A faction of people are standing warden at the intersection of three streets. Their intention is not to allow Shitla Debi (one of the goddess) to enter the village through this road. Although Hindus believe that this goddess is adept of curing smallpox, on the other hand Muslims believe that it is just the opposite. However, I am not writing this about any pastoral topic rather my intention is different. This is the fiction of many decades ago. My father was quite young then and he was also one of the patrols to protect poxes, and this is the story I heard from my him. That was the time when smallpox had dissipate and the epidemic was going on all around. Till then no cure for smallpox had been found. So people had no choice but to depend on their superstitions. And the fact that they were guarding this goddess from such a matter of random belief. At that time people speculated that Shitla Debi was the bearer of poxes and she would never be allowed to enter the village. It is ridiculous and unbelievable to us now but it was the only recourse for the simple believers of that time.
Diarrhea is another widespread disease that has annihilated thousands of people at one time. Once upon a time people from thousands of villages became infected with this disease and died. This disease seems very common to us now but at that time we did not know any antidote for this severe disease. But the antidote to this disease now seems very simple and bizarre to us. Only a proper amount of salt-water mixture can cure this disease. An accurate dose of oral saline has saved thousands of lives. Another name for this diarrhea is dehydration. But in the past, if a person had diarrhea in rural areas, he would not be allowed to drink water. It was said that having water is more harmful for this disease but the reality is completely opposite. However, the world today is largely free from the one-time epidemic called diarrhea.
Today, although medical science and technology are very advanced, we are still plagued by pandemic like Corona Virus. The disease started in China and is affecting people all over the world today. According to Worldometer, there have been 78,517,559 cases and 1,727,100 deaths so far. For more than a year, the disease has spread worldwide. However, a few months ago, the outbreak of this disease was brought under control to some extent, which is why the world had lifted their lockdown. But over the past few days, its prevalence in some parts of the world has begun to pick up again, where many countries being forced to go into lockdown again. But in a developing country like ours, re-lockdown is a bit difficult because it involves human livelihoods, so our destiny is to fight the coronavirus to survive. Although a vaccine for the corona virus is said to have been discovered, there is still considerable doubt about its effectiveness. Maybe in the near future there will be successful vaccines of this coronavirus and our next generation including us will be safe from this deadly virus. We eagerly look forward to that day.
