3 Glasses to see the Post-Corona World from

Taking a break from bad news to reflect on some of the unintended, yet positive consequences these unprecedented times are having around us.

From herd mentality to herd immunity, From International Relations to National Solidarity

From stepping out of comfort zone to building one inside, From Rat Race to Lockdown Phase

With this article, I wanted to highlight the silver linings, which may be known to many but are very easy to miss or get lost amid the chaotic surroundings. While I am no scientist, economist or psychologist, I do have the freedom to choose the glass through which I’d want to see everything around. And I choose to Accept-Adapt-Achieve, to take time off of being useful, and be useless instead. Times after the corona would ask for the new normal which will not happen for me if I don’t give myself this time to break the monotony, the routine, the race and the old patterns of being. 

I have decided to adjust my glass on three tangents for this article, to bring in perspective from 3P’s (People, People’s Professions, People’s Planet) and painting the post-corona world on that.

"Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don't." I can’t control the outside, but my inside. I have no power over the current times but I will on the post-corona ones.  

On that note, I’d like you take a moment to look at the cover picture of this article I designed for you and then sit back-relax, to breeze through what I have written down for you.

People:

Every individual is experiencing the societal strain of this disease in new and powerful ways in a way that we now know what passes as a ‘Need’ and what just marks as a ‘Want’ either out of FOMO, a story well played by a brand or the validation we seek from in and around. 

So during the lockdown my needs are something to eat, someplace to live, something to wear and some device connected with high-speed internet. This last addition in this list has made its place even more fixed in our lives since the Corona and this will be a nudge in all the right directions for everyone to be smart about using one’s smartphones. When all day you are locked inside with your phone, you gotta make yourself strong enough to not let it control you but the opposite instead. 

While it's clear what is an absolute necessity to live, it also puts light on a much-needed fact that we can live minimalistically, lead a sustainable lifestyle and consume in proportion while leaving some for the rest (and I did note the irony here because all people in metropolitan cities did was hogging of items during the lockdown but I assume the consumption was in proportion).

Another ray of beautiful sunshine was reflected upon the fact that at the end of all, all we have is ourselves, all we need to really like is our own company and the company of the closest kins.

Looking at this way, we can start to see more opportunities for living differently that allow us to know ourselves better in a way that we are able to sense our pains, wounds and gaps and then self-heal without the need of any external catalyst. Sounds all good to me!

People’s Professions:

COVID-19 just fast-forwarded the fourth industrial revolution and digitization of all services, including public services. Voila!

I see three major shifts happening (all in my opinion serve as a boon to us); 

From offline to online, From real to virtual and From outside to inside.

The current businesses move to online operations (leading to more efficiency and transparency), the new ones focus towards distributed network (leading to more last mile deliveries and social inclusion in terms of reachability), and lastly shifting our roots back to look like that of India’s since we now have witnessed the action-n-reaction system of the western economies (this will lead to wise utilization of raw materials to rebuild, produce something better and more humane).

All of the above silver linings appear to be quite positive for employment, earning and equitability. Having experienced a new way of living, there shall be recalibration on the behavior of spending across the nature of activities and having a strategy to navigate it—is an important part of the work.

Can we reinvent our business processes so that we halve the time we normally took to reach a decision, build a product or deliver a service? Can we dramatically lower the cost of products and services by doing radical re-designs?

This is not important just for the consumer's standpoint but from employees too. Not immediate, but there will be a decline in people’s dependence on a wage to be able to live. Currently, people are compelled to work pointless jobs because in a society where exchange value is the guiding principle of the economy, you have to buy the basic goods of life, and to buy them you need an income, which comes from a job. If the situation comes bearing strong and unique economic and political shifts, we will get to see a lot of expenditure being dedicated to health & hygiene, education and provision of basic amenities at a much affordable rate. And if the optimal way of living becomes a habit among many, people will no longer have to rely on employers as intermediaries between them and their need to fulfil their needs. 

Once this occurs, one will be able to see that are we using our resources to maximize exchanges and money, or do we use them to only maximize life?

People’s Planet:

Ah, my favorite glass to view the world from!

People are starting to realize that when we stop and retreat for a while to heal ourselves, we can also help the planet heal. People are also starting to notice that this is something they could and should carry on doing after the pandemic is over. These changes give me hope. They give us the chance to let our generations be born in a better place. They even hint at the possibility of longer term change that makes us happier and helps us tackle climate change. Isn’t this the brightest of the silver lining which makes you wonder, why did it take us so long to get here?

Coronavirus, like climate change, is partly a problem of our economic structure. Although both appear to be “environmental” or “natural” problems, they are socially driven. It will not be wrong if I say that a lil social distancing now and then can curb both. Corona-times reminded us that the balance of our planet is in danger, and we need to step up to act now. I have seen the before and after pictures from worldwide, acting as the perfect references pointing to my statement. While I loved clicking, liking and seeing such pictures, I hope we adapt to this silver lining the soonest because I’d want to continue to smell the clean air, see the blue in sky and water, hear nature's lullabies and feel the serenity around...

This is a small blip which will mark as one of the greatest historic moments to live through. It is going to go out. We will get medicines, have a definite vaccine. By 2022, everybody will forget about the virus.

But what should stay with us are—the learnings and where this should lead us to is—the growth, the refined measures and the best of our future endeavors. 

#StaySafe #StayHome #Destress #WhileYouQuarantine