COVID-19: A virus can show us who we really are, and what we stand for!

During the nationwide lockdown, many of us would have had time to reflect on the tremendous changes it has brought about in our lives. I have been travelling to Mumbai for over 45 weeks a year, for two to five days a week, for many years now, and every time I say goodbye to my mother, she quips: “Off he goes on another pilgrimage!” Quite true!

But that is my job, I enjoy it and it energises me. I’m hopefully making a difference to the people I meet and contributing to national growth as well. 

 Thinking more broadly, it is human nature to focus on building relationships with people who have the potential to assist us in our endeavours.  It could be our clients, our teams or other members of our ecosystem. Of course, this is not to say that we only seek relationships on the basis of what we can get out of them.  But at work, such a focus can tend to make our interactions somewhat transactional. It does make me wonder if in doing so, our complacency and ignorance for humanity and our surroundings replace our sense of care and individual compassion. 

 When the government initiated a solidarity campaign at 5 o'clock a few days prior to the nationwide lockdown, there was enthusiastic participation from people and social awareness. At that moment, we were united in communicating the language of humanity, while setting aside all our transactional pursuits and economic differences, at least for that brief period. 

 We must ask ourselves why society speaks the language of unity in situations where self-preservation and survival are at stake. It is probably because a sense of complacency creeps in during normal times. Or maybe this is because society gets so caught up in day-to-day transactions that fundamentals like altruism and environmental consciousness take a back seat. 

 In the trying times we live in today, we speak the language of unity because we realise that our very existence is dependent on the protection of others and our effectively practicing social distancing. The greater focus on cooperation and collaboration that has accompanied our war against this deadly virus marks a major shift in our attitude as human beings.

 But the real test will arise when we overcome this global crisis. Will we instantly revert to our largely transactional selves? I sincerely hope not!

 The upheavals caused by this pandemic in our lives will shake us all out of our complacency and lead us to focus more actively on global issues like health, hunger, and climate change. I also hope that our growing sense of solidarity, urgency, empowerment to take action, and stubborn optimism can together become the force that drives us to conquer this challenge. Eventually, things will return to normal after this pandemic, but we still need to remain alert to the possibility of other threats. More importantly, the level of connection, compassion and sense of appreciation that we’ve forged in these trying times must stay with us forever !