SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
Many may have heard the song ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’ and perhaps also long forgotten the lyrics and tune, but it is the story behind the song that is interesting. The opening lines go this way, ‘There’ll be bluebirds over/The white cliffs of Dover/Tomorrow/Just you wait and see/There’ll be love and laughter/And peace ever after/Tomorrow/When the world is free’. In recent days, as the country and large parts of the world are in lockdown fighting the spread of COVID-19, this song repeatedly comes to mind for its significance. This is a World War II song composed in 1941 by Walter Kent and the lyrics are by Nat Burton. There have been various singers who have vocalised the song, among them Vera Lynn who made it famous and then the legendary Jim Reeves, who much later, lent his incomparable rich timbre to the lyrics.
The reason for bringing up the old favourite – hopefully many who had long ago heard it will have recalled it by now – in this column in the midst of the Coronavirus scare, is that it gives hope. The song was written in the midst of the World War II, before the US joined the allies, and it spoke of a time when the war would end and instead of fighter jets carrying bombs flying over the white cliffs of Dover, it would be bluebirds that would spread their wings over the frontier. Unfortunately, once the war ended, bluebirds probably never did fly over the Dover Cliffs. The lyricist, an American, did not know that this species of bird was not indigenous to Great Britain. That, however, was besides the point, as other birds definitely did perch on the cliffs, and the song turned into a special one during the long war years and is still often sung in commemorations of D-Day.
Countries today are not at war with each other, but they are battling a virus so tiny that it takes highpowered microscopes to detect it. In a manner of speaking, it is a war where large numbers of people are getting incapacitated, many are dying, and there are millions struggling to contain it. In this battle, the people are locked down in their homes and food is almost being rationed. If that is not a war-like situation, then what is? But as people move from the streets to the their homes, as roads empty out of vehicles, there are also a few positives emerging from the rather bleak situation.
During the last few days, as Goa stays in observing the lockdown there are messages posted on social media of people waking up to the sound of the tweeting of birds, rather than the tweeting chatter of the social media on which they are messaging. There are posts of seeing kingfishers on cable television lines strung across the streets of Panjim. There are pictures of strays being fed by people from across the State. There are stories of the air being purer to breathe as traffic is less and so is the resultant pollution. There is the general feeling that the State is heading for a better time in the days ahead. As Goa looks up to clearer skies on these days of lockdown, there is hope that this will soon end, but, and this is very important, once this is over, will there be birds chirping again? Or will it be the shrill, angry sound of the alarm that wakes up people to a new work day that they have to rush to?
This change towards a more pleasing environment is occurring, not just in Goa, but across the world, in cities and countries where people have been asked to stay home to keep themselves safe from the marauding virus. There is a visible change in the ambience, and it is for the better, but will it last? Possibly not. Once normalcy returns, the world quickly goes back to it old ways and this is merely a temporary environmental adjustment that experts have already said will have no long-term positive effects. If there will be lasting positive effects from the current situation, then it will have to be up to the people to ensure that the gains of the current days can be made to last longer. If it is now the responsibility of the people to stay home to keep COVID-19 from infecting them, it will be their responsibility to later keep the air pollution from increasing to its old levels.
But no, the little changes we are seeing in the environment will not aid climate change in any way for the long term. The world has seen too much of damage for this brief period to redeem it. And no, the animals and the birds are not really returning to the cities, people are hearing and seeing them because the din of the traffic is now less. The few birds have always been there, of course in much smaller numbers than the past, but they have been around. The stray dogs have also been around the towns and villages, and they foraged for food during the night in markets and garbage bins, so people didn’t see them. That food is now no longer available to them and so they are roaming the deserted streets in daylight and need to be fed. And people are noticing it, because they have taken a forced break from their busy lives and have the time to notice the things they otherwise did not.
It is clear that COVID-19 has jolted all of humanity to the reality of a fragile world that can be brought to a standstill by the tiniest of organisms. There are lessons to be learnt, that can be used for future reference. The situation today is far from normal. There is yet no certainty on how long the current situation will last and whether it will improve or worsen. People will remain home at least till mid-April. But like the World War II song, The White Cliffs of Dover, that saw a better time in the future, there is hope that when this period of our lives is behind us, there will be lessons learnt of a time when the world came to a standstill.
