Envisioning Life after Global Pandemic

It was a matter of weeks or just days, and our lives turned upside down. Impromptu dashes to stores, going out with our friends, visiting places, and even the freedom to go wherever we wish for; became a privilege. Who might now think of touching doorknobs, sending their children to the school, or kissing a stranger without attaching fear to it?  But COVID-19 took just so much more from a lot of people. People lost their loved ones, their jobs, and their “normalcy”. Nations lost their financial, political, and social stability. The pandemic has been a hard hit on everyone.

With occasional thrills from the silent skies, swelling birdsongs in the cities, fresh air around us, and views of iconic sunsets from our rooftops, we still worry. The pandemic appears like a very long tunnel with no visible bright end yet. When conditions seem very gloomy, can there still be a hopeful way to imagine our life after the pandemic?

This pandemic was a greater challenge for the world. And as we tried to solve it numerous social, political, and economic dysfunctionalities came to light. We saw thousands of migrant workers starve to death on their foot journey back home, daily wagers struggle to run their families, medical workers running short of masks, and governments acting as if it was a hoax.  Especially in a smaller and underdeveloped country like Nepal, food security, basic health care access, and unemployment have come forward as greater challenges than the pandemic itself. To be honest, these challenges have always been there and people have always been struggling, we’ve just always ignored. But, the present conditions have simply made it impossible for us to overlook those issues. We are now forced to rethink the logic of the market and whether it should dominate as many spheres of human existence as it does. Historical events such as this pandemic have helped the world adapt to big changes. And this pandemic should also be seen as a transit,  for us to either go back to the world where we’ve all lived so far or to build one that is more equal and just.

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As we look into the larger aspects of our lives that the pandemic has altered, it is crucial for us to analyze the smaller ones too. The focus on our work and independent lifestyle has made us grow distant from our families and friends, and made our lives more isolated. The pandemic brought it to a complete halt. Families were brought together and allowed to understand each other better, acknowledge the value of one another in their lives, and simply just to cook together. The present scenario has taught us to value and be thankful for what we all have in our lives.

But most importantly, it helped us create greater solidarity. A world where being different is so easy, this tough time helped us identify our similarities. Kindness, humanity, and love brought people from different countries, different communities, and different classes together. It encouraged us to reflect on the power of our collective will. This solidarity gives us courage that humanity if brought together has immense power to solve the world's biggest problems.

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With thousands of deaths, almost a billion jobs lost, and the whole world struggling to recover, the life after the pandemic will surely be challenging. But this is what requires all of us to bring out the best in ourselves, to be more hopeful and resilient than ever. Our world, our country, our community, our family will require us to be changemakers more than ever. And I am pretty sure that we will come out stronger and more resilient. I am pretty sure that when we’ll finally reach the bright end of the tunnel we’ll wish for a just society, we’ll be filled with gratitude towards life, and believe in our similarities more than ever.  You might feel that life after the pandemic is too uncertain to claim such big things. But trust me life has always been uncertain, the future has always been uncertain. It is our vision of tomorrow that really takes form. So how have you envisioned your life after pandemic?