OPINION Kamal Bengougam
The geometry of life
EVERSYS CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER KAMAL BENGOUGAM ON HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS NEW REALITY WITHOUT A MAP. “Life is merely a fracas on an unmapped terrain, and the universe a geometry stricken with epilepsy.” – Emily Cioran.
T
he world as we know it has gone crazy. I have lived over half a century, travelled to more than 50 nations, met many amazing people, and been involved in some interesting adventures, and yet, I have never witnessed the madness of our day. At the time of writing this column, I had to queue for toilet paper, for the very first time, mind you. No, this was not in a faraway under-developed land, this was just a few miles north of London. I also read a story about people in the United States buying up guns and ammunition. I know that toilet paper is being rationed. It has become a premium commodity, but I am prepared to give mine up rather than take the risk of being shot. COVID-19, the virus without a brain, has confounded the wisdom of our age and wreaked havoc within our world. Scientists, politicians, and economists, our world’s greatest minds are being confounded by a spineless microbe filled with ambition. This coronavirus, birthed on distant shores, has taken over the global agenda, promoting fear in the midst of uncertainty.
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Markets are melting, hospitals are being overwhelmed, businesses are collapsing, and people are afraid. Ta- Neh isi Coates , a nat iona l correspondent for The Atlantic , sums up the situation best: “I did not know then that this is what life is – just when you master the geometry of one world, it slips away, and suddenly again, you’re swarmed by strange shapes and impossible angles.” This is the “geometry of life”, that change is inherent to our world. We must accept it without fear, and that while we cannot control what others do, or events outside of our realm, we have full control and responsibility over our response, our
