Let us change for survival

Despite coronavirus showing no signs of loosening its grip over our life, a new normal is slowly emerging.

With or without a vaccine to combat COVID-19, the life after the pandemic will be significantly different from what we had before its outbreak.

Just look at the transformation that happened in our daily life from the beginning of this year to the present time. Quarantines and lockdowns have become part of our routine.

Most people have gone online whether it is for essentials or medicine. Kids who earlier relied on the internet for entertainment now use it for education. We now connect with colleagues, friends, and family through different apps and social media.

After the success in ‘work from home’ experiment, everything is now going ‘virtual’. No wonder, if remote hiring of technical talents would become the norm!

This is the technical part of life. But what about a world that is more humane with a safe environment to live in? When will man realize that he is a mere speck and not master of the universe?

Look at history, our ancestors survived all the scares – whether from wars, epidemics or any other natural calamities – when science and technology were not advanced as they are today. Rarely has the threat of fear occupied so much of their thinking as we are facing now.

True, this is an unprecedented time in our life. Fear, by design, is a warning system that puts us on alert and demands attention. The more we let ourselves carried away by catastrophic thoughts like a ‘dark tomorrow’, the more room we give to fear.

Let us do some self-introspection or soul searching. That will help us to fortify our minds to face these tumultuous times. As the virus upends the world, we should be able to renovate ourselves from being arrogant to polite, selfish to selfless, careless to careful and from senseless to sensible people.

Do not forget that the countless floods, famines and earthquakes, climate change and pandemics are nothing but a consequence of our lifestyle!