Central Hall – The Nature of Man!

Mumbai: Charles Darwin had his Descent of Man, years later the BBC produced a 13 part mini-documentary series in 1973 with Prof Jacob Bronowski titled ‘The Ascent of Man’, which dealt with the evolution of man as a species. Years later it was telecast on our Doordarshan. What both of them never dealt with was the behavior of man. Especially the way mankind has been reacting and treating the Coronavirus pandemic with nonchalance. Surely they did not deal with ‘The Nature of Man!’

Even as the government has slowly begun to unlock the economy and ease the restrictions imposed, the kind of public reaction to it simply underscores the fact that people do not care about or are simply not aware of the enormity or gravity of the crisis facing them. You have visuals of people some without face masks scampering for a seat in BEST bus, throwing all advice of social distancing and hygiene to the winds.

As nature has begun reclaiming what it had lost to mankind, you have instances like people feeding firecracker laced food to pregnant Elephant, symbolizing the dark side of mankind. Another despicable, inhuman display has been that from China which has been bullying its neighbors and using its debt diplomacy forcing some of them (Pakistan & Nepal) to mortgage their freedom to toes its (China’s) line just to needle India, when the whole world is grappling and trying to overcome the pandemic.

The number of Coronavirus positive cases are rising by the day and so does the number of patients getting cured. It could not have been worst time for Maharashtra, which is already grappling with the mounting cases of Covid-19 cases, that last week Mother Nature dealt another blow in the form of cyclone ‘Nisarga’ that ravaged Raigad district.

These tragedies do not augur well for the economy that is already reeling under the adverse impact of the pandemic. Traders, businesses and the informal street economy are looking for succor from the government which seems to be in a habit of catching the snake by its tail. What would it explain with authorities slapping salary cuts on doctors for faltering in their duty, or bypassing state nurses and bringing in nurses from Kerala and other state’s?

Neither has the government got any clarity yet on the fate of the final year degree college exams. For many the knowledge of final year Degree College seems to be restricted to B.Sc., B.Com or B.A. What many do not take into account is that graduate degrees are also awarded in Professional courses like Medicine, Engineering, Architecture, Design, Law and others.

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Nobody would want to deal with a professional who has passed on the basis of mere average marks without appearing for viva, practical exams or being tested in written exams. The professionals need the degree certificates to register and commence their professional practice. There has to be a clear distinction between professional and non-professional courses to end the confusion. The exams for professional and non-professional courses can be deferred or staggered.  

So far neither has the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) or the Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry cleared the air on the exams or on how to start the academic year. Right now it appears to be a slug-fest between the Governor and the Government with the students looking in askance.

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We are yet to know or experience how the situation will be during the monsoon months when we are all too familiar with chocked drains, flooded roads, public transport that comes to a grinding halt at the slightest sneeze of the rain gods and not to speak of the monsoon illnesses. The pandemic is surely bringing out the worst kinds of animal instincts in mankind, exposing the real ‘Nature of Man’. We simply do not seem to learn from our past mistake or history.