A young Bohra man reflects on the power of community and collective action

English transcript | نسخة عربية

Nationality: Indian
Occupation: Freelance supplies and logistics specialist
Date of interview: 06 July 2020
Language of interview: English

Mohammed is a member of the Indian Daoodi Bohra community, a relatively small but close knit sect of Shia Muslims which has a significant diaspora group living in Kuwait. His life revolves around this close community--where he lives, works, prays, socializes... He has compromised on the apartment he lives in, just so that he can be in a neighborhood with everyone he feels close to. Daily life is normally meeting and chatting with friends at the mosque, going for an evening stroll to debrief from the day and relieve stress with friends, meeting up for meals and religious celebrations. Every aspect of his world is rooted in this connection and communal experience, and it feels “homey”. 

Now though, COVID has driven everyone inside, and completely brought this communal life to a stop. He believes the psychological toll has been heavy on everyone. Mohammed cannot risk mixing with others because he is uncertain of their beliefs and practices regarding COVID.  He says it’s hard to know who will put you at risk, and you do not want to put others at risk either.  If someone had told him in January that they would be living like this, trapped inside their four walls, encouraging their children to use their devices for entertainment, never having their community lunches, coffees and dinners, he would have “freaked out”. He is amazed, actually, at how adaptable and resilient people are in the face of such challenges-- unable to visit family abroad, unable to meet up with people in Kuwait, he would have thought people would not be able to handle it. But his kids are suffering; they are lethargic, they only walk about 70 steps a day and don’t remember what it's like to ride a bike or to play with friends. The adults have taken to having meet-ups online, especially when someone needs to be consoled and helped through a rough patch. This has replaced their gatherings. He says for rich people with houses, they might be able to go out on their terrace and barbecue or get fresh air, but apartment dwellers are boxed in.

Work has been hit hard. People have been using up all their savings and there are many layoffs and salary cuts - very few people can afford to help one another out. But the community has used their database to map who is in the worst situation, and make sure that people get food assistance and, most importantly, psychological support. Mohammed tells the story of a man in debt for a loan, suffering from depression and anxiety. No one could pay the loan, but the whole community banded together and found people who knew the lender and approached him to defer the loan until they were all working again and could help resolve the debt. This made them realize how much they could do, together, without lots of cash, to ease the burden on their community. They coordinated grocery shopping, created food boxes and a safe distribution system to reduce the number of people leaving their homes and being exposed. Helping people feel less fearful and less alone was as important as food aid. Materialism almost became taboo, because health, family and faith were what was important. Mohammed felt amazed by frontline workers, and his community’s volunteers, and found great personal satisfaction in organizing and distributing resources to the community.  

“I've learned more in this, in this pandemic... I've suddenly started learning that, security is not when you have a... truckload of money in your bank account. Security is not only, you have a nice little house. Security is when somebody calls up and says, ‘Buddy, let me know in case you need something right, I'm around.” 

In the clip above, Mohamed describes some of the efforts made by the Bohra community to stay connected during this time.

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