LIVING it up

If there’s one thing the pandemic taught us, it’s that you only live once. And Indians are making the most of it, travelling, chasing a new job or hobby, exercising or savouring a moment of pure joy

- SONALI ACHARJEE

BAKSHISH DEAN, 51

Chef and hospitality industry veteran, Delhi

Dreams fulfilled

Went on close to 20 holidays, including to Dubai, Sri Lanka and the Maldives; bought an SUV way above his budget

How Covid changed me

"As messages of death and disease became more commonplace, I realised we don't have as much time as we think we do. The pandemic is a high price to pay to arrive at the realisation, but it's all about being bold and daring to take that first step"

SANKHADEEP MITRA, 46 Former banker, Kolkata

Dream fulfilled

Started his own photo gallery cum cafe, Zoom Tea-O-Graphy

How Covid changed me

"It was only when Covid struck and I saw death around me that I realised life was short, transient and had to be lived to the full"

All of us know, from experience, that something we cannot even see has changed us. That nothing is bigger. No community, no nation, no borders, no government. That something microscopic, which goes by the technical-sounding name SARSCoV-2, could dwarf all else. A world that has seen and survived that may look no different from the outside, but the inner landscape of humanity has been transformed. We all act now with a much deeper sense of mortality: its presence is not something we can refuse to think about.