Survival kit for a sinking society

Parvez Jamil

Amid humility, with utmost respect and honestly speaking, when a society is bewitched by evils, blindfolded with ills and bamboozled by confusion,  there is a ray hope when a few positive thinkers and doers care by vision and share with heart for bewildered leaders and their trackless followers.

Here men at the helm of affairs, men of letters and man in the street are under such magical spell of looming mistrust, incomprehensible  fears, blind ego, cut-throat competition and materialistic  lusts that strike and uproot their will and ability to distinguish between right and wrong in life at large.

Hope against hope is the stark reality whether the negativity stricken, massive and overwhelming blind critics, doomsayers and prophets of despair can even understand,  think and feel for a moment their caring and sharing by a handful of  positive thinkers and doers.

For example most confusing for public and most touching for  helping ones is type of accessible and acceptable covid vaccines available when, where and how? More puzzling is question of  booster dose of same vaccine taken before in two doses or  different vaccine used as a booster.

It is for leadership to manage covid: remove public dreads, build public confidence, coordinate and interact with national and international agencies and organizations on information, treatment and rehabilitation of covid patients with grace, dignity and honor.

BUT of real utmost importance is how people understand and prioritize precautions for the pandemic in its fatal forms. There is pressing need for sanitizing, wearing masks, physical distancing, hygienic conditions, affordable immunitizing diet, pandemic safe and secured livelihood.

So vital is to stay happy and healhy during horrors of Covid, even when quarantined. It is physical distancing, not social distancing. Interact, enjoy and share happiness with family, friends, colleagues, neighbors and the world on internet, mobile, radio, telivision, telephone, cable, social media.

Yet another example is how such naggging die-hard tendencies as dullness, laziness, immobilization and procrastination are rampant in society. Minds are shocked and bodies are rocked when usefulness of self-help is ignored and uselessness of joblessness prevails.

Such regretful and unfortunate circumstances truly and dreadfully dampen the developmental perspective and all spiritual, social, educational, commercial and technological progress comes to a standstill amid vociferous alarms of sheer helplessness.

Let it not be the end of the story with trend-setters avading or avoiding the self-help litmus test. Imagine silver lining over national horizon if social, educational, political and entrepreneurial leaders come out of their shell, think out-of-the-box and uphold the cause of self-help with vim, vigor and vitality.

Sky is the limit towards enlightenment for our leadership and statesmanship through belief in self-help in all walks of life and fields of development. Here self-help becomes a game changer and the turning point in pursuit of life and work excellence for cherished reward.

It is humbly submitted ‘to err is human’ even with the ‘gurus’ of brands and brand-makers! In question here is mostly a rampant crisis of communication referring to students, faculty, researchers, professionals and mass media so erroneously addressed by brand names in communication without naming but sharing respectfully for rectification.

The reality check of academic, professional and corporate nature and for social, print and electronic media shows an alarming lack of concentration span in verbal and written communication. Despite lofty ideals and rosy claims in educational, business and media excellence, lack of communication skills, continues to rip social fabric apart at personal, professional and political levels.  Lack of concentration span and lack of communication skills are two glaring question marks. Ability to mutually tolerate and accomodate adds magnanimously to the survival kit for a sinking society.

The writer, a senior faculty in business management and corporate communication, contributes to media on national and international affairs.