The global cultural impact of Coronavirus

Corona virus has had a massive impact on the life of the world. There is so much that has changed. The world is learning to live differently and is getting weirder and if I may, scarier by the day.

There are so many things that we have just been used to as a society that we would not be able to do anymore.

1. Sneezing proudly

I used to enjoy my once in a while reflex sneeze. The pressure would build up in my nasal cavities, and I would compress my eyes and bingo, the moment of truth would happen-the actual sneeze and my head would be lighter.

In case of sneezing at a public place, I would look around and judge the world for not wishing me ‘bless you, man.’

In the post corona world, nobody is saying bless you to anyone. In fact, a week back or so, I happened to sneeze in the market and one guy moved away as if I am an untouchable. Shame on him. Actually, he was just trying to save his sorry ass, but still, he left me unblessed and that’s a shame.

2. We learnt a new term-social distancing

Now, India is a 1.3 billion people country. There is no way we have learnt anything about distance all our lives. We just regularly end up touching people and touched in the metro, in the markets and in regular public spaces.

We are being told to socially distance each other. This has led to a lot of people developing all of allergies in the bodies because they haven’t been touched by strangers in a long while, ever since Corona wreaked havoc.

If it continues like this for a long time, a lot of people will die of their only source of touching in their lives-public touching.

3. China would get popular as the world’s virus factory

In addition to being the world’s manufacturing hub, China would also get popular as the world's virus factory. Most of these deadly viruses originate in China. While the world deals with Corona virus, the Chinese are innovating.

Hanta virus has been discovered.

4. You can’t just cough in the air

No, you should cough inside your elbow. ELBOW!

The elbow never had so much importance before. All our lives we were taught to palm our hands and cough inside but now we can’t cough inside the palm. The elbow has to be bothered. It’s a bloody act to cough these days and henceforth.

I mean, the elbow is far, no?

5. Stay home?!

The entire human society has been structured around people meeting and congregating.

Schools, colleges, entertainment, work life, everything is a function of people gathering together.

People don’t gather? Nothing happens, and that’s exactly what’s happening.

I mean we are not even used to spending so much time with our families, and now that everyone is home, we are being forced to ask, ‘who are you? My husband? Okay….since when?’

6. Masks everywhere

Nobody knows what kind of mask is right. There is all sort of information flowing from everywhere and people don’t know which mask to wear, and why.

My neighbor made a mask of his underwear and wore. He wasn’t getting any masks from anywhere. He said he would rather die of his own smell, than from some strange virus from the east.

Makes sense though, although I won’t do that.

7. Netflix, Prime and die

Popular streaming platforms like Amazon Prime and Netflix have seen in usage upsurge. They will do well for a long while, till we get rid of the virus.

The shares of these companies will surge, while a lot of people around the world struggle to figure what to do with their idle times inside their homes.

Netflix and die.

8. Fear is the new normal

Fear will become the new normal. Even after the Corona virus is gone, which seems like a distant possibility right now. People will be scared of meeting and mating with new people.

Dating apps like Tinder will suffer. People will wonder where all people they might be planning to touch have already been. Oh, no in the way you think already. You dirty mind.

This picture represents the old normal. But it has undergone a change forever. Yeah, well.

If you think of more cultural impacts, please mention in the comment section and if you liked the piece, kindly share around with your friends.

There won’t be a normal anymore. There will be a NEW normal.

Stay safe, and healthy.

Amar