I prayed to the Lord

That he manifest Himself again

To wipe out the virus that has hit us

And is so indiscriminately killing people

“Time for you to come down to Earth

Please come for us and save us all”

I did pray each day as do all of us

And I drifted off to sleep

I heard a voice in my dream

It sounded so powerful and clear

“What have you all made of the Earth

That I gave to you, so clean and pristine?

You destroy forests and waste water

You pollute the air and kill fellow beings

You all act like you are the only species

Living on this planet – show some respect

For the other creatures, the birds, the animals

The plants, the trees, the water bodies too

You act as if you are so big

Now look! A very small creature

Invisible to your human eye

Is attacking your own species

Reducing your numbers so that

The planet holding you all is saved from you

For, only then can you all survive!”

I woke up startled from my nightmare

I prayed to Ram but have I been behaving like Ravan?