While the whole world is surprised how with our huge population and zero sanitization and poor medical facilities our Covid 19 cases are relatively low it has also stripped the developed nations of all its sheen and glamor and the real inside picture is emerging in this hour of crisis. When we go to these countries as tourists we see only the best side of the country and we think that is the “real country” and now thanks to China the true picture is emerging.

Covid 19 has brought many things to light to a common citizen like me who does not know even the basics of economics.

The first and foremost thing is that I have fallen in love with my country all over again and I feel proud to be an Indian.

I have seen people visiting abroad always cursing India for being dirty – No if you think I am going to deny it you are wrong I totally agree yes we are a dirty country and the sterling cleanliness of the developed nations has enamored me also.

But now many myths about the developed nations are busted and the persons who are bursting the myths are their own news channels. There were many shocking news –

1. As a result of this pandemic Russia has stopped export of wheat, Vietnam and India stop export of Rice and South America stopped exporting fruits and vegetables. And this according to the American based news channel would lead to food crisis and worst a famine is predicted - But I am not worried because my country the dirty India does not depend on anybody for its basic food supplies. My country produces what I eat – rice, wheat, vegetables, condiments, bread and butter and fruits. May be the prices could rise and even that would only be for a while and it will come to normal. They are showing empty shelves in the American super markets and are telling that many people are going without food due to non-availability of food stuff but my vegetable vendor gives me onion, Tomato and Potato at Rs 20 per kg and even I get my regular supply of fruits at my door step for my regular price even in this hour of crisis. This is because my country does not depend on others to feed me.
    
2. The only threat is certain instant foods like noodles and biscuits have run out of stock due to lockdown but even that will bounce back to normal production in just a matter of days even if partial production is resumed.
    
3. Medicines are not available in developed countries according to their own news channels but for me it comes to my door step because all my medicines are made in India- yes we get the raw material from China but that is because it is cheap and not because we cannot do it. If Indian government relaxes some rules then the raw material also will be produced in India.
    
4. The CNN news channel shows shots of a person with a huge orange garden in US and says in the same vein that people do not get anything to eat. What kind of economics is this – there is abundant production but they are not ready to take it but would rather prefer to throw dollars and get imported food on their tables.
    
5. A friend of mine from Europe tells me that the women of developed nations prefer not to cook and when I googled I understood an American woman on an average spends not more than 15 minutes in Kitchen every day. Instead she prefers something that is ready made – for them everything is instant. As a contrast an Indian woman would spend at least one to one and half hours on an average every day in the kitchen because we eat food that is fully cooked and we add ingredients like onion, turmeric, and other essentials which help in developing anti bodies.
    
6. America – the richest super power in the world does not have enough masks, ventilators and PPE – I totally understand because these are required in extreme situations and Covid 19 is a shocker. But California which they tell as one of the wealthy states of USA has “homeless people” who live on roadside in make shift tents. And why the hell you make fun of us? Only difference the numbers appear to be less than India but I feel for American standard what I saw on the TV was quite large only. And a social worker was telling that “it is ridiculous to ask them to maintain social distancing” as they cannot “afford” a situation like that as they do not have a shelter above them. And one man said he lives in “his van” and adds “starvation is not new to me”. And why criticize my country showing pictures of migrant workers. The numbers are huge and it would be because we are a country of 130 billion people but why you with one tenth of Indian population?
    
7. I saw only scenes from US and UK – and there all of them are working only in unorganized sectors –from what I gathered as they were repeatedly telling they were all employed in bars, shops, restaurants – all these are nonproductive jobs that is they are not giving anything to the nation. Instead if they had worked in the fields and factories this situation would not have risen at all and the country instead of having only dollars would have had food reserves too.
    
8. Of course the only problem of India is its exponentially growing population – had that not been the case India would have also showcased to the world about its cleanliness and sheen. Even then we do have places like Malls which are on a par with any of the developed nation because the population that visits those places are a different class who know how to maintain hygiene.

So thanks to China for the pandemic I know where my Country stands. Mera Bharat was, is and always Mahaan