CANDLE CONUNDRUMS

CANDLE CONUNDRUMS

Hey!

     Have you received random WhatsApp forwards justifying our PM's light a candle campaign?

     I have received many messages that are trying to explain, validate and justify the idea which wasn't said by our Prime Minister in the first place! Seeing people dealing with the conundrums over these WhatsApp messages, I have decided to discuss about it in this blog.

     Few of the WhatsApp forwards which I have received, that I want to discuss about, are here:

     Firstly, NASA has not conducted any research on Corona virus and the next most important thing to know is, WHO has reported that Corona virus can successfully thrive/survive in hot temperatures.

Here is the link of their detailed test report

https://www.who.int/csr/sars/survival_2003_05_04/en/

     Next, the heat generated by 130 candles would be still a lot very less than the heat generated by 130 tube-lights.

     SARS-CoV-2 that causes Coronavirus disease is a virus and not an animal or human being to have ears or legs to know about the leaked plans or to run away as said in that forwarded message.

     A virus is a biological entity and it consists of genetic material of either DNA or RNA, a capsid(protein coat) and an envelope. It doesn't have any heart or brain at all!

     When the lights are switched on, every single day, isn't it still but a cumulative luminescence?

     Also, bacteria and viruses are not evil forces. They are just microorganisms, that are devoid of any organ like brain, to know if it should be active or lazy on Saturday or Sundays!

     To get a clarity, we must cross-verify all the forwarded messages and to do that we can visit WHO's official site  https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters

WHY SHOULD WE LIGHT THE CANDLE THEN?

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE BEHIND IT?

     We should light it because our Prime Minister told us to do it. 

      

      Just because he told us to do it?

                                                           ---No.

      We should do it because, we can understand the purpose behind it. The purpose of hope! The purpose of Faith!

      During the video conference with Chief Minister of different states, Uddhav Thackeray, CM of Maharashtra, suggested that citizens need to be in good mental health during the lockdown period and that's how this candle of hope came into light! 

      We all know what we are going through and what people around us are going through in the world. Lockdown feels like budensome for many now!

     Can we not just lighten that burden? Can we not light a candle or a diya to lighten up the anxiety that we have gathered? Can we not just turn the flash light on, in our balconies, for the illumination of hope for those who'd lost it?

INDIA

IN - Stay in your home; DIA - Light a Dia.

      C'mon Captain!!! This is the least we can do right? We can light a diya at 9pm for just 9 minutes tonight! 

      We can do it, and when we can do it we must do it right!!! And, to do it right we must also follow a few precautions that are discussed below.

SAFETY MEASURES :

1. Do not use alcohol based sanitizers or hand-wash immediately before you light up a diya or a candle because alcohol catches fire.

2. Keep candle or diya out of the reach of children.

3. Make sure that candle is not near any source of gas, oil or plastic. Also be cautious of your saree or dupatta.

4. Turn-off only lights, not other appliances as said by Ministry of Power to avoid instability of voltage fluctuations in the grid.

    Hope, I have got it all covered. Thank you for making it till the end of this blog! Spread positivity around at 9pm tonight for 9 minutes!

   ---HARSHITHA JAIN
       VOGUE ROG.