Wake up now - There is no Second Chance!

Mother Nature has a unique way of making us realize our mistakes and only those who introspect and observe minutely will be able to decipher the message. And the lockdown gave me an opportunity to reflect on my behavior and human behavior in general.

While the Coronavirus is judged as ruthless by scientist and medical professionals, it hasn’t been partial. It infected the famous like Tom Hanks, Boris Johnson, Kanika Kapoor, Chris Coumo, etc. and lesser known mortals including healthcare workers, policemen, cab drivers, vegetable vendors, etc. 3 months into the pandemic; it continues to affect infants, kids, and middle-aged people, frail and elderly and has taken away two hundred thousand plus lives globally.

While the scientists are busy working on vaccines, and economists are busy putting together plans to revive global economy, I was busy questioning my actions and our collective actions. Do we deserve this harsh sentence? Let’s introspect together.

Before this tragedy struck, we were all living a hectic, monotonous and meaningless life chasing all the wrong ambitions and non-essentials. In order achieve our dream career, we left home at day break, ignored our family and health, and outsourced our children with day care and nannies. We spent hours in traffic getting to and back from work. And on the weekend, in the name of unwinding we engaged in binge buying, binge eating and binge drinking. We kept borrowing money to outdo each other on luxury, class and standard of living.

Greedy CEOs, CMOs and CHROs exploited our misplaced ambition and priorities. They sold products and services that were unsustainable, enamored with meaningless careers and fooled shareholders with peanuts called dividends. Despite knowing this lifestyle isn’t sustainable, we all ignored our inner voice and went around like hamster in a wheel.

It is true that nature fulfills our basic needs and not greed. And this was evidently visible during the pandemic. None of us can complain that we never got produce and food during this time, while toilet paper is luxury. Organizations and governments started to focus on the basic and essentials. For examples, car manufactures went on to produce ventilators; fashion brands produced masks, etc.

Globally stock markets saw a correction after inflated indices. The overpaid CEOs were forced to take 25% cut in their salaries to keep their businesses afloat. Some of the sinister industries were made to shut their shops and announced thousands of layoffs. Governments that earned revenue by indiscriminately converting forests into IT parks, and residential areas, sand mining and polluting rivers, selling liquor, and endangering wildlife were almost bankrupt and forced to end wars focus on the welfare of people – food and health. Those farmers who got greedy and poisoned the soil and atmosphere with chemicals saw their produce sent back to earth.

By working from home, attending to our daily chores and ignored family members, we were able to temporarily step out of meaningless and monotonous routine. Finally, we spent more time at home for which toil 20 years of our precious life to pay mortgages, engaged with our parents, spouses and children, picked up phones to check on our friends and loved ones. We realized it is possible to live without domestic help, cook, etc. and by sharing work among members the family became more responsible and cohesive. Also, we realized a life without visiting bars, malls, gyms, cinema halls, sports, concerts, cruises, vacations, entertainment was possible and meaningful. Lavish weddings and mournful demises have become a private affair. Those expensive Benzes, Porches, Bentleys became useless objects in our garages and driveways. We must be thankful to nature for accepting “Internet and mobile phones” as a basic need.

Flora and fauna used this break to rejuvenate themselves. Rivers across the globe saw a drop in pollution and aquatic life thrived again. Wild animals came into cities to reclaim their lost territory. Also, we've seen improvement in air quality since the lockdown. 

Sadly, when we humans wanted to report our plight and ask for forgiveness, all gods shut their doors on us. Churches were shut for Easter; Mosques were shut for Ramadan prayers, and Hindus temples cancelled their summer festivals.

Stop blaming China, Wuhan, Wet markets, Tabliqi and even Donald Trump for the current Pandemic. 

The Cornonavirus offers a moment to reflect on our priorities, lifestyle and ambitions. It is shown us it is possible to live a sustainable life without luxury. Let’s use this opportunity to learn from our mistakes and build sustainable habits because there is no second chance from Mother Nature.