COVID-19 – Blessings in disguise?

Being kept locked inside at home isn’t a fun thing for sure, especially for us young minds that wander all the time. But such is the circumstance that we all are facing and it is only right that a situation this grave be handled with equally extreme measures.  To be honest, I think majority of the student body went through a certain sense of elation as the exams were cancelled. I remember rejoicing with my friends but reality dawned very quickly.

COVID-19 virus, also known as the Novel Coronavirus is a pandemic, meaning it affects an extremely high proportion of the population occurring over a wide geographical area. Nearly 80000 lives have been lost and 1.5 million people (and still ticking) have been infected. The entire humanity is affected with fear and uncertainty. The counter measures that are taken to combat this situation like social distancing, national lockdown, etc., though seem unprecedented, are certainly showing certain positive effects that are proving to be silver learnings to this enormous black cloud.

Picture shows the pollution levels in China’s industrial region before and after corona lockdown.

Peacocks have been sighted on the Mumbai roads, the Yamuna flows with more clean water..

Mother Earth is indeed healing when left alone…

Due to the lockdown, the global pollution and earth’s seismic vibration levels have gone down considerably. There is evidence of the earth’s ozone layer repairing itself. Nature seems to be happier and one can hear the sound of birds these days.

Closer back home, Delhi, which has been infamous for its smog and other pollution related issues, has recorded improved visibility and better air quality.

Lockdown has kept us socially distant but kept us connected on the social platforms. Families are bonding big time and are coming together to support each other emotionally. The other major change is the compulsion of working from home (now popularly known as WFH) for all those who can. At a personal level, I see this as a positive change as my mom now works from home and her experience says that her efficiency levels have improved and her team is more productive since the lock down. Save petrol, save energy, save money, save time, save health and save earth – the benefits are multifold and the impact is cumulative.

This is a huge opportunity for policy makers to enforce certain measures to continue to be in effect in a controlled manner even after the lockdown to reap the benefits of the learnings during these tough times.

This unfortunate situation has made the world realize the fact that we humans are interdependent as among ourselves and with nature. Only collective actions and community based solutions will pave the way forward.

Let us all stay home to stay safe, to save lives and to save earth….