The year 2020 has been a memorable one for every one of us. We shall not forget this year in our life time and we shall speak about the year to the coming generations. It has been a first of a kind. We have no idea how many more such years are to follow. But we now have some kind of a reference point.
Tell me, had you been told in the month of February 2020 that a virus would cause the entire world to shut down, humans locked up at home, unable to physically meet anyone outside your house, and if you did you would probably die. What would your reaction be to such a statement? You would perhaps ask for the name of the movie and its director. It does sound like an Aplocalypse or Dooms Day.
So many of us lost loved ones. Looking back, I see a lot of learnings to be taken from what happened around me.
The older generation seemed the most vulnerable to the virus and we began to lose them at an alarming rate. Many of us realized that we need to protect them and care for them.
The first line of defence came up. These included health workers, caregivers, security forces. They were left dying. Scientists were struggling to come up with an antidote, but such vaccines take time.
The world learnt to use the sanitizer every little while and to cover their nose and mouth. We began to distance ourselves from each other. But the human mind in a way had already found a way to reach out to each other without physically meeting. The internet saved the day. Though we could not touch each other, at least we could see and hear one another.
The long wait began for the world to open up again. One by one catastrophe struck when we began losing jobs as companies folded up. All places of gathering closed and so did jobs associated with them. And then began the long trek home for those who worked in cities away from their villages and towns. People of all age groups began filing out of cities. Some walked, some cycled, some travelled by train or by bus. Many returned from foreign lands where they studied or worked. Then the airways were shut down. Ships could not dock at ports and passengers were stuck at sea.
The non-human world meanwhile was unaffected. In fact, it thrived. With no human intervention, pollution went down in land, air and water. Marine life got a breather as did birds and plants.
Educational institutions, corporate houses, government offices were shut down. But who can curb the human will to thrive? Online classrooms and work from home began in full swing and we adapted to this new way of living.
This is 2021. Out world has opened up to an extent. But the virus refuses to die out and one wave after another hits us. But we carry on. The Vaccines are here. General awareness among people has grown, though not to the extent that would keep them safe.
Life is limping back to normal, though never quite to the pre corona days. A new reference point has come up – days pre corona or days post corona.
Thought-process 