While there is no remarkable let-up in the intensity of the coronavirus pandemic in Bangladesh, nature in the country's capital wears a colourful look. It's a look which Dhaka finds itself clad in every year around this time. This year, the refreshing look has largely gone unnoticed. With a pandemic-time shutdown slapped on its residents, few could manage to have a wide glance at the changes the nature of Dhaka has undergone. Those who could sneak a cursory look while passing by a tree-filled area were fortunate to catch glimpses of this relaxing sight. Nature appears to have showered all its elixir on the city, long notorious for its dirtiness and pollution.
Thanks to the invisible resurgence undergone by the city's nature, Dhaka appears to be offering a purely refreshing look that doesn't fail to amaze its younger inhabitants. The environmentally aware section of these youths can delve into the secret. Had its pollution level not reached the pre-pandemic alarming level, Dhaka would have remained unwavering in its position as one of the green and healthy cities. The look of the capital in this May is gorgeous and festive. This aspect of its unique beauty has its roots in the lavishly crimson, deep-red and yellow flowers blanketing the trees on roadsides along parks, the lakeside walkways and long neglected road islands. What add to this nature-spurred pageant are the flocks of small birds perched on the tree branches, warbling, and flying restlessly from one tree to another. The absence of the deafening urban noise, especially that coming from motorised vehicles, and the noxious exhaust fumes released by them, has evidently played a great role in the return of the birds to the city.
Thanks to the absence of the terrible types of dust and dust particulate vitiating Dhaka's air, the city's nature has, apparently, got back its old liveliness which distinguished it in the bygone days. The city under shutdown unerringly has reminded many of its elderly residents of the Dhaka in the 1950s and the 60s. Those were the long-forgotten idyllic periods of the city. In the following days, Dhaka's nature continued to offer its rejuvenated look unfurling its many layers of beauty. To the woes of the lovers of the city, those manifestations of natural beauty eventually began disappearing. At one time they vanished completely out of the views of the city residents. With the present shutdown in force, the roads are briefly free of traffic gridlocks --- despite the law-flouting and reckless people coming out in the open by their hordes.
Notwithstanding the fact of their being under corona-time lockdown orders, many cities elsewhere in the world are also witnessing almost the similar sights. But their unalloyed love for their cities made a difference. The character of nature has long been viewed as sublime and it stood for all the qualities standing for beauty and blessings for humanity. It is only occasionally do we face its reverse side. It comprises the destructive powers of nature. When a drought-stricken community is blessed by showers of rain, or others remain charmed by spectacular landscapes, nature emerges before man with its positive face. It has been part of human existence since long. But nature, actually, has two opposite faces. Both have been seen as being equally strong since the final evolution of man. To the bewilderment of man, nature in the current times has begun reemerging with its occasional ferocity which would invariably accompany it in the ancient times. This fact, however, doesn't lead to the conclusion that nature took quite a long time to assume its unique enchanting character. Maybe, man in the earlier times had not yet developed the faculty to appreciate nature's fascinating aspects.
As has been seen occasionally in the 20th century, and the first two decades of the 21st, nature appears to be tilting more towards its calamitous character than that which shows its wondrous beauty. But nature is still a treasure-trove of innumerable sources of elements that soothe the mind. It has been seen once again amid the globally raging COVID-19 pandemic.
Many of the currently corona-affected countries in Europe, North America (especially the US), and parts of Australia are at present enjoying a pleasant weather. But there is a twist in reality. The people in these countries are mostly under a state of lockdown prompted by the highly infectious pandemic. Although a few countries are taking preparations to ease the order to let people come free of the confinement, many others continue to dither. A good number of US states and cities have lifted their lockdowns. Many still are passing their days under the order imposed by the state administrations. In spite of the mixed scenarios, those who have come out in the open appear to be discovering themselves in locations they became almost oblivious to during the lockdowns. Residents in many European cities, punishingly affected by the deadly scourge, are seen moving about in bright sun. People are allowed to recline on the sandy beaches during daytime and engage in seaside frolicking in a few Australian cities.
In half a dozen European countries, children could be spotted moving around in parks in sunny afternoons along with their parents. Many hope to see the tiny tots and teenagers, long confined to their home, filling the reopened amusement parks. Many of them will return to their favourite playgrounds like seen in the time before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown measure. In the other cities elsewhere in the world, especially those in a few Asian and African countries, similar scenes continue to unfold. Most of them are allowing their residents to visit the world outside, where nature continues to reveal its beauty and hidden marvels.
The pandemic is far from being over. But birds do not fail to chirp, flowers are in full blossom, and under the shade trees one can feel the blowing of gentle breeze. These gifts of nature have to be revealed in their respective sites like always. It's because of their being integral part of the manifestations of nature. These scenes have been very much there for nearly two months, when people shut themselves behind doors. As a result, the tidbits connected to expressions of nature remained unappreciated. Yet, the universal truth brings to the fore nature's inscrutability. Its mysteries are unfathomable, too. Pantheists always alert people to the unpredictability of nature. Besides, nature's two faces have fascinated humankind since the latter's completion of evolution into a full man. Although the term 'nature' opens a wide vista of awe-inspiring and wonderful spectacles before man, he or she first encountered its destructive aspect in the ancient times.
In order to start appreciating the beauty of natural objects, man had to wait for stepping into a certain stage of development in his or her aesthetic faculty. A wonderful aspect of nature has universally been its preference for showcasing its hidden beauties. It hardly turns cruel and calamitous. It is the human excesses unleashed on the normally pacifist nature which compel the monster dormant in it to roar itself out. The calamities like tsunamis and other climatic disasters, and for that matter, epidemics, are the direct consequences of mindless tampering with nature.
The novel coronavirus has, in fact, displayed the ugly and vengeful side of nature. It has shown this dreadful aspect inherent in it thanks to man's aberrant style of living. Nature doesn't accept things that cross the boundaries of normalcy. As a section of humankind continues to indulge in highly abhorrent practices, series of newer backlashes might be awaiting man in short and long-term phases.