Harshul

Section 1: New Normal

Fig 1: Trend in searches of words, Lockdown, work from home and social distancing.

All of them have a huge uptick at the same time corona virus became a global pandemic and these terms were introduced to everyone’s daily vocabulary.

Fig 2: Zoom share prices which increased more than 3-fold with onset of pandemic

When the news of coronavirus emerging from the streets of Wuhan hit the world, the skepticism came along with it. Everyone I know, including me, had the belief that this was a temporary issue that would be over “before you know it,” as with all other viruses that preceded covid-19. We forgot to consider that, unlike its predecessors, this strand could go airborne and had a high reproduction number (Re).

With Italy being the first country to announce a nationwide lockdown, all the world governments had to prepare for what was going to be new normal.

The surge in google searches for the word “Lockdown” came in the 4th week of March 2020(illustration1) when most countries, including India, announced a total economic lockdown.

Government authorities gave strict instructions to shut down all the public places and people to remain in their homes unless advised otherwise.

Adaptability being human beings’ best trait, we molded our lives to the new normal. We had to complete our duties without going to places where we carry them out, with this came a new trend, work from home (WFH).

WFH saw a surge in use of technologies which could carry out those tasks effectively without people leaving the safety of their homes.

Virtual Reality was the new normal. All the classes, meetings and conferences had to be carried out virtually and effectively. The economic slump that would hit some of the economic sectors (Tourism, Hospitality) caused irreversible damage but many more sectors emerged and gained from these unprecedented times as well.

Section 2: Accepting the New Life

With the eased restrictions commencing in May to allow people’s movement across domestic borders via air, I embarked on my journey home.

The domestic airline authorities had to follow guidelines provided by the aviation authorities and government of India. As I entered Ahmedabad airport’s premises, I could sense the anxiety and restlessness in the air.

This Erie feeling was unlike any of the flights I had ever taken in life. Everyone wanted to reach home and be with their families in these challenging times.

The mask, gloves, and face shield had been provided by the airline authorities along with one water bottle and satches of hand sanitizers before getting onboard.

An indoor session of meditation and exercise was organized by my father, which I (on the right) and my brother couldn’t deny because we were all stuck at home together.

Along with my friend, I use to leave for morning walks as the air quality of our city gradually improved with the restricted movements of vehicles and shutting down of factories.

Section 3: A Blessing in Disguise

The biggest pro or con of the lockdown depending on the way we look at it, was all the surplus time we had when not indulging in outdoor activities; to utilize this significant surplus, everyone came up with new hobbies and passions and enhanced the existing ones.

For the first time, I was able to utilise 100% of all the computational power present in one of the machines in high computational lab. The algorithm I simulated ran for 7 days straight which couldn’t have been possible to run during the non-covid times.

Enhanced my grilled Sandwich making skills

I visited a friend who was practicing non-stop guitar riffs.

I planted a money plant in an empty water vessel.

Out of all the hobbies, the one that stuck with me is reading non-fiction novels and learning more about the world we live in. The first of the many books I read was Homo Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. The contents of the novel exemplified the fascination I had with the evolution of human beings. The screenshot of the timeline of history is one of the most powerful timelines I have encountered in my life. It helped me understand that we are just a blip on the scale of the universe, and everything we have done or will do will have no impact on the grand scheme of things. Nevertheless, reading seeded a novel perspective in me to appreciate life, which against all odds exists and is an accidental, random but beautiful creation of the universe.

Section 4: Socializing Virtually

Credit: Nitesh and Shaurya

Being huge Manchester United FC fans, we used to hold virtual game watching sessions; as illustrated my friends being enthusiastic people wore the jersey as well.

We also indulged in Co-op games; the first one illustrated(from the left) is overcooked 2, where 2 to 4 people cooperate to make dishes and complete tasks, which always used to lead kitchen being on fire and hilarious endings.

The second image is of another popular game Among Us, which blew up in player base by a factor of 1000 due to the nature of it being people deceiving each other with their words.

My friend Shaurya used to come up with hilarious names, which were wordplay on our actual names to spin a wheel. Whomsoever the wheel landed on had to come up with an album recommendation, and everyone had to listen to that album and write a thoughtful review biweekly.

Section 5: Some New Beginning

Before the onset of pandemic, I visited Himachal Pradesh to one of my friends who had started hospitality business on her own. As soon as the pandemic hit,

She was devasted when the lockdown was announced which halted the tourism industry. But she didn’t let it stop her and came up with an ingenious solution to convert her hostel meant for lone travellers into work from home incubator.

It was a huge success as people started pouring in and they happily accepted the 14-day quarantine mandated by the government authorities, in the beautiful valley of Jhibhi.

Her pet dog has now completely adopted the Himachal way of life and settled in the snow-laden mountains really well.

Credit: Anushka

References

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2018-12-22%202021- 0122&gprop=images&q=social%20distancing,lockdown,work%20fro m%20home

https://google.com/search?client=firefox-b- d&q=zoom+share+price+trend