From the Desk of the Editor-in-Chief

THE world civilization has been shaken by a virus Covid- 19. We as human beings consider as the best creation of the universe, but we failed to fight an invisible virus, and  millions of lives were lost without care and respect. Time compelled us to rethink our nuclear power and the science we feel so proud of our invention. Where is the human power to fight a virus? We lost many of our friends and relatives, many known and unknown warriors of Covid-19. A back to nature and back to humanity has initiated with the historical blunders we have done. We have
destroyed the earth, the ecology, and the universe. We do not have anything to hand over to our posterity. What life do we live? Has our life and our time has given us that liberty to live a life of dignity?

When Gandhiji practiced nonviolence, many modern people laughed at him. Now consider how the states fall prey to organized violence, losing their autonomy and how the power is shifted to terrorists. They are challenging the state authority, and the people in power are helpless before them. A similar case is for ecology. How much do you detach the mind from matter? The thousand years of philosophy and moral economy have tumbled down. The way we have destroyed the earth is a great threat to humanity, and there is no scope to go back to the green world, also no opportunity to live a peaceful life with breathing air. Many challenges are cropped up in our life. We know that we still make mistakes and mistakes.

Powerful countries have become powerless. People are insecure in democracy. Again, the ghost of capitalism has spread worldwide to end the poor, not poverty. A girl from UP who took her father in a cycle crossing 1200 kilometers during a pandemic is the best example of dehumanization. Making duplicate vaccines toearn money by some people is another example of human cruelty and inhumanity. vi Now, we are conscious of our mistakes; mitigating the damage and recreating a world of the new order is a big challenge.

What literature and folklore, language, and creativity can do in this pandemic, except taking shelter in the past or ruminating the present to escape or aspire for a better future humanity. Yes, there is a hope, a hope for survival in the onslaught of death and its dreadful imagination. We must hope that humanity will survive with the heap of moribund civilization. With all these in mind, we mustered the courage to go ahead with our aim and ambition to create solidarity among the thinkers, writers, scholars and prepared this volume with a sense of grief and hope.

Meanwhile, our elder colleague, Proof Subhendu Mund, breathed his last in May 2021. He was one of the active members of the Editorial Board of this journal. His sudden demise made us helpless. What happens when a leaf or a branch of a tree is broken and fallen? We feel so without him. We feel his absence and console his family members to muster the courage. Therefore, we pay our tribute to the great soul Dr. Subhendu Mund and pray to God for his soul peace in heaven.

At the same time, some new friends have joined the Editorial Board of this journal. Of course, our presence is accidental, but the continuity of this work must be immortal to see the future world commemorating our beloved past. I thank Dr. Anand Mahanand, Dr. Subhashis Nanda, and Dr. Priyadarshini Mishra for their endeavour to bring out this work today. I also thank Prof Mark Turin, Dept of Anthropology, British Columbia University, who has always been supportive to Folklore Foundation in disseminating the journal Lokaratna to an international readership through his channel.

Mahendra Kumar Mishra