The world after COVID19

Everything's gonna be alright.

Yeah! But it won't be by itself, we will have to make it right.

They say, this tough time will pass and soon we will get back to normal again.

Well, before we return to that 'normal' and while we still have some time amid this global lockdown, let's think about it.

"Was it really 'normal'?" OR "We 'normalized' it."

I feel, it wasn't normal. And even if you think it was normal, you should consider this seriously because that 'normal' is what brought us here in the first place.

During this long process of evolution (especially the last few centuries), we humans, have normalized racism, casteism, greed, consumerism, over-exploitation of resources, inequality, hoarding, rage, negativity, poverty, starvation, ignorance... and a lot more.

Is this the way humans were meant to live? Is this the way we were meant to spend our lives? Were we meant to spend our life in longing for something that we don't have, and don't value it once we get it; and long for something else and not appreciating what we already have?

I don't think so. I think, we were meant to live in congruity with nature; in a happy, recharging, fresh environment filled with positivity and cooperation.

"Rather than longing to return to the said 'normal', shouldn't we redefine our definition of normal?"

We should grab this opportunity to rebuild ourselves and our society; brick by brick, in conformity with nature and all other living and non-living entities on the planet. We should also work towards building a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable economy with a balanced approach between development and environment.

If I had said this earlier, many people would have argued that it is not possible to change habits overnight and we can't simply go back to being nomads again for the sake of nature or any other species.

But this global pandemic has brought the world to standstill. It has changed too many things; the way we live, the way we think and the way we perceive the world.

Most of you may have already realised that those activities that you once considered essential and a part of your routine, are not as essential as you thought it to be. You can gradually reduce the frequency of it if not abstain from it completely.

It is said that, 'Old habits die hard.' This global lockdown resulted in many of you being forced to stop your age old habits or alter it to a significant extent, that too, overnight. You weren't given some time to adjust with it. It just happened, suddenly, overnight. And yet, you all managed to survive it.

Apart from unhealthy habits like smoking, excessive drinking, tobacco or chewing gutkha, even healthy habits like going to gym, swimming or exercising had to be done away with or altered.

If someone had told you to alter these habits or do away with it earlier, you might have found it impossible. But you had to do it anyway.

Extroverts were forced to stay at home and practice social distancing which was difficult for many of them. Even Introverts like me, who seem to be less affected, had to compromise on their activities of interest like traveling, hiking, sauntering in nature, etc. and some of you may have been forced to cope with a family that doesn't understand the need of introverts and treat them wrong for their nature.

Some of you may have realised that going to movie every friday, partying, etc. is not as important as you thought it to be and you can manage to live without it. You don't need too much to stay alive. Basically you need only a few things to survive and most other things are just adding a flavour to your life. You may have realised that the actors, sportsmen, singers etc. get more respect and attention than they deserve compared to scientists, doctors and other social service oriented people. You may have realised how that caged bird would be feeling when it has been blessed with the wings to fly around the world and still can't go out of that small cage.

This criris has also exposed major weaknesses within the western capitalist economies. It has revealed that the rich are as fragile as the poor, spending on public health is more important than spending on military and nature recovers great without us.

When the dust settles, we will realise that the #UNFCCC target to hold the rise in global average temperature below 1.5˚C above pre-industrial levels is not that much difficult to achieve if Humanity wants to do so.#PositivesOfLockdown #COVID19

— Aditya Patel (@TheAmblingSoul) March 27, 2020

This crisis has come as an eye-opener for humanity as it challenges our presumptions of being the most superior race on earth. We must accept that even though we have conquered the 'LIFE' we are yet to conquer 'DEAD' and perhaps we are nowhere near in doing so at least in near future.

Here, by LIFE, I mean all the creatures on the planet whom we have subjugated with our mighty brain and treated them as inferior to human race. As Harari quoted in sapiens, 'we have the dubious distinction of being the deadliest species in the annals of life and even before the Industrial Revolution, Humans hold the record among all organisms for driving the most plant and animal species to their extinctions.'
By DEAD, I mean non-living Viruses which, from time to time, challenge our hegemony. We have successfully developed vaccines against most of their predecessors, be it Polio, Influenza, Rabies..., but isn't it also true that viruses have also evolved with evolution of our vaccines? May be they won't be able to wipe us out completely but they can surely make us live in fear, force us to change our habits and lifestyle for quite a long time if not forever. (We are witnessing it right now with novel corona virus COVID19, don't we? ) 
Eventually, we will find our way out of this because that's what we do. That's who we are, Humans; we can not be wiped out by a virus or even an asteroid. We always survive, even the deadliest of epidemics or calamities. But at what cost? Can't we take some other way where development can go hand in hand with environment. Can't we adjust our lifestyle to make it more harmonious to nature.

Even a month without human exploitation has brought miracles to nature. Forget about efforts to heal the nature, our inactivity alone has brought significant positive change in nature. It shows that the nature recovers great without us.
Our cities are not as polluted as they used to be and the air quality in major cities has improved.
Dhauladhar range which is a part of lesser Himalaya and is about 200 km away from Punjab, is visible from Jalandhar.
Despite spending millions in various rejuvenation plans over the decades, the Ganga remained a severely polluted river. But with minimal or no human interferance (Industrial effluents and human activity at the ghats including bathing), the Ganga is now cleaner than ever, that too without spending anything.

Don't we understand that we are no less than a virus for this environment?

What would it take for us to learn our lessons? Another virus? or an apocalypse? Think about it.

(To be continued...)

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