‘2020’. The number itself is enough
to remind us of everything that we do not want to remember. The year 2020 has
become a metaphor for anything unpleasant, be it a bad day, bad food or bad mood.
Everyone seems to be eager to bid goodbye to this year, with a hope that the
pandemic, too, will leave the mankind for good. I remember writing my blog
around this same time last year reverberating about everything that the past
decade had given us, with a hope that the new decade would start on a positive
note and give us more reasons to celebrate. And it did, until the month of
March. When I look back at 2020, I think that January and February were still
part of the normal years before. Reports say that coronavirus has had the most
news coverage after the second world war given that the pandemic too shook the
entire world to its core.
In the ‘normal’ months of January
and February, life seemed to continue at the same fast pace. Going to crowded
places was still normal. I passed my last leg of German language learning with
flying colours in January and thought that it was an indication that the best
year had just started. While visiting the colourfully crowded Kalaghoda fest in
February, never did it once strike me that crowded places like these were
something to be avoided going forward. I always look forward to next vacation
when one gets over. Hence, when I went on a short trip to Mahabaleshwar in
February with an expectation that a longer vacation awaited later, little did I
know that it was the only vacation that I could enjoy this year. Covid-19
indeed taught us to put question mark next to everything that we may have
planned.
While Covid-19 was lurking in the
dark and had already reached other countries, life continued to be normal in
India. Business as usual. Until then we were only hearing and reading reports
about the virus which had originated in Wuhan. The toll on lives that it was
taking, the countries that were getting affected, everything was coming to us
in form of numbers and statistics. Waves of fear started building up. The
importance of clean hands, personal hygiene and need for social distancing started
gaining impetus. I remember when I heard about the first case found in Mumbai
when I was in office. Social distancing while traveling in local trains of
Mumbai? Next to impossible! While traveling by train that day, I suspiciously
looked at passengers around with a fear that one or some of them may actually
be carrying the virus, like some weapon under a garb. We were soon told to work
from home to avoid the risk of infection. While clearing my desk on my last day
in office, I felt that the virus, just like a common cold or fever will go away
in a matter of few days and life would soon resume to normal. Work from home
seemed to be just a temporary setup of working nine months ago.
Soon the series of lockdowns
started, and free movement became restricted. Masks became part of our couture,
hand sanitizers, a must-have thing when outside. We were confined to our homes.
Public places looked deserted, offices and public transport void of human
presence. Home became an office away from office. Organisations around the
world understood and adopted the new model of working from home and accepted it
for the long run as well. With commuting time now reduced to zero, productivity
improved, and also the hours became longer for some. Most organisations these
days have a paperless way of working and hence the need to go to office
everyday was worth contemplating. In fact, the pandemic encouraged the heavily
paper dependent organisations to go digital and invest more in IT
infrastructure. Virtual meetings, workshops and trainings have kept us
connected to the world of business from comfort of our homes. Those who thought that work from home was as
good as a ‘holiday’ or a way to shirk work and had trust issues when anyone
requested for work from home, had no alternative but to accept this new way of
working. Thus, we learned that an adversity could give birth to new mindsets
and thought processes as well.
‘No touch’ policy became a thumb
rule. Today we see Zomato/ Swiggy and other online delivery platforms living up
to that promise and delivering food or products with utmost care. Few months
back, while I was still apprehensive about ordering anything online, I decided
to try something new. Staying at home gave me more time to read my books and
finish them faster than before. Thus, my stock of hard copy books was rapidly
diminishing. Replenishing that stock by ordering online or going out to buy
books was a risk I was hesitant to take. Thus, I converted from being a
paperback to eBook lover. I realised that books can be interesting in any form,
as the plot of the book is something that matters the most. Though paperbacks
still remain my favourite, the time during lockdown taught me to welcome and
embrace the technologically advanced face of books as well. Thanks to the gift
of time and this experiment of trying out something different, I could finish
reading 27 books this year including eBooks. Thus, books and OTT platforms
helped to pacify my ‘fernweh’ or desire to travel in this unprecedented year,
as they provided me with some window to the outside world. This year also
taught me to pay more attention to my physical and mental wellbeing. I got more
time to exercise and wholeheartedly ate only homemade food, which made me
appreciate the value of these simple yet essential aspects of life. I could
invest the time saved from tiring commute in my hobbies and spend more time
with my loved ones. I was glad that I could get to learn some new things at
work, though the days seemed busier than in office. I felt capable and
confident enough to take some challenges, as the second name of 2020 is ‘Challenges’.
That is how the world looks today.
Covid-19 came, it surely scared and continues to scare the world. But humans
have evolved a lot in these last few months. I believe that it is not only
survival of the fittest, but also of the bravest. Humans have become resilient
or should I say like in the book ‘Ikigai’, “antifragile”, which means
that a calamity like Covid-19, instead of making us fragile, has made us even
stronger to combat it. Take simple example of Dharavi, the massive slum in
Mumbai, where zero cases were reported two days ago since the outbreak of
coronavirus. India’s recovery rate is improving and the number of reported
cases is falling, which is a harbinger of upcoming good times. Yes, the world
is slowly turning to normalcy. Roads, malls and shops look busy again with
safety measures and with masked faces. Facebook and Instagram are again flooded
with wedding and vacation pictures. We are phoenixes who are slowly coming out
of the ashes, all set to fly again, literally as well as metaphorically.
I started the year with the book ‘The
Alchemist’ thus venturing into a self-help genre for the first time. The
book is acclaimed worldwide and it rightly deserves to be so as it talks about
how wonderful life can be. When I think of that book today and about the
‘Elixir of Life’ mentioned in it i.e., a liquid potion which heals diseases and
grants long life, I imagine that the intense efforts for vaccine today seem no
less than the search for Elixir of Life. Scientists all over the world were and are
still burning the midnight oil to come out with a vaccine and their efforts are
bearing fruits too, with some countries having begun with the vaccinations. 2020
will always be etched on our memory as a year of losses and pessimism, when the
proud and advanced world was brought to its knees. I would say 2020 should be
thought as year of retrospection, where we changed as individuals by being
grateful for all that we have, learned to respect Nature and her sanctity,
valued the gift of time and money by using them wisely. With this new and
updated version of us, let’s turn over a new leaf in 2021 and make this world a
healthier, happier and balanced space for all.
