After months of quarantine and lockdown, the country is slowly opening with the Government allowing relaxations. While people are bored and the economy is down, the number of people infected with Coronavirus still rises every single day. Now, Maharashtra alone has surpassed China in terms of numbers.
Korona, The End by independent animator and filmmaker, Debjyoti Saha is the last film of the six part animated series, Korona, that looks into the current scenario and anticipates a worrisome future. The animated short series focused on all the deep rooted issues in today’s society. The last animated short of the series looks at the bigger picture and possible cause and effect of human beings going back to their ‘normal life’.
Shared Saha with AnimationXpress, “For the final episode, Korona, The End, I wanted to shift the focus to perhaps, the biggest problem posed to mankind – Climate change. It is not immediate news because nothing major happens everyday. It’s almost like an underlined theme which is often sidelined to focus on more relevant immediate issues. But it has been happening little by little for centuries now. Sadly, the first couple of months of the eventful year 2020 has been marked by back to back adverse effects of the same. Earthquakes, super cyclones, floods, extreme weather conditions and a major locust infestation, something or the other is making the news everyday. It’s almost as if it has almost approached the tipping point of mother Nature and the balance is about to shift, for the worse. We are fast approaching our predicted dates of climatic disaster and doom.”
The one minute animated short gives an overview of people resuming their normal routine and celebrating by coming out of their houses. The world possibly back to what it was. But people are too selfish when it comes to their convenience, enjoyment and happiness. The final short of the Korona series, therefore, focuses on how we, as humans, are part of the problem and how small things affect our environment in various ways (like a butterfly effect).
Added Saha, “Towards the initial half of the global lockdown, we witnessed some strikingly major recoveries in our environment. Flora and fauna began to thrive with less human intervention, pollution levels were at an all time low, our rivers are cleaner than ever, it’s almost as if Nature is finally getting its long-due vacation. Which scared me to think of how this is all going to change once the COVID-19 scenario is controlled and humans come out of their homes and live. It is strange how we have become such a big intervention in nature by being part of it that it is slowly starting to take a toll on us. Every small thing an individual does has a major impact. Sure, we can blame big corporations and their greed because of the present environmental situation, but it is on us, humans, who make up every corporation in the world.
It is an attempt to portray the current situation post-lockdown urging people to rethink their lifestyle choices and how small acts can make a big difference. It’s almost like a Domino effect. I hope the message sticks around. What we do individually and as an entire human race, for the next 10 years will decide how our environment is going to be affected and ourselves, in return.”
This animated short too like its other counterparts, makes us think and bring a change in our actions for the better. It feels so upsetting to look at people who are so ignorant of the problems and live in denial.
The animated style resembles its predecessors in the series with Louis Armstrong’s What a wonderful World playing in the background. The music was an obvious choice as it seems to be an apt fit to showcase the stark irony of the present situation.
Climate change is real; it is much more than a chapter in our Environmental Education books. And it’s only a matter of time that Nature shows us its full potential. COVID-19 outbreaks, Earthquakes, Forest fires, locust invasion, severe cyclones, drought all of it seems to be the trailer of the ultimate film as if Nature is mocking us and giving a chance to undo and rectify our callousness and mistakes. Sadly, it seems like this is just the beginning. And honestly, we deserve it. “We humans are scared of the wrong virus. We humans ARE the real virus.”
What the Ganga Cleaning project and crores of money couldn’t do, Coronavirus did it in a couple of months. Similar examples can be drawn in terms of less pollution ever in Mumbai, Delhi and other places. The world is heating up, it’s raging and we should learn from our mistakes before it’s too late. Else, the end will be nigh!
