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Life after Covid-19

Illustration adapted from Bhashaposhini, Malayalam monthly


The Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently carried out a study titled ‘Estimating the global spread of COVID-19’. India may emerge as one of the worst-hit nations, according to the study which puts the figure at 287,000 cases per day in the country by Feb 2021. The discovery of a vaccine may save us yet.

One thing is certain at any rate: the world won’t be the same for quite a while after Covid-19 has had its thandav. The world is changing pretty fast already. Many of our activities are going digital. I am a teacher by profession and my classes are all online this academic session so far. And it will surely continue online for months to come. I am teaching students whom I have never seen face-to-face. Most of them don’t show their faces online for various reasons like lack of strong network. So I continue to each nondescript entities, faceless people.

This facelessness is going to be one of the biggest changes in post-Covid world. In a world of digital technology faces don’t matter. Identity is of no importance. The trader delivers the goods you order through the delivery mechanism without ever seeing your face. Your grocery and stationery, even home appliances and furniture, will be delivered at your doorstep by people whom you will never see again. Faces become immaterial. Relationships are impossible without faces, however.

Relationships will be a big casualty in the post-Covid world. Relationships will become virtual and be consigned to social media and other such platforms where they will lose the potential for depth. Genuine love is never a public affair. No one shares their deepest feelings and concerns on a public platform. Yet the public platform will definitely remain a prominent meeting place for people. We are social beings, after all.

The economy will struggle and endure many gasps and pangs. Governments may not be in a position to take care of all citizens. Many will perish on the wayside. When the medical staff will be forced to smother their agony of having to watch their own colleagues being buried in mass graves without the last loving gaze from the beloved, what are the ordinary mortals to expect?

Many publications will die and many others will go online to survive. The process has already begun. Many other industries will meet worse fates: tourism, hotels, and so on. Will there be any tourism left? Not for a few years, I think. Even to travel for some serious purpose, you may need to have some additional papers attached to your passport proving your health conditions.

Perhaps, our medical science with all the advancements it has already made will get us a remedy for this pandemic and save us from the worst possible consequences which could be starker than what is presented above. The world has passed through similar phases earlier too. Let us hope that we will emerge without too many scars and setbacks from this too.

PS. Written for Indispire Edition 333: How different will the world be post Covid-19? How different travel, relationships, institutions, etc be? #PostCovidWorld

Comments

  1. DashyJuly 10, 2020 at 3:33 PM

    Such a faceless world is disturbing to think of. But then again, it is thanks to this technology that relationships will last at all. Our lives will revolve around screens for quite some time now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 10, 2020 at 4:09 PM

      Something is better than nothing and the technology is definitely doing great service.

      Delete
  2. Sonia DograJuly 10, 2020 at 5:55 PM

    We can hope so but the scars will be way too many. It's a scary premonition but most likely to be true.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 10, 2020 at 6:24 PM

      Given the Indian predilection for neglect of all sense, the worst can happen. But I'd like to be optimistic. Maybe India can learn lessons yet.

      Delete
  3. Indian SatireJuly 11, 2020 at 12:18 PM

    The virus will change our social interactions unrecognisable.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Durga Prasad DashJuly 11, 2020 at 12:35 PM

    Tourism, hotel etc are some of the worst hit sectors. Hope the pandemic is over soon and the world is back to business as usual.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Chetan MaheshwariJuly 11, 2020 at 5:42 PM

    Everyone, rich or poor, is affected by pandemic..

    ReplyDelete
  6. magiceyeJuly 11, 2020 at 6:44 PM

    Alvin Toffler had predicted this facelessness in his book 'Future Shock'
    Will you be conducting examinations this year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 11, 2020 at 7:51 PM

      We've already finished 1st mid-term. Semi-online.

      Delete
  7. K.A. AcharyaJuly 12, 2020 at 4:08 AM

    I think it might bring people closer. Like the above comment about rich, and poor, I think everyone will finally realise that material things don't matter, people matter. So, many people are out there helping. We keep seeing all the evil which is always at the forefront, but now, we also get to see the good in people. So, many of my friends tried helping the labourers, the senior citizens, and others. Many similar businesses are helping each other instead of competing. Maybe in the post covid world humans would finally find their humanity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 12, 2020 at 6:51 AM

      Adversity works both ways. But more often than not, the dark side of man comes to the forefront when the going gets really tough. As long as there is enough to around, it does go around. But when that's over, the problem begins. That's what history teaches us. But I'd love to share the optimism you display here.

      Delete
  8. NavitaJuly 12, 2020 at 9:24 AM

    The imprints of this pandemic are definitely going be long lasting. The life has slowed down its pace in unexpected ways. Let’s hope it to be better (in at least some aspects) in coming future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 12, 2020 at 10:14 AM

      Perhaps the effects are going to be much deeper and more painful than we might ever imagine. But we can also hope that every catastrophe brings some good with it.

      Delete
  9. Radhika AcharyaJuly 13, 2020 at 10:49 AM

    You paint a very scary picture here as we go forward post covid. But that is going to be the reality and the sooner we prepare ourselves for it the better we will survive i guess!!

    ReplyDelete

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