A Chartered Accountant was under a lot of tension. He had lost quite a few friends and relatives due to Corona. Many others known to him had tested positive and were hospitalised. Although he had stopped watching news channels, the negativity in his mind refused to subside. When the stress became unbearable, he surrendered to a Sadhu Maharaj. The following was the dialogue between the two:
CA: Pranaam, Sadhu Maharaj.
Sadhu: Vatsa, kaunsi chinta tumhe mere paas laayi hai? (My child, what’s brought you here to me?)
CA: Guruji, you may be aware that this Corona is playing havoc everywhere in our country.
Sadhu: It is world-wide.
CA: Yes, but this second wave in India is more disastrous than in any other country. I have lost my sleep. Even in my dreams I see Corona viruses all around.
Sadhu: I wonder why we Indians are so afraid of Corona. There is another virus which is very familiar to you and it has been killing the country over the last seven decades.
CA: Achchha! I was not aware. What is that?
Sadhu: Surprising! Are you really a CA?
CA: Maharaj, I was so much engrossed with my practice that I never read anything about any other virus which is so serious.
Sadhu: That other virus is so dangerous that this Corona is nothing before it.
CA: In what way, Guruji?
Sadhu: See, Corona stays with a person for just eight to 15 days. After that, either the Corona goes or the person goes. And some money also goes. But the other virus stays with you all your life and takes away your money every day.
CA: How is it that I never heard about it?
Sadhu: That other virus is omnipresent. It is present in Corona testing. It decides whether you are Covid positive or negative. It decides whether you should be hospitalised. Without it you cannot even get a hospital bed. That other virus decides what treatment to give. It arranges for medicines, including Remdesivir. Without it, how can you get oxygen?
CA: You mean it is some Government Authority? Or some Minister?
Sadhu: Arey nahi, vatsa. It is neither a Minister nor an authority. But it is there with every Minister and authority.
CA: (Completely puzzled) Maharaj?
Sadhu: Not only this, but that other virus decides whether or not there is a Corona wave. It decides whether vaccines are available. It decides how much gap should be there between two doses of the vaccine.
CA: Guruji, it was after a lot of effort that I have only now come to understand GST and other tax laws; and even Accounting Standards to some extent. I attempted to know even ICDS. But what you are telling me is simply baffling. I can’t even imagine how I never learnt about the other virus. And you are saying it is even more dangerous.
Sadhu: Many times more dangerous than this Covid-19. It has many variants and mutations. There is no place in our country where it is not there. It is in cities as well as in villages, in every walk of life – education, health, administration, judiciary and defence.
CA: Maharaj, it also comes in waves?
Sadhu: No, it is constant. It never dies. It is ever increasing. If you try to suppress it, it bounces back, it grows. Even the statistics of this Corona are controlled by that other virus.
CA: Please give me some clue.
Sadhu: What more do you want? It is there even in our spiritualism. It kills many things at a time. It kills many men, it kills our character, it destroys our values, it spoils our social and personal life. I will give you a clue. The first three letters of the other virus are the same as those of Corona.
CA: Maharaj, I understood! That other virus is ‘CORruption!’ Thank you. I am aware that this Corona can be treated, cured or at least controlled, but the other one has no remedy. Now, my fear about this Corona has completely vanished. Once again, Pranaam to you, Maharaj!
