Good bye 2020 ! Thanks for the lessons !!

Image from Google 

For the last two weeks, my WhatsApp messages are buzzing with holiday pictures from friends. Facebook/Instagram are no different stories. It feels great to see those pictures indicating some semblance of "normalcy" return to life! However, I can't help thinking about the time when we finally get rid of sanitizers, masks, protocols of maintaining social distance and be able to venture out without an iota of worry or care and meet our family and loved ones.

2020 has been a complete blur! And now that it is about to end, its scars are going to be etched in our minds forever. The year has been a painfully challenging time for most of us. A year ago, the world was all set to celebrate the new year with dreams and hopes in heart and a joyous spirit!

Alas, the new year started with the news of Sars Covid-19, and it rapidly spread globally. The world has spent an entire year fighting Covid and still continues to. A tiny virus wrought disruption in our lives and how! Before one could comprehend the seriousness of the situation, there came rigorous lockdown wreaking havoc for the economy. How can one forget the inhuman crisis and exodus of migrant workers? While we still continue our crusade against the pandemic, the count of deaths caused so far has reached lakhs. Yes, this has been a painful reality to comprehend and live with. 2020 made us go through one challenge after another. From Nature's fury - the thunderstorms, floods, wildfires, locust swarms, volcanic eruptions, or political unrest, the year felt like a series of horrors! No wonder Time magazine calls the year "The worst year ever."

As we slowly limp back to the "unlocked" world with the gut-wrenching stories of the loss of loved ones deeply buried in our hearts, the world appears to be still bleeding with the disruption. There is clearly a monumental shift from the world we have known so far. As the new "normal" of work, business, travel, and life, in general, unfolds each day, the economy is slowly limping back too. There is a constant struggle in coming to terms with our new reality; the need to learn to live with the virus till the vaccine is finally accessible to one and all.

Yes, we are learning to adapt to this paradigm-bending new world, still trying to heal ourselves. And while we are learning to move on, let's not forget some important lessons this pandemic taught us: 

This year has given us a rare opportunity to pause and reflect on who we are and where we are headed as a human race. 

Our outlook towards life has changed; in the way we perceive, act, and respond. We may not realize it, but we are witnessing a turning point that has altered our lives forever.

 

The countless stories of the unsung heroes who went above and beyond the call of duty and served have been truly inspiring!

The pandemic made us test our resilience, patience, and strength. It is fascinating to observe human beings adapt to life-threatening situations and find coping mechanisms. Social media has indeed served as a boon helping people connect at different levels. 

The year has highlighted the transient nature of life and compelled us to realign our life in general. 

The most important lesson for the world this pandemic has imparted is the importance of human connection.

 

2020 has also revealed a lot about me. The work-life balance has not been easy to maintain without domestic help. It tested my strength and pushed me to achieve things that I never knew were possible. It has been a blessing spending time with my family. 2020 made me grateful for all the blessings that are usually taken for granted. The year made me realize what a privilege being alive is! 

As the world gets busy with welcoming the year 2021, let's not forget the pandemic is not going to disappear at the stroke of 12 on new year's eve. We still have a long way to go before the pandemic is finally over. All we need to do to emerge safe and alive from this calamity is to pause and ask ourselves what were we chasing all this while and was it worth all the pain? 

Before I close this last article for the year 2020, here is wishing all the readers of this blog a happy, healthy, meaningful, prosperous, and peaceful year 2021! Stay healthy, stay safe. 

Stepping into the "new normal" !

The lockdown has finally lifted. Life is slowly getting out of oblivion after almost three long months since the COVID outbreak. The initial panic has subdued, and a sense of surrender and acceptance has set in. The new "normal" of work, business, travel, and life, in general, is being written each day while the economy is slowly limping back.

Our struggle for these past few months to emerge strong has taken its toll. While we make efforts to cope with the new normal, thinking about the basic survival going forward in this changing world that looks completely different in a matter of just a few months! 

Amidst these extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, we all have changed in our outlook towards life; in the way we perceive, act, and respond. We may not realize it, but we are witnessing an epoch-making moment; a history in making, a turning point that has altered our lives forever!

Who would have thought that simple, routine tasks like venturing out to buy essentials would feel nothing less than an adventure! With the masks and gloves on, fingers crossed, and our hearts filled with trepidation, this is how we would go out henceforth in this "new" world. 

One feels a bit of anxiety about maintaining a safe distance during interactions. A sense of unease is evident in the eyes of people as there is an awkwardness about not being able to extend simple courtesies like shaking hands and hugging. The pandemic has pushed these very basic human gestures into a "danger" zone, and we have no option but to adapt and change the way we interact and socialize.

The normalcy of the past is quickly fading away. As the days blur into one another, laced with all-pervading anxiety, it gives a sense of living in a time warp. Having lost a sense of continuation of the time, we are losing track of the calendar. 

The streets have opened but are bereft of their soul. There are few people on the roads and the rhythm of life on the streets seems to have lost its balance.  That quintessential, fascinating hum and din, that constant clamour, the strong smells that assail all the senses, all these features that serve as the background and look like neverending scrolls of life have gone blank!  

While we struggle to come to terms with our new reality, there is a deep longing for our seemingly mundane, old routines and simple joys of life like;

taking a walk on the beach with bare feet, 

inhaling the smell of the ocean, 

visiting art galleries and museums and witness art that grows over you, 

moving about freely at the public places and smiling at complete strangers,

spontaneous conversations that forge new friendships,

take a stroll around the city for street photography,

long drives with family on the weekends,

travel to different places, 

visiting the spa, 

meeting friends for lunch and gossip,

a warm hug from a special someone on a date, 

lying on the grass, covered with fresh dew, just because

sitting on a park bench, exhausted, after a long walk and observe people passing by

being part of a crowd, 

going for a movie, play or cultural event,

words that warm your heart, 

lines from the books that stay with you,

music that keeps playing in your mind,  

making a list of "things to do' for the day and fussing over it...

Yes, what would one not give to resume all that we love doing,  just like the times before the COVID paralyzed our life? 

As we adapt to the "new normal" and heal ourselves from this experience, let's not forget that life is driving this monumental shift as a sign of something bigger, much significant for us to realize. We are given this rare opportunity to pause and reflect on who we are, where we are headed, and reconnect with our inner self and life and find our true purpose.