From where and how humans have got this concept that their life is precious?

How deeply do human mourn the death of their loved ones?

For this question, I went to the tribal areas of India. I enquired from many tribal elders about how they see death.

This question was triggered especially during the COVID crisis when I saw the sheer fear, lamentation and miseries of many of us. It was a time of big loss for many of us. It was hard to accept and bear the pain of the loss of our loved ones.

I enquired from many tribals people but they couldn’t understand my question or I couldn’t ask them the question properly. It was difficult to explain and for someone to understand the question.

Then I asked again “How much do you give importance to life now than before? Is there an attachment towards life that has deepened further?”

I learnt from a tribal elder in the forest village of Chhattisgarh. He belonged to the Baiga tribe. He said, “Earlier we used to accept death as nature’s decision. Nature has given us birth and it’s taken our life back. We used to mourn hardly a day. Now, we mourn for days. We repent how we couldn’t do this treatment to the patient, how we couldn’t take him to the doctor. So much mourning and repentance.”

I asked an MBBS doctor posted at the Primary health centre in the village of Chhattisgarh, India. This doctor has chosen to stay back in the PHC even after he completed his tenure here. He aims to provide the best treatment for the villagers. He has reduced the rate of malaria deaths hugely and guided the villagers on how to take preventive measures for preventive diseases.

I asked the doctor ‘How do people here give importance to life?’

He said straightforwardly “They don’t care about life. Many times I suggest they go to district hospitals as treatment facilities aren’t available for advanced diseases. However, natives would say ‘Give treat here (PHC) or we will go back home. Let our child die we’ll have more children or let our person die”.

It may sound very harsh to many of us. See it from the perspective who has lived close to nature and accepted nature as the only environment and power to live around.

I asked many of the forest dwellers if they get Rs 20000 per month salary will they stay in the city. They said “Life in the city is all about money. What we will do with the money? Our forest is good for us. We get everything from here. We have fresh air and our people here.”

After discussing and understanding the tribal life which seems to be closest to nature with all its softeners and harshness and neutrality, I learnt forest dwellers used to have three main parts of life.

Those three parts were -

* Foraging and growing food,

*Give birth to children as deaths were common. If children survive for around 6–8 years then they have a chance of longer life. Given the uncertainty of life having more children was a need also. Since foraging food and growing food need more people and living in the forest needs a community giving birth or having more children was an important part of life.

*Community celebrations, festivals, folk songs.

Perhaps, life was accepted to these three aspects. Perhaps, people were content with it.

I can imagine it might sound very harsh to anyone to read such harshness of life. One might question how much pain one had to bear in giving birth to many children.

Indeed, pain is there. I saw a tribal woman who was eight months pregnant, carrying 10 kg of rice and other ration on her head and a child tucked to her bosom walking around a kilometre. I followed her to her home after her permission.

I enquired about her pregnancy. She said “ I have heard in cities women have pain during delivery but we don’t care much about pain. Here, one delivers the baby by oneself or if needed someone else will help. Mother will stand up in a short while, clean the blood and other waste by herself.”

She said, “we go to the hospital after delivering the child so that we can get the child registered under the government schemes.”

There is a question for us. Pain, especially physical pain of any sort irrespective of gender has always been there. However, how our evolution might have impacted our tolerance to bear the pain? As much as we are growing under modern development and seeking more comfort, are we becoming more and more pain intolerant?

I see myself when I have pain how sooner I start to imagine seeing a doctor or hospital for any advanced treatment.

It’s a good thing to get relief from the pain. However, how much and to what level do we need relief from pain or how long do we want to live a life?

One of my relatives who is 70 years old diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. The doctor suggested a liver transplant. His daughter offered the liver. His son arranged money and other things. Both of his children cared for their father as well as they could.

The entire surgery and treatment would have cost them around 40–45 lakh. They sold their lands. They borrowed money. His son had to leave his work. A halt in the son’s income means increased mental pressure on his son as he has to look after his wife and son.

He lived for five years after the transplant. After the surgery, he made many rounds to the doctor in one of the metro cities 1000 km from his town.

One of my other relatives was diagnosed with the same disease. He was 64 and healthy enough with a good enough bank account and many people were ready to donate liver to him but he refused. He said “I have lived my life. I have fulfilled all my responsibility to my family. I don’t want any cut in my body at this age. He died almost peacefully within three years.

I feel it is on us to realise and understand how much we need to prolong our lives given the advanced medication. I am not dishonouring the advanced medicines which have helped humanity throughout. At the same, we need to learn how much it has made us precarious.

We need to find out from where we have evolved our instinct behaviour to control things, nature and outcomes. As much as I understand our current instinct behaviour of controlling things might not be as strong in pre civilisation time as it is today.

For example, our emotions of jealousy might not be as strong as it is today. Jealousy emotions might have evolved since the time of civilisation or around the time of agriculture.

Above all thoughts and opinions are my conjecture or part of self-exploration.