Battling Covid-19 as a business, a team and an Indian

Team Building through Trauma

Since March 2020, we have seen our industry bleed together, zoom together, furlough together, and fight the futile fight of demanding subsidies together. It’s not been easy. We have been guided by our inherent and undying spirit of hope, resilience and camaraderie. We have been grateful, and we have powered through to survive and heal. Although weaker as a business, we are stronger as a team, and we continue to trudge along “together towards tomorrow”.

Droplets of Courage, Compassion and Care

A year into the pandemic, our team - smaller now - is bruised, battered and continues to be ravaged by Covid-19. This time around, the fear is real and the threat is to life much before livelihood. This week has been tough. As the situation kept getting worse last week, we setup a ‘STIC SOS’ task force of volunteers to help employees battling with Covid. It started with a cry for help from one of our colleagues desperately trying to find Oxygen for her brother and a hospital bed for her father. We tried to help. We were a task-force of 5 that day, our efforts provided more comfort than concrete assistance but we managed to be of some use. Fortunately, they are doing ok. Since then, our band of volunteers has grown to 20, and we rally together every day to aggregate information and resources in the hunt for beds, medicines, oxygen and trustable advice to help save lives of our team members and their loved ones. 

We are united by our need to feel useful and our fear of losing someone we know. It’s a drop in the ocean, but we still believe that every drop counts. 

Strength from Solidarity

Over the past ten days, my leadership team and I have received messages/calls/emails from friends and colleagues around the world. I am touched by each reach out, and encouraged by every word of kindness. Today, our country burns as the world watches, as helplessly as we do. Humanity reaches out and does whatever they can so fewer people have to experience the horrors that millions already have. It’s no longer about immunity, but about access to resources and infrastructure any civilised society should have. We draw our strength from the solidarity expressed by those who can see the pain of our loved ones, our teammates, our neighbours and our friends. Tiny acts of kindness come together from unexpected quarters, and India gasps into another day of turmoil. 

Hope from the Horrors

What does it mean for business? I believe that it means there will, eventually, be a brighter future. Because as dire as the situation is, humanity trumps politics. Faith will survive fear, and if anything, the craving for human interaction and exchange will be even stronger when the world is ready to emerge from this pandemic. The fight, today, is for survival. Surviving the surge; the setbacks and finding opportunities to scrape through these times with the resources and possibilities that remain. 

To my friends and colleagues in the Indian travel industry: Don’t give up on your teams and businesses. Don’t give up on yourself. If you’ve built a career in travel, find ways to invest in yourself and help the people around you while you do it. Kindness always comes back. Initiative initiates success. Adapt. Learn. Fight. Find ways to survive this surge. There will be solutions out there for everyone. Opportunities too. Keep fighting; keep helping and keep moving forward. 

Tougher Times Ahead, Focus on the Brighter Skies Beyond...