‘We hardly lived before we died'

PANDEMICS IN THE PAST HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD ORDER. WILL COVID-19 DO THE SAME?

- ISHAN KUKRETI

IN 1857, when Indian soldiers of the British army rose against their colonial employers, district officials observed a curious pattern in villages. If there was a cholera outbreak in a village it would send chapattis to the head of all the neighbouring villages. The chapattis were a way for the people to warn other villages about the arrival of cholera—one of the biggest killers of the 19th century. The fear of the disease also led people risking their lives by revolting against the British.

Cholera, or the “Indian” cholera—much like “Chinese” virus—was one of the worst pandemics of the world in 19th century. Between 1817 and 1920, the pandemic killed 19 million people worldwide; of this 8 million died in India.