Every action of ours is driven either by fear or by love. We do jobs either for the love of it or the fear of survival. Consider any of your activities. You will identify fear or love causing that. This is not only true for our faith in God but our life events as well. Some remember and worship God because they love them. However, some worship God because they are just afraid of God. We fear that if the Gods are enraged, losses are inevitable. Some don’t fall into any category. Even as this insidious virus is taking a massive toll of humanity, our actions are determined by fear or devotion (Bhay or Bhakti).

Interestingly, both factors here are governed by the fact that the origins are not ascertained, and there are various stories on date and place of origin. It affects all irrespective of boundaries, age, profession, class, and so on. There is no cure discovered to treat this virus. And, there are a lot of theories on immunity, temperature and openness of democracy. Uncertainties related to the pandemic and its after-effects brings both the factors at play.

Fear: Most are abiding by the lockdown because they are afraid of the immortality. They want to keep themselves and their family safe. Even the coercion by the Government to enforce lockdown for the common good is feared, making people stay back in their homes. They are definitely more informed and educated to fight the virus, and this information or lack of correct information and the plethora of fake news keeps the fear intact. The lethal combination of an interconnected world and a deadly virus taking humanity to uncharted quarters keeps the pace going. Most developed nations and progressive regional organizations were clueless when the virus was and still is spreading like wildfire.

Devotion: Most of the many staying back at home, want to keep their region and country safe. Everyone wants to flatten the curve, and nobody wants to be the superspreader. Some may make impulsive decisions to reach their native territories, but it can be blamed on poverty or homesickness.

But these two factors, one more than others, at play has kept 1.3 crore people or a majority of them indoors. A seemingly impossible feat. One more question springs from here: is the state becoming the last refuge for the citizens with its power, legitimacy and surveillance technologies that has been losing control due to global economic forces. Only time can tell.