Question Mark

A huge question mark looms large in front of us today. What will life after the lockdown be like? Will things ever be ‘normal’? Will the concept of ‘normal’ change forever? What will be the new ‘normal’? What kind of hit will the economy take? How long will it take to limp back? Is there a vaccine anywhere in sight?

The current scenario is something no one could have envisioned. Of course there have been sci-fi movies depicting this situation, but that this would become our reality is something no one ever imagined.

We as a race are currently ill equipped to deal with this situation. Social distancing can delay or flatten the curve of the disease. But how long can we survive without human interaction? Will the virtual reality take over the ‘real world’?

Will ‘work from home’ become the new way forward?  What about restaurants, movie theatres and travel? Will we ever be able to socialize and meet friends and family freely? Or will we celebrate our special occasions raising a toast at home while our favorite people’s faces peer and cheer from the computer screen?

What about schools and colleges? Will the poor children be denied the simple pleasures of school and college life? Like playing pranks in the class and football on the turf. Like bunking lectures and chilling in the college canteen. Like being a part of youth festivals and performing in front of their peers.

Will they have to attend classes online and only communicate with their friends on Skype and zoom?

What about couples in love ? No getting drenched together while sharing an umbrella on the sea face ? or grooving together in a night club? Will they also be able to convey their feelings only through video calls ?

And our poor senior citizens whose only outings were the nearby temple or the park ? Will they never meet their friends and laugh aloud in the ‘Laughter Club’?

What about the various singers, dancers and performers who get their high only from facing an audience

So many questions and absolutely no answers. The question mark looms large.