2020, Clouds and the Silver Lining
2020, a year no one imagined or wished for. A year ago we welcomed 2020 hoping and praying that like all the previous years, this year will also bring us luck and prosperity, but this was not to meant be — well, it did bring luck, but unfortunately, it was bad luck. But, on the bright side, this year as bad as it was, has finally flown by. As the year 2020, comes to an end, it has left us all exhausted, intrigued, and with a million-dollar question lingering in everybody’s mind -’2020 is ending, but will the problems it brought end too?”
For a student like me, while 2020 started with stress about the tenth board exams, for some, it started with uncertainty. By the end of the first quarter of 2020, Covid-19 had spread to the majority of the countries, the World Health Organization had finally declared that it was a pandemic, international flights were stopped and many countries including India announced lockdowns. An atmosphere of fear, anxiety, and deaths had engulfed the whole world.
Well, Covid-19 wasn’t the only problem in 2020! In India, 2020 started with huge public protests by people who feared the loss of citizenship owing to the newly passed “Citizenship Amendment Act” by the Government of India. India saw a major urban to a rural exodus of labourers, following the lockdown in mid-March 2020. Australia witnessed one of the worst bushfires killing more than 500 million animals, Indonesia witnessed flash floods, that displaced over 400,000 people and Assam also went through floods which affected 128 villages in five districts, Philippines saw the Taal Volcano eruption, while in the USA, 2020 started with Donald Trump being acquitted by the Senate for impeachment and the “Black Lives Matter” protests across major cities following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer. In Europe, the outbreak of the virus was severe, with many people getting admitted to hospitals and many of them losing their lives. India and China had a major military confrontation in Ladakh, there was a risk of a potential war between India and China. This year has affected all the people around the world, with the risk of infection and also with the risk of floods, cyclones and earthquakes. It felt as if this year was doomed, and nothing good could happen with lockdown imposed, schools/colleges closed and national and international travel restricted! All this had a major impact on the GDP with tourism taking a hit, and businesses suffering losses. The world landed into a major economic crisis which might continue in the post covid era as well. Millennials and Generation Z, globally, witnessed one of the worst pandemics ever.
Despite all the bad things that have happened this year, there were probably some good things as well,- a silver lining against the dark clouds. Nature probably wanted all of us to stop, pause and reflect, as it was probably long overdue. We all needed some time alone to explore ourselves, and to answer some of the big questions about our lives. As bad as this year has been, it has also shown us a few ways/paths that can probably help us grow. As for me, I decided to explore the world of writing and honestly, I am loving it. Many of my friends too put this time to good use, as some took up dancing, some spent time singing, and a few played with colours creating beautiful paintings. Through all this chaos, the youth have presented themselves as a phoenix rising from its own ashes. From startups to vaccines, innovative thinking has been nurtured and given importance too. Technology has grown in leaps and bounds, with people using mobile phones to consult with doctors remotely (telemedicine), mobile applications to track positive cases, etc.
The COVID-19 virus was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and it started spreading rapidly to other countries in the first quarter of 2020. Covid 19 has been here for a while now, spreading fear and mayhem. Countries, scientists, international organizations like the World Health Organizations all started working on finding solutions to save people from dying. Preventive measures like washing hands, wearing masks and maintaining a distance of six feet were promoted globally and locally. The governments utilized the lockdown time to improve the health infrastructure, diagnostics, procure equipment like ventilators, etc. and prepare hospitals to manage COVID -19 patients. All this was going to only help in the short term. To be able to return to pre-covid times, people need to be protected with vaccination.
The world has witnessed so many pandemics since the existence of human life on planet earth. Vaccines are probably one of the best inventions of mankind, as they have been instrumental in saving lives globally from infectious diseases. However, developing vaccines is complex and it takes years of hard work to develop a vaccine, undertake animal, and human trials to prove its efficacy and safety, get necessary clearances and approvals, then start mass production and finally administer the vaccine to individuals. Let’s take the last pandemic that hit the world so hard, and which took a large number of lives, the 1918 influenza pandemic. The vaccine for the H1N1 virus which caused the 1918 pandemic was developed in 2009, taking 91 long years. It’s appalling as well as astounding to see the progress made in the field of medicine over the centuries. Like all previous vaccines, developing a vaccine against Covid -19 was also going to be a herculean task. Thanks to efforts put in by researchers, scientists and global support, we were able to develop a vaccine in record time. Vaccination has already started in the USA, and some countries in Europe and the Government of India has made all preparations to start vaccination, once the vaccine is rolled out. It’s good to know that we as mankind are also progressing, we are learning from our mistakes and in the future, we definitely won’t make the mistakes we made in 2020.
In this period of anxiety and fear, the doctors, nurses, policemen, frontline healthcare workers all around the world have shown the most grit and heroism that the world needed. In the past, 20–30 years ago, doctors were regarded as gods. They were given utmost respect. Maybe that’s why in our grandparents’ generation, they coerced their kids to take up medicine and become doctors. Being a doctor was similar to being a brahmin, in the topmost tier of the caste pyramid. Over the years there has been a paradigm shift in the behaviour of people towards doctors. Not only are they not getting the respect they deserve, instead they are being beaten up. They put in utmost efforts, to provide the best possible treatment to save their patients, however unfortunately if something untoward happens to the patient, the relatives put the blame squarely on the treating doctor and physically assault him/her. There have been instances where doctors have either lost their lives or have become differently-abled for life. Let’s hope and pray, that at least after this pandemic is over, people will start respecting them again and start seeing their worth again. During this pandemic, they have risked their own lives, stayed away from their families, and have worked tirelessly to treat their patients and discharge them to reunite with their families. They have made innumerable sacrifices and deserve respect from all of us.
I am optimistic and believe that 2021 will be better. During the lockdown, I heard and read rumours, about the doomsday prediction regarding the end of the world in June 2020. The origin of the rumour was probably Ethiopia. People there follow a calendar, which is 7–8 years behind the Gregorian calendar, followed globally. In Ethiopia, and many other countries as well a rumour spread that the world will end in December 2012 (i.e. June 2020) which turned out to be false. A bummer for all the believers, we are still alive and are welcoming 2021. While it’s true that the world did not end if we do not care about nature and continue to be careless and not fix climate change, we might end up making the doomsday prediction true very soon.
This year has been troublesome, but I believe that it has made us stronger and taught us the importance of standing together even by staying at a distance. To win against covid-19 and any similar pandemics in future we need to believe in the indomitable human spirit, the power of innovation and coming together as one global community.
2021 is a new mystery which will unfold itself with time. But, we have a chance at making this year better than what 2020 was. Today, on the last day of 2020, let’s promise each other to stay united, care for others and nature, and focus on doing things that give us happiness and which can help others too.
As we leave a year of despair and look to the new year with hope, I’m reminded of a famous quote by Charlie Chaplin, “Nothing is permanent in this wicked world- not even our troubles.”
