by Bigyani Das
As communal beings, we all are facing the challenge of isolation and physical separation caused by the covid-19 pandemic. Even though we are staying with our close family, yet we seek to meet others, see others, enjoy festivities, enjoy food together, enjoy performances, singing, and many other activities. Today’s technology has provided us that opportunity. Among them zoom has become popular because of some of its features in video conferencing. It has also created more “zoom-holics“, who are becoming addicted to zoom and just want to create that sensation, feeling of becoming a TV star.
It is summer now in USA. Our pond is full of lotus flowers and our champak tree is also looking gorgeous with beautiful champak flowers. Every day I look to our pond and count the lotus flowers, today I counted about 50. Sometimes my husband collects the flowers to offer to the deities in the Jagannath temple. In these months of June and July, we became quite busy with many Odia events as well as some other social events. First came “Snana Jatra”, the bathing ceremony of the Lords on Friday, June 5. We celebrated that in the Jagannath temple.
The deities from Hindu temple were brought and in one puja, the bathing ceremony ritual took place for both the deities that were at the Hindu Temple, also the deities in Jagannath Temple. A few people came and maintained social distancing and used masks while the priest performed the rituals. I did darshan through WebEx. I did not want to increase the number of people indoors, neither do I feel comfortable with masks. I also have a fear that with so many friends around, I might forget the rules of social distancing.
Next came Raja. Usually Washington DC Chapter of the Odisha Society of the Americas (OSA) every year organizes Raja picnic. This year because of the pandemic, there was no picnic. Before Raja, an unfortunate incident of police brutality took place in Minneapolis. A black man was killed by the white police officer and whole USA reacted to the incident through riots, the protests and looting. Our daughters became very much disturbed and were very reactive. I decided to celebrate Raja for two reasons, one to bring some change in the scene and second because two of our daughters were present at home during this time after so many years.
Our other daughter lives just one hour drive away from us. We invited her and her husband and celebrated Raja with social distancing. In the middle of the deck, we set the food and drinks and they sat in one side and we sat on the other side. There was good food, raja cakes and music. In the evening, when all of us came inside for dinner, they had to wear masks. Fathers’ Day was observed on June 21st Sunday. My daughters presented an ‘OCTAPAD’ to my husband. My eldest daughter and her husband maintained social distance while gifting.
Then came the event of Rath Yatra, the chariot festival. Every year we take the deities in the chariot in procession through one mile of the neighborhood surrounding the Hindu Temple with police escorts and music and dance. This year, the event took place in the Jagannath temple on Tuesday, June 23rd. Only few families with masks and social distancing attended the Rath Yatra. Two weeks before my husband started chariot construction in our garage. He went to Home Depot, brought the wood and the materials such as nails, and started constructing the chariot.
Even though we had a bigger size chariot at the Hindu temple, it would be difficult to fix that chariot during this COVID-19 pandemic without a lot of volunteers. Another chariot pulling event took place at Hindu temple on June 27th and the deities returned to their mandap. That day in the morning our Arya Dance year end recital took place through zoom. By the time I reached the temple, the chariot pulling was over and the puja was taking place inside. I put the mask, offered the sweet semolina pudding to the Lord, stayed inside for half an hour, and then returned.
Every year after the chariot procession, bhajan program or some type of cultural program is arranged. However, this year, singing inside was prohibited because corona virus spreads more by singing activities in indoor setting. So, we organized the Rath Yatra cultural program through zoom on June 27th. Although, there were limited group programs except performed by siblings, yet we had about nineteen performance items including Odissi dances and bhajans by adults and children.
It was a fun-filled event where performances occurred in each performer’s home set-up. Through the process we learned a lot about zoom functionalities, hosts and co-hosts, spotlight view and active speaker view, zoom chats, audio mute and unmute, file sharing, virtual background and making program recording. When the computer is connected to a TV or projector, the view comes out perfect in the big screen and everything becomes enjoyable.
OSA National organization celebrated its annual convention using video conference from July 3-5. Seminars, discussion programs and a few other activities took place through zoom and were broadcast live on YouTube. Other programs such as dancing, singing and drama events took place through YouTube with time set for premiere of the specific events.
This was enjoyed by more members of OSA as well as other Odias worldwide since they were captured through YouTube videos. Odia Poetry reading also took place through zoom. On behalf of Washington DC chapter, we prepared a drama within 24 hours with social distancing whereas some of the practices and some of the scenes were created through zoom.
After OSA virtual convention was over, I sat for a while and thought about how much these video conferencing media like WebEx, zoom etc. have entered to our everyday life. Yes, we are becoming busy and interacting with others as we were before the pandemic. Only difference is that we are not driving, we are not changing cloths so many times, we were not dressing up for any event. However, we are spending time with friends, family members and relatives through these mediums often.
Some of my friends also dared to fly and go on vacation to distant cities and resorts in USA. As July 4th Independence Day weekend is usually the time when people take vacation, many did dare to enjoy life. However, there was the bad news as regards the spreading of corona virus. In one day, new infection number rose to 50,000 in USA. Even though my state Maryland had already started phased openings of shops, beaches, restaurants, and other community places, slowly everybody also became concerned and did not participate in this opening process.
It has been four months since our lifestyle is changed. Initially, it was acceptable, and we were happy to take a break from the normal busy routine. Then it continued, horror stories of death and suffering brought anxiety, restlessness, psychological insecurity, and fear.
Then we accepted the new normal, adapted to the situation and searched for ways to explore happiness as communal beings. Who knows for how many days, how many months or how many years? Yet the light of hope still shines within my heart and I am sure, the merciful Lord will protect His creation and guide us in the path of righteousness and safety. Thank God, we have mediums such as Zoom and others for virtual meetings.
(Dr. Das lives in Dayton, Maryland, USA. Views are Personal)