CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES IN COVID-19

 “SILVER LININGS OF THE PANDEMIC”

Ok so here I am trying my best hand at delivering a blog for the very first time. As the title goes on you must be wondering about the silver lining in the pandemic darkness. Well, the only best way to combat the darkness: be the light! In a situation like this, with so much fear and uncertainty, how can we shift our perspective to see the pockets of light, to find lessons in the gloom?

Everything has its pros and cons. Well, let’s get started by breaking this blog into two segments,

                                                   THE DARKNESS

As the segment suggests we’ll be dealing with certain challenges faced during the lockdown period.

HIT ON THE CLASSES:

                                     

While the rich are quite unaffected, the worst hit are the poor and down trodden followed my middle class people. They were displaced from their working habitats and forced to migrate to their native towns suffering from hunger and thirst.  The rich including businessmen and entrepreneurs are easily cutting of their employee count to compensate their losses. But where should the people go asking for jobs when everything is shut?! The upper classes have no existential worries. It's the middle that has begun losing jobs and gaining worries. They get cheated budget after the national budget. This may be the time for the government to ensure this middle doesn't collapse. Because the burgeoning middle-class phrase has been India's USP. You lose your USP, you have no standing in the global market.

EFFECT ON THE ECONOMY:

                             

This is a truly global crisis as no country is spared. Countries reliant on tourism, travel, hospitality, and entertainment for their growth are experiencing particularly large disruptions. Emerging market and developing economies face additional challenges while coping with weaker health systems to provide support. Earlier this week, the World Bank released its Global Economic Prospects report. It expects India’s gross domestic product (GDP) to contract by 3.2% in 2020-21. There will be a moderate recovery to 3.1% growth in 2021-22. This means that 2021-22 GDP will be less than what it was in 2019-20. To be sure, India is not the only country which will face this predicament.

THE QUARANTINE MODE:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Humans are intensely social creatures. We all need company and social contact. But for many of us, being at home for long periods with a small group of people even those we love best can become frustrating. This might affect mental health leading to stress and loneliness due to limited socialising opportunities.

IMPACT ON EDUCATION:

                                               

The lockdown has generated uncertainty over the exam cycle. May be universities may face impact in terms of a slowdown in student internships and placements, lower fee collection that can create hurdles in managing the working capital.

Technology may play an important role in the lockdown period like study from home and work from home. In India, some private schools could adopt online teaching methods. Low-income private and government school may not be able to adopt online teaching methods. And as a result, there will be completely shut down due to no access to e-learning solutions. Another major concern is employment. Students those have completed their graduation may have fear in their minds of withdrawal of job offers from the corporate sector due to the current situation. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy's estimates unemployment shortage from 8.4% in mid-March to 23% in early April. In the urban unemployment rate is 30.9%.

                                                     FINDING LIGHT

With too much of challenges we shouldn’t forget to see the opportunities lockdown has blessed us with.

HEALING ENVIRONMENT:

                                  

Let’s look at it from the positive side. Mother earth seems to have rejuvenated itself – smog has given way to blue skies, marine life is seeing increased activity, pollution levels have dropped, and animals as well as birds are moving about on their own accord.  The Cities have calmed down. The Air Quality Index (AQI) sank to as low as 93 last months in New Delhi as compared to 161 in March 2019, as per IQAir reports. Even sea turtles and dolphins have been spotted returning to areas they once avoided to lay their eggs, all due to the lack human interference. There was news about elephants being spotted in some rural areas.

FAMILY TIME:

           

Most importantly we have time for our family. Time for our loved ones, just like it used to be when we were small. I expect that time will slow down and it will drag and flow as slow as honey. People will retreat from being spread out far and wide across the whole world, going back into their natural space. Maybe the teenage semi-alcoholics will see what it’s like to be without pubs, without their habitual evening freshly poured beers and instead rejoicing tea time with family. Perhaps the birth rate might increase. LOL!  In short, we are undoubtedly in for an experience of a lifetime.  For those who complain of the too-fast tempo of modern life – these are the months of your life.

SHIFT TO PEACE:

            

 People should always be glad when something derails us from our automatic routine, and this is truly a massive derailment, a derailment into peace. Suddenly, we will have to fill this emptiness with our own selves – this emptiness which happens when the muse and the noise of people quiet down, when life loses that “upgrade” of sports, arts, society, travel, etc. to which we’ve become so accustomed. There will be more time for reflection, for that hour evening darkness.

Maybe we will learn to be with ourselves more, to be ourselves. Maybe we will learn to reflect better, and if not, at least we will have time to sort through all the pictures we’ve accumulated over all these years. And then the joy when everything starts moving again. Once again, we will know the meaning of our life thanks to the mostly unnecessary work we do, and we will go back to drowning out that inner voice which speaks the most in the quiet evening hours when the end of the day draws near.

LEISURE TIME

               

There will be time to read all those books that have been lying on the shelf since years untouched. To finish all those projects, we’ve been putting off due to our regular work schedules. I myself took up painting and sketching which had left being past 5 years. And to tell u guys, it gave me utmost satisfaction. the pleasure I felt after polishing these skills is indescribable. Not only that but I tried my hand at cooking, which I used to hate at once. But now it seems a a nice pass time and I love creating new recipes all the time.

This is also the time we focus on ourselves. Our body. Our mind. Our soul which have been least attended due to fast and busy lives. Once again we can start home workouts, healthy eating habits, trying meditation or simply take a morning walk full of chirping voices of the little birds.  Also its a bonus for introverts like me, who find warmth in being alone and exploring themselves. One can enjoy uninterrupted binge watching and so much more.