IJFANS International Journal of Food and Nutritional Sciences

ISSN PRINT 2319 1775 Online 2320-7876

EXAMINING SPACE OF MOURNING IN COVID19- AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHY

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Zeba Munib,Thomas Monteiro

Abstract

Since the antiquity, humanity has lamented its losses. Grief is expressed differently in each culture. A ritual in which people gathered at a location following a terrible occurrence or after a death to lament the pain and loss and express sympathy to the families of the deceased. The act of sharing soothes psychological suffering, offers consolation, and brings closure and during the pandemic, that period of mourning was entirely interrupted. Pandemic killed millions of people around the world and spread like a wildfire, engulfing everything in its vast fold. COVID19 regulations for social distancing prevented individuals from congregating in a closed environment, thus those who died from its lethal blow had no one to grieve their passing. Even the dead bodies at the hospital morgue were neglected for days by the insufficient hospital staff and the survivors of the deceased left in isolation without human contact when it was most required. The grieving process became complex for the survivors and family members of the deceased because there were no words of condolence, shoulders to cry on, or warm embraces to provide. We were unable to witness the tragedy and loss; it was as though someone had been erased from our lives suddenly of which we only have a virtual knowledge that came through digitized mode. Mourning has become a privilege and that was not available during pandemic. Death caused an aporia, a phenomenon that our minds were unable to understand since we could not see it with our eyes. Slavoz Zizek in his essay "Welcome to the Desert of the Real" underlines that how the 9/11 tragedy failed to touch people's hearts because it was depicted as a hyper real spectacle by media; and people were unable to relate to the sorrow on a personal level since the event was not tactile.

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