“We needed a crisis to open our eyes to things we have always taken for granted!”

by | Jun 22, 2020 | 0 comments

Smitha Kolari Kothaneth
HR and office manager, Essential Services
Ontario
(CANADA)

The COVID-19 is an eye opener!
It has opened our eyes to many things that we have taken for granted. We have taken nature for granted to the point that we believe that all the natural resources which nature has so generously gifted us are of a never-ending supply.

We let our ignorance and our arrogance sully the beauty of Mother Nature. We stripped off nature’s essence; polluted the very air we breathe…and, even at this stage, have we stopped?

No! We continue with our rapacious deeds. We throw caution to the winds and plant more poisonous weeds! As though we hadn’t enough of the monster that has emanated from our past misdeeds!

It’s nature’s turn to react to years of torture
Haven’t the COVID-19 Corona virus already taught us enough? Hasn’t it brought us to our knees and made us open our eyes to one important aspect that we are not above Mother Nature; that we flow from it; that we are part of it and by hurting it, we are only hurting ourselves.

Haven’t we understood, at least now, that we need to co-exist with nature? Isn’t it high time that we realise that when we destroy nature, we are upsetting the natural balance and that would mean nature would in return, not by exacting revenge but following its own laws of balancing, turn against us.

And this is what is happening now.  After aeons of torturing poor earth, it is now the latter’s turn to retaliate in the form of a silent, almost invisible, but deadly virus!

Learning to live with restrictions
I live in Canada, a multi-cultural and peaceful country, which prides itself on the fact that it offers freedom to everyone. But, we are also living with restrictions like the rest of the world: maintaining six-feet distance, restrictions limiting social gatherings; staying away from the vulnerable.

We are forced to think twice before we breathe, where we breathe and how we breathe. Masks and gloves have suddenly become an important routine. But, now we know that all of this is for our own good as well as the safety of others. There was a time; I was teased for using hand sanitisers; for being extra cautious, and now I see the world in paranoia over not having enough of it!

Life is brought to a standstill
Prior to COVID-19, we saw diseases that were restricted to a certain country or a place. But now we are still reeling under the trail of destruction that a tiny virus has left in its wake. It has destroyed everything that it has touched, bringing life to a standstill. But, gradually, we are learning to work around closures and lockdowns; we are learning to make adjustments!

All are tuned into the virtual world
And we bow down our heads to thank the creators of the Internet. We should be eternally grateful to them because even today despite being in a situation like this, we still have a parallel world, which allows us to exist virtually. Suddenly, all those things that we thought as inconvenient and difficult have now become the only methods to maintain uninterrupted continuity.

Our methods of shopping for groceries and supplies have gone from in-store to online. Organisations are in a race to function in the virtual world. Professions that we could never imagine to adapting online have caught on to being hosted on the web.

The not-so-preferred home-schooling technique is how our children are “attending” school today. Universities and colleges too have announced online lectures. We see our kids glued on to their devices even more now. Do we like how the world is evolving to suit the need of the hour? Probably not! But we have to accept that it seems to be the new reality.

Learning to care all over again
And it is not bad and sad all the way! Some pros have come along with the cons too. The element of family and friendship is given a new meaning; it has become even more significant. We now ensure that we make time for each other.

Even if we don’t live together, we make it a point to check on each other. We have learnt to become less selfish by genuinely caring for the well being of others. We have learnt, all over again, how to respect one another’s physical space.  Hope we will keep it as such.

This way or that – not sure?
At the onset of COVID-19, it was all about fear. Probably, because the world had forgotten what was important and what were the priorities. It has slowed us down. And now we are learning to be prudent by ranking our essential needs over our fears.

When will normalcy prevail? We are still unsure. Even after the pandemic, it will take some time for us to trust the facilities we have around us, however good they may be. Today’s younger generations will be left confused as to what is the right way to do things.

As much as we do not want to lose the element of human interaction, we also see the importance of social distancing. It is a difficult situation to explain.

Many changes on the anvil
There will be changes on the commercial and business front. A lot of physical stores will be disappearing. Many known brands will cease operation. Companies that are benefiting from the current “work from home” facility economically as well as enjoying the time saving and employee productivity are soon going to cut down on the requirement of commercial property.

All business initiatives will be mandated to include safety and pandemic risk measures.  We will also see a pause on inflation all over the world.

The real super heroes
In the time of this pandemic, we must to be ever so thankful to our frontline workers and essential service providers for their relentless services.  Never forget that they are the real super heroes.

In return for their services, the least we could do is respect their sacrifices and continue to do what is asked of us by doing our part. Now is not the time to downplay or become complacent of safety measures. So, let’s pledge to stay safe — for ourselves and others!

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