Dr Narinder explores the resilience found in simplicity for DifferentTruths.com, examining how global crises force a return to nature.

Life often throws a curveball that catches us off guard. Despite advanced technologies that allow us to live a secure and comfortable life, we remain susceptible to unforeseen catastrophes. These challenges, personal, familial, national, or global, remind us of our vulnerability, test our fortitude, and ultimately reaffirm our faith in our enduring resilience. 

Our survival during such critical times depends on our ability to adapt, change gears, readjust, and refine our thinking. Experience shows that a return to simpler, more natural ways of life, which the 18th-century French philosopher Rousseau called ‘back to nature’, has proved to be a guiding principle that not only helps us navigate challenges but also teaches us important life lessons.

During the India-Pakistan Wars of 1965 and 1971, one of the defence measures announced by the government for the citizens was to cover windowpanes with black or brown paper and switch off the lights to prevent the enemy from locating towns and villages. We would finish dinner and other chores before dusk and light a candle in snatches for important work. This reminded us of our summer vacations in our paternal village, where people lived without electricity. Only then could we understand and relate to their struggles.

In 2016, the sudden announcement of demonetisation stunned the nation, forcing people to stand in long queues outside banks to withdraw money for their basic needs. They scratched every nook and cranny in search of any cash that popped out of the kitchen boxes, folds of clothing, and old books. Piggy banks were emptied, and every rupee and coin, previously forgotten, gained great significance overnight. The entire experience served as an eye-opener. It taught us the true value of money and made us realise how small our actual needs are and how we have been squandering money on things we could easily do without.

COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill. Man, the self-styled ‘Master of the Universe’, who believed he could control the earth, sky, and oceans, got a beating at the hands of a nanoscopic virus. People found themselves confined to their homes, afraid for their health and well-being. However, as with any crisis, COVID-19 provided an opportunity for reflection and introspection. What does a person truly need to survive? Just four walls around, a roof overhead, a few essential groceries, and the company of loved ones! Then why the relentless quest for supremacy, fame, and wealth? Life is simple, yet we have complicated it for no good reason. 

Today, the world grapples with the enduring effects of ongoing geopolitical conflict. A global oil and gas crisis looms large on the horizon. With the anticipation of a cooking gas shortage staring us in the face, people are talking of going back to using firewood and coal – energy resources we have long discarded and forgotten. People are taking out and cleaning their kerosene stoves and clay hearths. The other day, a friend joked that she has a pile of cow-dung cakes stacked somewhere in the store, which may come in handy in case of an emergency!

Will the slogan of ‘back to nature’ once again prove to be a life lesson to see us through this challenge, too, as it has done in earlier crises?

Picture design by Anumita Roy

Dr Narinder Jit Kaur

Narinderjit Kaur is a retired Associate Professor of English, based in Patiala. She is a trilingual writer who can write with fair ease and finesse in English, Hindi, and Punjabi. Various newspapers and magazines regularly publish her articles, stories, and poems in all three languages. She has published a book that includes 58 middle articles from prominent newspapers. She has five books of translation from Punjabi into English to her credit.