Relief with risk

There is no manual for living through a pandemic. Let us navigate how we can lower the risk and try to live a fuller life…

- Khushboo Ramnane

“We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims” — Buckminster Fuller

COVID-19 has jolted us out of our frame of reference. Much is being written about it and no one knows when it will end. The distress arising due to the fear of an uncertain future, concern over lack of healthcare facilities and lack of control, is natural. Yet, we must take heart in the knowledge that pandemics are not new. Since 1200 BC, they have routinely devastated communities, reshaped nations, and altered the unfolding of history. COVID-19 is unchartered territory for all nations and their policymakers. In a country like India, the dynamics become even more complex, owing to the population, class parity and other factors. The word going around is that we are yet to see a peak. However, staying put with the lockdown meant flattening the economy further, not really the virus curve. The sudden lockdown had already induced panic and impacted the economy. Life in permanent lockdown is not sustainable. It, therefore, becomes imperative to embrace the new normal, going forward. Societies adapt and overcome pandemics. We are in this for the long haul; how does one live through this while mitigating risk? Two poster boys of the new normal are work from home and online education.

Work from home