“I am working relentlessly with the government for the past 3 months. I visit houses in different localities to spread awareness and check people for any symptoms. Yes, I am proud of the work I am doing but now, every day I wake up with only one feeling, Bass ho gaya ab, nahi ho sakta aur!!” said Antara Murari, a social and a frontline worker trying to make a change during the pandemic phase.
Antara works as a volunteer with a COVID awareness team, under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, formed with the purpose of spreading awareness and checking people for symptoms in the Low Income housing groups in Jabalpur.. Antara and her team have been working on the field for 3 months now and Antara alone must have met tens of thousands of people till now--talking about the same thing again and again, leaving home in the morning to return late at night, and yet the virus is spreading like anything. She feels it is a wasted effort and doesn’t want to continue anymore. Just like her, many frontline workers are now wanting a break from all the efforts and running around that they have been doing.
These frontline workers have been on duty ever since February or March trying to save lives, spread awareness, check localities and so much more. It is obvious that they have gotten tired of the hustle that’s keeping them on their toes day in and out without any clear vision or end to the problem. Just like Antara, there are a number of frontline workers that expressed their exhaustion and stress.
A nurse named Sandhya from Nagpur said, “I really feel like giving up. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep or even a peaceful sleep for more than three months now. Treating patients and everything is great and I love doing it more than anything, that is the reason I chose this profession but I am a human after all. I need to recharge too, right? I’ve exceeded all my physical and emotional boundaries during the COVID outbreak and now I want to give up but I can't even do that because every day I see a double-digit rise in the cases. I feel guilty for thinking about quitting or taking a break but is it wrong to think about my well-being as well??”
The guilt and dilemma of quitting or taking rest have made the getting-through very difficult for the frontline workers. Antara and Sandhya both expressed how their colleagues too were feeling guilty for thinking about taking a day off when the virus seems to be peaking. Imagine what you’d do if you were in either one’s shoes. The stress of being infected, exhausting their strength and still facing a lot of contradictory hatred from many is what makes their dilemmas even stronger. The best that one can do is, to treat them with respect and kindness and help them whenever possible. A simple text of kindness can give them the strength to get through the day and that is all they need at the moment.