Coronavirus effect: Preparing for Life 2.0

With his neighbourhood temple in Noida closed, Ramesh Bhidoria, a businessman, has been struggling in his “tryst” with god for the past few days. “I find the sight of the locked temple pretty disturbing; I feel as if even the almighty has abandoned us in these times of crisis,” says 40-year-old Bhidoria, standing in front of the temple which was closed a week ago, his hands folded in prayer and a disposable mask covering his mouth. “Everyone at home, be it my old, ailing parents, or my wife and children, is extremely worried about the future. A morning visit to the temple has been part of my daily routine for the past 15 years, but now I am finding it difficult to keep my faith alive in god as we face an existential threat from coronavirus.”

As the number of Covid-19 cases rise across the country, people have been forced to reshape their relationship with the outside world and with themselves— changing how they live, learn, pray and greet each other. What was considered cool till yesterday has suddenly become more of a taboo. Life, many believe, will change forever, in ways they had never imagined.

“I was a frequent flyer, but thankfully I have not travelled since last November. In our housing society, people are almost hunting for those who travelled abroad recently,” says Amit Malhotra, 43, an IT professional in Gurgaon. On Thursday, he was at a travel agency in Connaught Place to cancel his holiday trip to Europe scheduled for December. “Foreign travel, a status symbol until recently, seems to have become a crime. It is a life-threatening hazard in the time of the coronavirus, and I feel this is not going to change in a long time.”

These days, Malhotra is working from home, which he says, has allowed him the necessary solitude to “go within” and recalibrate his life. And as social distancing becomes a norm, there are many like him preparing for what they consider “Life 2.0”.

Deepak Raheja, a well-known psychiatrist, says that with offices, malls, restaurants, bars among other public places temporarily closed, people have a lot of free time to themselves. “ Many of them are coming to me with an acute sense of panic and anxiety about the future. I advise them to use the gift of free time to practise mindfulness and observe a silence hour everyday to attain better spiritual health. And people are taking the advice seriously, ” says Raheja. “ A lot of us otherwise lead shallow, materialistic lives, and sometimes it takes a heavy jolt to reboot our lives and rediscover ourselves. I believe people will emerge, stronger, more resilient and coherent from this crisis”.

Delhi-based psychologist Dr Aruna Broota, says that Sars-Cov-2, which seems invincible so far, has forced people to confront the inescapable question of mortality. On an average, she says, she receives about 30 calls these days from people stressed about coming in contact with the virus. “A lot of them have a simple flu, and have been told so by their physicians, but are still fearful. Most of their anxiety has to do with the fear of death, of losing near and dear ones as currently there is no vaccine against Covid-19,” says Broota. She feels that the anxiety caused by the pandemic will have an impact on consumer behaviour as well. “ A lot of people who come to me say they are going to stop overspending to stay afloat during a crisis like this.”

Arun Bhardwaj, an avid reader and a Supreme Court lawyer says that in this age of technology, our cities are much better prepared for ‘the plague’ than the fictional town of Oran in Albert Camus’ The Plague, as social media apps like Facebook, Facetime, WhatsApp lessen the emotional cost of social distancing, allowing people to remain connected. “In the past week, I have received many invitations to join online book clubs and communities. I feel that Sars-cov-2 will hasten the ongoing shift to a digital world. I am already hooked to my mobile phone, trying to remain in touch with my family and friends across the world, ” he says. “I know a lot of people who have taken to digital transactions in the past week, fearing currency notes might be carrying dangerous pathogens. Such fears might persist for a long time. I do not shop much online, but in the past few days I have bought everything—from garments to groceries—online just to avoid going to markets, and it might become a habit now.”

His recent online purchases include, ‘Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity’ —a book by Toby Ord, a young philosopher and a senior research fellow at Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute. Based on a decade of research, the book analyses the many existential risks—pathogens, artificial intelligence, among others— that the humankind faces. “ People of my generation have only read about the horrors of the Great Depression, the World Wars, the 1918 Flu pandemic, but we never thought we would ever find ourselves in the midst a global crisis of this magnitude.”

Some feel that the Covid-19 outbreak has made them more self-reliant. Astha Jaswal, 30, a software developer in Paschim Vihar, for example, says that social distancing, which forced her to send her domestic help on a paid leave, has made her learn how to cook, something she had never done in her life before. “I just could not imagine that I could clean utensils and cook, but it is the safest option now. My newly acquired cooking skills will stand me in good stead, and I would not order food from outside when my domestic help does not come to work,” she says.

But what worries her is how people are increasingly coming to see each other as a source of infection. “It feels odd when even your close friends stop hugging, kissing and shaking hands. These days, a lot of people talk to me, with their hands in their pockets, which seems a bit rude. I fear we might lose the comfort of others’ company, of the joys of going to crowded markets for shopping during festivals for a long time to come. ”

Prof Vivek Kumar, who teaches sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University, says that the term ‘social distancing’ is a misnomer. “It somehow denotes withdrawing from the collective conscience of the society, which is not what we intend to do. Physical distancing was the right word to use for this precautionary distancing from each other,” he says. A pandemic like Covid-19, he adds, often reveals the truth about society, politics and democracy.“ How the leaders and citizens act makes a lot of difference. As of now, our government’s concerns seem lopsided; it seems to have no action plan yet for the poor who lack the financial cushion to tide over the crisis. The poor are the most vulnerable.”

Abhishek Thakur, assistance professor, department of social work, Delhi University, says that social distancing in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak is having a crippling effect on the vast population of the visually impaired. “These days a lot of people on the street who otherwise would readily lend a helping hand to help us cross the road now like to give only verbal instructions, which is almost of no use to us in a city like Delhi where locations across the city are so different from each other. With everyone being viewed as a potential source of infection, people are finding it risky to hold our hand and help us,” says Thakur, who is visually impaired. “ Touching people is a taboo these days, and I am afraid verbal guidance to the blind will become a norm, making our lives more difficult.”

Doctors, however, feel the pandemic might have some unintended benefits too, thanks to the government’s mass awareness campaign about the need for washing hands and maintaining hygiene. Dr Shalu Gupta, a physician, says many of her friends and relatives have asked her to show them the correct way of washing their hands. “ To my utter disbelief, most did not know it. I made a video and circulated on my WhatApp groups,” she says. “ Just washing hands properly can ward off many infectious diseases that plague developing countries such as India, which is still fighting a battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care.”