The Year That Was

It was early 2020. I was on a field trip to Jharkhand when I first heard about this virus that was (and still is) making headlines. The nature of my work meant my travel was mostly to remote areas, where it was difficult to keep up with the pace of the world. Nobody in my immediate close circle was even talking about it. 

My colleague, my co-traveler then, spoke to her doctor friend and announced that there was nothing to be worried about. It was simply a matter of maintaining proper personal hygiene, and it wasn't fatal. I felt relieved. Of course, only a few things among all trending conversations are actually substantial, I thought.

March 7, 2020 - I was back in my city, Kolkata. Life was normal. Went to office for the rest of the week, came home, met some friends, made plans for meeting some more. My mother's uncle was in town. He came down for a vacation from Canada in February. We planned for a trip to Shantiniketan, and discussed how to wrap up his shopping before he left the country on March 28.

Cut to - March 14, 2020. Calls and texts from my ex-colleagues sharing that their organisation had closed down offices and they were all to work from home. Calls and texts from my friends living abroad, advising us to buy some dry ration and store some essentials, just in case. I panicked. My mother (as usual) did not. "We've survived so much, if we're meant to survive this, we will. Else, we won't." It's always this simple for her. Envious.

And just like that, March 16, 2020 was the last day I went to office to work. And then came March 24, and the beginning of a nationwide lockdown, a phase unprecedented, and scary to say the least. Needless to say flights were cancelled, and my grandfather was stranded here for another month with a rapidly depleting stock of essential medicines (and patience) before the Government of Canada arranged for special flights for its residents.

Today marks one year of working from home. And a year of the mask becoming a permanent fixture in our wardrobes, handbags, drawers, shopping lists, and even fashion choices! A year that has changed our lives, changed the way we look at ourselves and our surroundings, changed the list of things we value, and put the focus sharply back on survival. I'm grateful for having had a job through this crisis, even more grateful to have found a new one (as strange as it has been to join a new set of people virtually, not seeing them face to face even once in the past four months!). I'm grateful for the steady flow of income that has kept my house running, grateful that I could juggle work and household chores, and still retain a little of my sanity. I'd say I've been on the privileged side of this one. 

Has it still been a tough year? Yes. It has. From struggling with the high levels of anxiety and depression that the new normal has created, to surviving the mighty scare that was Amphan and witnessing the massive destruction it brought with itself, to coping with the ground reality that has just gone from bad to worse with every passing day,  it has not been a year that I would like to remember. But I will. 2020 will not be easily forgotten. 

Once we understood how COVID-19 could cause havoc, the biggest scare for the family was to keep my octogenarian grandmother safe. We maintained distance, did not see her for over 3 months during the total lockdown (longest period since we moved back to Kolkata from Delhi in 2011), stocked up on sanitisers and face masks, bathed and changed clothes before meeting her post lockdown, kept her away from all possible risks. And we still lost the fight. And we still lost her to COVID-19. And we still lost her to 2020. 

So here are the lessons that I learnt from 2020 - 

a) We don't need much to survive. We don't even need much to live. A few essential things and few essential people, and that's it! 

b) A LOT of people in our world do not even have access to these few essential things. Instead of feeling sad and guilty about being privileged, share the surplus. That really helps

c) Many impossible things become possible overnight when a disease starts killing as many rich and powerful people as it does the poor. That's just the way our world works. But I do hope we learn from this and are not afraid to take a stand henceforth

d) Mental health issues are as real as COVID-19, and probably a bigger pandemic. Pay attention. Listen, reach out, do not stigmatise, seek help, talk about it

e) Time will always remain the most precious gift. Whenever you're worried about what to give to a loved one, give your undivided time. Time doesn't wait, neither do loved ones. They leave when it is time to go

f) Plan. Please plan. Plan your career, plan your future, plan your strategies, plan your finances. But more importantly, learn to adapt. Cuz life, life will always throw curveballs when you least expect it! 

g) The very definition of heroes changed in 2020. We finally learnt to value the frontliners. I hope this doesn't change post-COVID

I know I changed as a person in the past one year. And I accept that the others around me did too. And if there's anything that has made me feel less lonely as we fought this terribly isolating virus, it is the knowledge that we all were in it together. We still are.

So here's my last lesson, and for me, the most important one - In crises, and in normal times, KINDNESS will forever be trendy.

"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."