Necessity of Marriage for Individuals with Disability in Lockdown
Introduction: Lockdown
Lockdown, lockdown, l-o-c-d-o-w-n. Shops closed except for essential services, people banned from stepping out of homes, closure of commercial & private establishments, places of worship closed, non-essential public and private transport suspended, prohibition of all social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural and religious activities. All these activities can be successfully grouped under the same category LOCKDOWN.
India’s public landscape has been transformed dramatically over the last couple of months, with the most prolonged lockdown that the present generation can remember. This strategy has been adopted in the welfare of entire 1.3 billion population of India. It has been used as a preventive measure against COVID-19 in India. From time to time in the last 20 years several viral epidemics have occurred. The present day COVID-19, an acronym of “Corona Virus Disease -19” has become not only epidemic but pandemic. Being extremely contagious, this newly spreading virus is a risk to public health.
Effect of Lockdown on Individuals with Disability
While the lockdown has been effective on helping to curb the spread of the virus, it has not, perhaps, been conducive to the emotional and mental health of some groups. However, the impact of the lockdown is likely to be heaviest on those who are alone and poor already psychologically burdened out of the mainstream at baseline.Such individuals are more significantly the Persons with Disability. Apart from the physical health being affected by coronavirus, the lockdown has created greater psychosocial and economic challenges on Persons with Disability.
Challenges
Psychosocial challenges relate to one’s psychological development in and interaction with a social environment. Individuals with Disability face challenges in accessing essential supplies and basic requirements like water, food and more so personal care. Accessing welfare benefits and emergency support, both financial and non-financial, also becomes very difficult for them.
The concept of social distancing is redundant for suchIndividuals with Disability, who need assistance for everything. Above all, even apart of lockdown the individuals with disability were socially isolated because of already existing stigma in our society.
Importance of Marriage
Family is an important pillar of our social structure. In it lies the foundation stone of marriage. Marriage is a lifelong commitment, a sacrosanct union. It is an important social institution. It is a sacred, legal and binding union of two people to journey through adult life as partners in a personal relationship of companionship, fulfilment and love. Besides providing financial stability, the feeling of loving and being loved is beyond the barrier of words. Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
Ways to Handle Challenges in Lockdown
The current public health crisis and lockdown has affected us all. But for Individuals with Disability there have been unique fears, challenges and difficulties. These challenges and difficulties can be easily handled in the cooling shade of companionship. A good companion serves as an effective shock absorber to handle such fears, challenges and difficulties. When social distancing became a limiting factor in this lockdown certainly, the best of friends couldn’t serve the purpose of an efficient shock absorber. But every cloud has a silver lining. One such silver lining for an Individual with Disability is, the long-trusted institution of Marriage. Life can be handled in a better way by sharing joys, sorrows, fears and challenges. No one else, other than the two spouses can be better share holders of the emotional, physical, psychological and financial needs. Their efforts and co-operation became multi-fold proving the fact that one plus one equals two.
In such challenging times of lockdown, marriage proves to be an efficient institution specially for Individuals with Disability. In spite of lockdown, such individuals have their partners at their disposal. In times of uncertainty, in the utter silence of dark nights its only your spouse to whom you can approach for any help without assistance. Besides physical assistance, emotional needs and dependence are more prominent in this lockdown. Such issues can be easily met in the efficient company of partners, round the clock 24×7. In odd situation, a life partner will definitely step up to the plate for his or her spouse, without hesitation. They provide protection to one another against any threats, small or big. Marriage being a supportive relationship brings mutual benefit to both partners helping them to cope up with the tough times as lockdown and maximise good times. It enables one to achieve more than one could on his own.
Human is a social animal. Solitaire is not what makes human.A person can have dozens of friends but if you don’t have that special person in your life to which we call a life partner, he/she is incomplete. Life is a tough place to tackle.Conquering all the battles by your own is a big challenge. This challenge becomes multiplies for an Individual with Disability.For such individuals having a life partner is the best part of life. Someone with whom you have nothing to hide and you are fully compatible. He/she as life partner aids you through difficult times as of lockdown and be by your side until you reach the check point.
Conclusion
Sometimes in life, things may not work out the way you planned. But having a partner that is godly, supportive, encouraging, creative and full for enthusiasm for a better tomorrow makes you richer than anyone or anything you can think of. Life is too precious to waste without a suitable life partner. He/she proves to be a companion till the end. A life partner is the one who never forgets to take a stand by your side, no matter whatsoever the situation is. Our partners become the inspiration that we need in life to survive, struggle and win. It is truly said “Life without marriage is like a tree without blossom or fruit.”