THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. -- Thomas Paine

Our dwelling place which is often described as ‘Home sweet home’ does not appear to be so at least to some of us. Amid the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic, the various measures adopted to restrict its spread by confining people to their homes is known to have resulted in frustration, stress and strain in some of the families.

Today’s column was prompted by a video clip telecast on a YouTube channel. It was about a recent Facebook post by the Colombo National Hospital (CNH) Chief Nurse Pushpa Ramya Zoysa saying that on an average about 250 patients seek treatment at the CNH daily, but these days this figure had dropped to about 80 a day with a majority of them were women seeking medication for injuries alleged to have been suffered at the hands of abusive husbands. These family disputes appear to be the side effects of the curfew imposed in Sri Lanka’s 25 districts, in some of them indefinitely, as one of the measures adopted in the ongoing battle against the deadly coronavirus. It seems that being `confined to our homes` unable to venture out is more difficult when compared with that of having to `stay at home` such as on a weekend or a holiday knowing there are no restrictions on stepping out on an errand at a time of your choice. 

The FB post also served as a preamble to a ‘bana’ sermon preached by the Ven. Mawaralle Baddiya Thera at his temple in Habarakada. The programme was hosted by Harindra Jayalal. The Thera pointed out that the coronavirus had provided us with a golden opportunity to renew and strengthen our family ties. He asked us to remember that whenever dark clouds overwhelm us, our mainstay is the family and that it was only at home among our family members that we could drop our guard and the need to maintain the required physical distance from each other or for that matter having to keep the other at `arm’s length` as it were.

Instead of taking our family members for granted, the coronavirus has given us the opening to know them even better by experiencing, probably for the first time or in a long time, each other’s foibles and idiosyncrasies and realise that our homes are more than just a place to return to in the evening after work reminding us of what T.S. Elliott said, “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” 

At difficult and abnormal times such as these, hobbies like gardening, reading or indoor games like chess, carom or draughts could come in handy as one of the means of spending quality time with our families, interacting, renewing and strengthening our ties with one another during our stay at home, which for many of us has been a first-time experience.

Meanwhile, US Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has observed that with 90 countries in lockdown, four billion people are now sheltering at home from the global contagion of COVID-19. She said though it was a protective measure, it brought another deadly danger, that of a ‘shadow pandemic’ of growing violence against women.

“Confinement is fostering the tension and strain created by security, health, and money worries. And it is increasing isolation for women with violent partners, separating them from the people and resources that can best help them. It is a shadow pandemic,” she said in a statement.

Be that as it may, we have been repeatedly harping on the need for every Sri Lankan to cooperate with healthcare services, security forces, police and essential service providers, who at the risk to their lives have stepped out beyond the normal call of duty to areas where most would fear to tread, in an effort to keep us safe and out of reach of the deadly virus. We need to also underscore the fact that to secure the cooperation of the people in eradicating this menace, it is vital for the government, on its part to at all times take or seem to take non-political decisions for the good of all citizens, notwithstanding their religious, ethnic or political affiliations.