the dawn of 2020 promised many things - a new year, new decade of hopes and aspirations, exciting moments in the years to come and the general upbeat mood that humans develop at the drop of a hat! this was understandable since the previous decade had not been exactly a smooth ride, with recessionary outlooks waxing and waning, orange haired humans "winning" elections and an inexplicable rise in the price of wine!
but then the coronavirus and its associated malady covid-19 appeared, first as a dark halo on a part of china that not many people had heard of, and then across the world at a rate that made bush fires seem like a gentle amble in the bramble. people blamed the rapid spread on everything from globalisation to global warming to climate change to bats to pangolins to right wing or left wing conspiracies. at last count, over 3.75 million people had been infected and over 250,000 have died.
young and old, famous and ordinary, men and women, all have been affected and battered by this virus which is a little over 65 nm in size. which means that a hundred million of them could ruminate comfortably on a pinhead. a new word entered the lexicon - lockdown - which sent dreams, hopes and aspirations crashing out of the window. masks, hitherto seen as halloween or comic book character accessories, became an essential wardrobe function. gloves, so beautifully and artfully portrayed by audrey hepburn in "breakfast at tiffanny's" became mere plastic or latex coverings. and a new hashtag appreared: #stayhome. since the virus is an infectious disease and needs a human to replicate, it appeared relatively easy to beat this beast - stay home and avoid crowds!
these five words have led to an economic, social and cultural meltdown because they have hit the very core of human interaction - the social contract that pushes man above the level of the animal.
many learned people and experts (how do you became a global autority on covid-19 in 3 months?) have pontificated, sometimes gloomily, sometimes optimistically, about the effects of this virus. works and phrases like "new natural", "post-covid world scenario" are doing the rounds everywhere. i will not add to the syntax and vocabulary here. the next months and years are a blank page. we just have no template / case study / user review to guide us on what will happen.
but i want to show and tell a couple of "happy points" which, while they may not assuage and alleviate, may at least provide a spark of hope and a suggestion of the way forward for what could be a decade of new, agile and responsible society and business, or a deca"y"de of economies ripped asunder, global contractions, increased inward focus and gloomy outlooks. the choice will devolve upon us!
nature has started reclaiming the world. humans are realising, slowly, that too much of too much can be too much. paul simon said "slow down you're moving too fast". we need to take him seriously. people are reporting sightings of nature that had not been seen for years and decades! this is an indication that while the current situation is terrible, heart-rending and completely out of even "black swan predictions", a balanced cohabitation (the french mean this in a different context of course) and course correction could restore health and equanimity.
we will have to learn new ways of doing old things, we will discover new things and situations which didnt exist in a pre-covid reality, and we will adapt with the kind of breathtaking speed that makes us come out of any situation, battered, bruised but truimphant.
a sense of what should, and what shouldn't be, has to prevail. again, the choice is ours.
but then the coronavirus and its associated malady covid-19 appeared, first as a dark halo on a part of china that not many people had heard of, and then across the world at a rate that made bush fires seem like a gentle amble in the bramble. people blamed the rapid spread on everything from globalisation to global warming to climate change to bats to pangolins to right wing or left wing conspiracies. at last count, over 3.75 million people had been infected and over 250,000 have died.
young and old, famous and ordinary, men and women, all have been affected and battered by this virus which is a little over 65 nm in size. which means that a hundred million of them could ruminate comfortably on a pinhead. a new word entered the lexicon - lockdown - which sent dreams, hopes and aspirations crashing out of the window. masks, hitherto seen as halloween or comic book character accessories, became an essential wardrobe function. gloves, so beautifully and artfully portrayed by audrey hepburn in "breakfast at tiffanny's" became mere plastic or latex coverings. and a new hashtag appreared: #stayhome. since the virus is an infectious disease and needs a human to replicate, it appeared relatively easy to beat this beast - stay home and avoid crowds!
these five words have led to an economic, social and cultural meltdown because they have hit the very core of human interaction - the social contract that pushes man above the level of the animal.
many learned people and experts (how do you became a global autority on covid-19 in 3 months?) have pontificated, sometimes gloomily, sometimes optimistically, about the effects of this virus. works and phrases like "new natural", "post-covid world scenario" are doing the rounds everywhere. i will not add to the syntax and vocabulary here. the next months and years are a blank page. we just have no template / case study / user review to guide us on what will happen.
but i want to show and tell a couple of "happy points" which, while they may not assuage and alleviate, may at least provide a spark of hope and a suggestion of the way forward for what could be a decade of new, agile and responsible society and business, or a deca"y"de of economies ripped asunder, global contractions, increased inward focus and gloomy outlooks. the choice will devolve upon us!
nature has started reclaiming the world. humans are realising, slowly, that too much of too much can be too much. paul simon said "slow down you're moving too fast". we need to take him seriously. people are reporting sightings of nature that had not been seen for years and decades! this is an indication that while the current situation is terrible, heart-rending and completely out of even "black swan predictions", a balanced cohabitation (the french mean this in a different context of course) and course correction could restore health and equanimity.
we will have to learn new ways of doing old things, we will discover new things and situations which didnt exist in a pre-covid reality, and we will adapt with the kind of breathtaking speed that makes us come out of any situation, battered, bruised but truimphant.
a sense of what should, and what shouldn't be, has to prevail. again, the choice is ours.
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