Chimera Vs Bellerophon

Chimera was a fire-breathing monster from Greek mythology that had the fore of a lion, the hind of a snake, while the she-goat formed the middle, connecting the two. By the description of Chimera, one can infer that there was an imagination of genetic engineering with the DNA of a lion, goat and a snake, during ancient Greek times; and it was a clear warning. Homer also created the protagonist Bellerophon to destroy Chimera. According to the myth, when the deadly beast Chimera was killing cattle and devastating the country, King Iobates of Lycia had ordered Bellerophon to kill Chimera. The mythical winged horse Pegasus carried Bellerophon above the clouds and helped him thrust a lump of lead attached to his lancer into the mouth of Chimera. The metal melted in the mouth of the fire-breathing beast and asphyxiated it, at which instant Bellerophon slew Chimera.

Human imagination inspires and enlivens the spirits of future generations when depleted and it installs faith in them that it is always the ‘good’ that prevails over the ‘bad’ in the perennial conflict. Chronicles and poems were written by great authors of history, epics, parables, biographies, etc., all motivate the future generation so that they could emulate the virtuous characteristics of the protagonists in those texts and steer away from the mean minds of the antagonists. For example, in the Mahabharata, which is primarily the conflict between immoral Duryodhana and the virtuous Yuddishtara, it is the wisdom and distinguished character of the Pandava Prince that inspires the readers and not that of his cousin the Kaurava Prince. Similarly, Chimera is an imaginary monster compounded of three incongruous parts. It's an illusion or fabrication of the mind of the great Greek poet and writer Homer in his epic poem ‘Iliad’ and it was meant to describe an unrealisable dream of evil.

News of people dying due to the Coronavirus is pouring into my ears on a daily basis. People related to friends, associates, relatives, neighbours, etc., are dying, mostly aged and some young too. A few days ago, I called a young associate in Delhi and was shocked to know that her father-in-law passed away last week suddenly, within a few days of being tested positive; so also a relative from Vijayawada, the father of an associate in Hyderabad, a co-owner at my office complex and many more people are falling just like birds hit by the electromagnetic assault from a new generation wireless telecommunication. None are spared, no matter to which faith they belonged. Indeed it is painful. There is no Bellerophon to rescue. The solution is only in the hands of science and politicians. In this war against Corona, we are battling with an enemy about whom we are yet to have complete details, for the sole reason that the monster is beyond the human imagination, much powerful than the Greek myth. News and social media have become haywire in the narrative, hence I was anxious at least to know a little.

When the news about the outbreak of Corona was broadcasted in March last year, I was with a client in Bombay for an Arbitration case. The theory that it was a biological war strategy was propounded in the beginning, with the fact that thousands of Chinese travelled from Wuhan to Italy after their New Year celebrations in February. They were mostly factory workers who unknowingly carried the strain, causing it to spread like wildfire throughout Europe. Initially, the scientists rubbished that COVID-19 was a form of biological warfare. I came to know that all animal species have a different virus on each of them. Earlier, SARS-1 was stated to be a virus from bats to civets, which then infected humans, so also was the MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome) virus found to have originated from bats and then harboured in camels, subsequently in humans. In this connection, many years ago, the Grade-VI Bio-Safety Lab at Wuhan Institute of Virology, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - the American company headed by Dr Fauci - initiated experimenting with genetic engineering between two types of dangerous viruses as a force majeure to find advance solutions to unknown threats from nature.

Under the clout of ‘Gain of Function’ the scientists' research was to race ahead of times to mitigate any future crisis from nature. In this process, genetically modified viruses extracted from bats and rats are forged to form a monster virus or viruses and then, experiments were conducted to kill these. Hence, chimera viruses are species that contain the virus cells of two or more species. Their bodies contain two or three different sets of DNA. Incidentally, there is also a huge wet market in Wuhan where live animals such as civets, bats, mice, snakes, etc., are sold for local consumption. The theory that the COVID virus originated from the wet markets has now been brushed aside. It is now observed that such a genetically modified virus could have jumped off the labs at Wuhan. This is nothing less than a horror story, whether intentionally or accidentally. It is unbelievable that we had already entered the era of biological warfare or a conspiracy by developed nations for world domination.

Undoubtedly, the root cause for the present global crisis is man's ambition for world dominance and the research in virology seemed to be an excuse to wage an inexpensive war. It is we who should be abreast of the time and live courageously, continuing with the ‘mask’ mandate, and other safety measures and evolve new strategies to survive and truly believe that one can save himself only with true grit by investment in his body and mind; and take the role of the real Bellerophon. The monster Chimera of Greek Mythology was a combination of a lion head and front paws, she-goat in the middle waist and a deadly snake as the tail - genetically engineered by imagination by the ancient Greeks. The fantasy in the mind of the Greek writer thousands of years ago has now caught the imagination of scientific research and global politics in unleashing a monster in reality. It has been revealed in a popular social media post that the design of this Coronavirus is similar to a warhead with a sensor in the front to track the enemy aircraft and the payload behind it to destroy the aircraft. It is learnt that the virus of humans and mice were interchanged and manipulated to create a humanoid virus in mice that targets the human respiratory system and that the genetically modified virus jumped off from the Virology Lab.

The claim of one billion population as strength was part of election propaganda, but it had occurred to none that such a population explosion would also put the administration out of gear. Not that the political leaders are ignorant of it, but for it is easy to lure the mandate of the underprivileged with a cheap package to win an election, which in comparison to the hardship of being upright to debate and convince the educated and wise with selfless welfare achievements. We the people are being played but we do not realise, we blindly follow those who are leading us to damnation just like the rats that followed the pied piper; only that instead of the rodents or rabbits, we are now being experimented in the lab of politics. We are the law-abiding citizens paying taxes, providing employment, and being helpful in every mode to support the government.

Recently, it was pathetic to see members of my profession quarrelling among themselves in a WhatsApp group taking sides with a political leader of whom we know very little and who has already proved himself as a failure. The only change we have seen in the past seven years was the bad to worst and nothing better. One has to be a statesman to do good to the nation and not a politician. We the common are not powerful to make changes unless one has the support of at least half a one billion, which is never going to happen. I prefer to keep away from topics such as economic growth, stability, etc., for it leads to a political discussion in which I have no enthusiasm. After seventy four years of independence, it is time we realise that the political failures have repeatedly proved that true prosperity is possible only by individual effort and not by any deceptive manifesto. At present we are paying for the abuses against nature from the day science got better and better, and ironically suspecting that nature will create a monster. There is not a single stoic leader in our country who can own responsibility for the chaos at hand. It is only the people who are to be blamed.

I resolved to refrain from forging any new theory in addition to whatever is sponsored; for I have no such authority or knowledge to test its veracity. It is only the moral - ‘Playing God has dangerous repercussions’ which I realised in the midst of this chaos and wanted to bring it to the consideration of all. My resolve is clear in these desperate circumstances, to ration time in a miserly fashion, inspired by the quote of the ageless genius Leonardo da Vinci, “Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.” I advanced my day between the wee hours and the first break, and my first act is to prepare today’s checklist beginning with yesterday’s incomplete and to religiously follow the agenda. There’s nothing to be disappointed about, as Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius observed in his book ‘Meditations’ - “Loss is nothing but change, and change is Nature’s delight.” I am clueless as to how Mother Nature is feared as a threat by science, for it was our only saviour since creation. Nature never harms the orderly but trains them to build the immunity with Bellerophon within, to wage war against any beast.