Being a part of History.

It’s been more than two years since COVID hit us. Hit us like a brick in the face, completely unprecedented in recent years and with devastating fatalities around the world. Plagues and diseases are fairly common in the third world countries, with lesser advancements in technology and medicine. However, COVID impacted the whole world, not partial to any class of country or level of medical expertise.

A pandemic which made us rethink and reinvent- when working from home became the new normal, lockdowns and staying in became the motto. Children spent the whole year locked indoors, trying to focus on studies via online classes sans the usual in person classroom atmosphere they were so accustomed to.

When it all started, the days passed by in a blur. I personally never felt I would be affected much with staying in. This is gonna be easy peasy, I am an introvert. I don’t go out much anyway! These were my exact thoughts when all the lockdowns and restrictions started in 2020. Keeping safe and healthy are important; and thus following the norms of not stepping out unless absolutely necessary was important too.

But there is a difference in not going out and not being ABLE to go out- I discovered in some months’ time. The days, weeks and months of being cooped up at home, made me realize how much we took for granted pre COVID. All the date nights with the hubby, all the evenings out to catch a movie, the family outings and dinners, the Sunday picnics and shopping trips, just stepping out to feel the evening breeze or to enjoy a walk in the park. Even the thought or plans of a vacation out of town stopped for obvious reasons.

Patience! Patience till it ends. Or at least abates. That’s what everyone told themselves. Slowly the lockdowns ended in phases, and things began returning to normalcy. Masks and sanitizers became the new necessity to arm oneself against the dreaded virus. And things are not all normal as yet.

Waves of new variants, new symptoms, newer fears are all that we experience even today. Masking and sanitizing is still a necessity, though cumbersome. The impact of the virus rises and falls. Rises and falls. Economies have learnt to make the best of the situation, with businesses working amidst all the adversity. Consumer sentiment is better than last year, and sales have steadily begun to rise for consumer goods. However it is not the same as before.

The ship rocks in the stormy sea.

With waves crashing both sides.

All men aboard just want to flee.

They wish for the storm to subside.

For better days and sunshine rays.

For joyous laughter and gay abandon.

History books were not made in a day.

Time will take its time!