats, dogs, cows, and goats are the most common types of virus bearers. Such animals are eight times more likely to pass a virus to a human.

Another important reasons of spreading of this disease are tourism, transportation, and global travels.

This and other such pandemics are often related with environmental changes and ecological disturbances, such as polluting agriculture, deforestation etc. These all are human activities.

In this way, we are responsible for the pandemic.

(So, Who is Responsible for Corona? Of course Human Beings !!) 

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Understanding the text

 

 Answer the following questions :

1. Who is the speaker in the poem ?

Answer : This is an example of 'persona poetry'. In such a poetry, poets create a persona (speaker). Persona poetry is written from the point of view of the speaker. So first person pronoun 'I' is used in such poems. In this poem the speaker is 'corona'.

2. Who claim that they are superior to all?

Answer : Corona says that human beings claim that they are superior to all.

3. Why has the speaker come to the earth ?

Answer :It has given two reasons for it. Firstly, it wants to show mirror to humans. It wants to make humans realize what harms have they have they inflicted to the nature, and how they have mistreated other animals.

 It has also come to give a little rest to mother Earth. It wanted to give her a break from all the human wrong doings and cruelties on earth. Such things had made her a victim for a long time. After its arrival almost the whole world went to lock-down and this way mother Earth got a relief.

4. What positive changes have occurred on earth after speaker's visit?

Answer : Corona was not all bad. Here the speaker presents some positive aspects of this period. In the lockdown period, all human activities came almost to a stop. Transportation and industries and other aspects were stopped The result was the pollution reduced. The earth, air and nature all became dust free. The sky looked clear and blue.

(Pollution free clear blue sky)

Reference to the Context

a. What does the speaker mean when he says

But have you ever counted

How many have died so far

Because of you and your wars ? 

Answer : Here we find the speaker is rejecting the blames that several thousands of people have lost lives due to him. He says that it is not the first time that such a big number of people have lost their lives in a single event. He reminds humans that millions of people have lost their lives in the different wars also. This again proves human behaviour has remained in the same past also. 

Thus through this question the speaker holds a mirror to humans.

b. Explain the following:

I will depart one day.

But remember

There are many many others like me.

They will come too.

If you don't get rid of your inflated ego,

You'll you will be back to your cave time

That you endured 

Long, l o n g, l  o  n  g  ago

Answer : This is the last stanza of the poem. Here we find the speaker giving warning to the human beings. He says it is sure that corona will go back one day. But it will not be last of human sufferings. Many more such diseases will come again and again in future, if we don't change our attitude and irrational behaviours.

Not only that, if we don't correct ourselves, our civilization will collapse. Finally we will be back to the prehistoric era, when people used to live in the caves and hunt for food.

c. What does the speaker mean in the following lines ? Explain.

The earth is not your property alone -

It's as much ours as yours.

Answer : Through these two lines the speaker gives an important message to the human beings. Humans think and treat the earth to be their own private property. It is a misbelieve (wrong belief). God has created the earth for humans aa well as for all the living things. It is a shared habitat for all.

Reference Beyond the Text

a. What human behaviours are responsible for the suffering in people's lives ?

Answer : God created the beautiful world and the different living things. But humans could not live happily here. There are lots of sufferings in people's lives. And the irony is that human behaviours are mostly responsible for all such sufferings. 

We can talk about under two headings -- mental and physical sufferings. 

The major reason of our mental sufferings is our certain human traits. Such traits are deeply rooted in our psychology. For example we lie, cheat. We are jealous, we fight and kill. We are immoral.

Such behaviours are nasty, destructive and give us pain. The best way to get rid of such sufferings is to to control and concentrate ourselves with the help of yoga.

Similarly, we are responsible for physical sufferings too. Some examples of such are natural disasters, different diseases including epidemics, pandemics etc.

Many such problems are related with environment. These changes are results of human activities from land use change to climate change.

Human population is ever increasing. They cut trees and forests to house and feed the increasing population. The other natural recourses are also exploited too much. This is disturbing the eco system. Troubles like land slides, flooding etc. are increasing. 

Next, our food habits are also responsible for our sufferings. Many diseases are transferred to human beings through animals.

(some food habits cause diseases transferred form animals to humans)

 To give only  one example Covid19 is believed to have come from a wet market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

(Example of a wet market)

The heavy transportation and factory smokes have made a hole in the ozone layer. This allows the ultraviolet rays of the sun coming directly on earth. This gives birth to many diseases.  

(Ozone hole on the earth)

The heavy use of chemicals and others manures in agriculture bring several diseases.

In conclusion we can say that human behaviours are responsible for the sufferings in human lives.

b. How does an epidemic differ from pandemic ? Briefly explain the impact of Corona virus on human life and environment .

Answer : Epidemics and pandemics both are diseases. A disease is called an epidemic when it spreads over a wide area very quickly and affect many individuals. Many people fall ill at the same time. 

But if the spread increases rapidly, more and more, it becomes a pandemic. Pandemics affect a wider geographical area. In short a pandemic is an epidemic in the beginning.

Corona has both good and bad impacts on human lives and environment. A very large number of people lost their lives due to this disease. In the lock-down period many human activities were stopped. It also had a very bad impact. 

For example, the travel and other industries were stopped in many regions of the world. Almost all the businesses were stopped. Many people lost their jobs. Economy of many countries were ruined. Students became deprived of education. 

On the other hand, this had a positive effect on nature and atmosphere. Air pollution reduced. Rivers became cleaner. As people were confined (limited) in their rooms in lockdown period, many of them learnt new skills.

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Lastly, end with a little smile on your lips with this cartoon:

(English translation of the text: "Elder brother, he is the one who hit me")

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Please click the following link for slides of this poem :

https://www.slideshare.net/SudipBagchi4/corona-says-converted-a-pdf-file

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