Rayhan Ahmed Topader :
As the number of Covid-19 cases appears to have leveled out in some countries, lockdowns in parts of Europe and elsewhere in the world have begun to ease. Governments and individuals grapple with the details of what can and cannot be done, and questions about what constitutes the new normal persist, but businesses, parks, and beaches are slowly coming back to life. As we check in with friends across the globe, we’re turning a cautiously optimistic eye to what the future might bring. Throughout the pandemic, AFAR had updated an ongoing journal of what life was like during the days of strict lockdowns. And now we’re checking in with people in some of our favorite places, too, to see how daily life has evolved in a world just finding its new normal post-quarantine. The major weapon to fight against this deadly Covid-19 virus is our immunity. The more we get stronger, the more we get the chance to live healthier and longer. Therefore, we should work on boosting our immune system. For this, a few lifestyle changes are highly required I believe, however, during the lockdown period, we have already adapted a handful of good habits. Now, we wash out hands more frequently. We have overcome the tendency of spitting on street. We now cook and eat fresh food. Although lockdown made our body lazy, we somehow managed to do a few unequipped basic exercises.
These habits will definitely help us fighting against the biggest, yet invisible enemy of the contemporary world-Covid-19. We became anxious when we were told to remain under strict lockdown. We have again become distressed after getting to know that the government will ease the lockdown. We were supposed to be happy that this abnormal situation would finally meet its end. However, the point of our perturbation is that Covid-19 still sustains which is making our life uncomfortable and miserable as well. The impact is different in different kinds and levels of people. But, on the whole, the individual and collective stresses are ramping up. The struggle of earning money and bringing food to the family has taken the peripheral position as the question of living catches all the central attention. The battle of survival has just begun. Both the government and the people of all levels have already started addressing all possible sorts of hypothetical questions and confusions. How will we attend office? What will happen to our children at their educational institutions? How can people be well aware of the consequences? Everyone grapples with details of what can and cannot be done and what constitutes the “new normal” notion. Let me give a couple of examples from other countries where the governments have eased lockdown before Bangladesh. In Germany, people started to go out and buy their groceries from different superstores.
The government is strict enough to make people maintain all the rules. From this, we can also learn to strictly follow the rules in our country too. For all the Covid-19 affected countries in the world, these rules are common and unchanged. But it is their won self-consciousness that forbids them to go outside without any real emergency. This is what we should adapt too. Even there will be no lockdown; we should not go outside without our extreme necessity. The battle of survival can be fought and won over in this way. It is high time we checked and revised our cultural norms. We, the Bangladeshis, love to meet and greet our loved ones by giving hugs. Shaking hands is not our cultural trait, but we have adapted it long ago. It is time to unlearn these social activities and learn a few new customs. For example, a simple smile can do. There is no need to get closer and threat the lives of us and others. The use of digital platforms should be handier for all the people so that the social distancing rule still sustains in social media, especially in Facebook, many people have been sharing the survival story of a cockroach. Dinosaurs went extinct, but cockroaches survived and are still running around our kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms and where not! The power of adaptability lies in biological features. However, our mind is a vast sea where all the games take place. If we just make our mind for the wild games, our body will give us support to win the race.
And we will automatically acclimatise all the good habits which are essential for our survival. When the storm begins, we take shelter in the safest place possible. We get out of our comfort zone and face the wild world again as soon as the storm ends. Life never remains the same after a heavy tempest. But in case of this haughty Covid-19 tempest, the storm is still going on and we have to sail our boat and ship in this fierce weather. Let’s be positive and get ready to fight this battle of survival with all our survival tools. Let’s defeat Covid-19 and win our life back. We are the phoenixes! We can rise from the ashes and then again live to the fullest. Life will not be the same as it has always been. Of course, there are different theories to guard this statement. Buddha said, Time is like a river. You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Our life will also change its dimension in this way. But it is also important to remember that history repeats. The recurrence of history is proved by the current pandemic itself. So, we should not take it for granted and follow proper precautions to win this battle of survival. Although life feels pretty normal here,there’s still a feeling of uncertainty The Swiss always greet one another with a handshake or three cheek kisses-right, left, right. No one does that anymore. We haven’t looked at the news for four days. It’s weird considering we were glued to the news from mid-February until mid-May, trying to understand what was happening to the world while managing our own insignificant part of the situation.
The effects of lockdowns across Europe aren’t always negative. For many, they will have also proven to be a good opportunity to re-evaluate personal relationships. For cohabiting couples, social psychologist and relationship scientist Veronica Lamarche said partners could use the lockdown to work to re-prioritise what they want to be getting out of these relationships. Think of lockdown as a clean slate. Things that weren’t working well before, we can focus on and re-invest. Some couples would be feeling a strain due to unusual circumstances bringing to light issues when spending a lot of time together. Some countries will say there has been a sudden increase in divorce rate, which is partly natural because you’re forced to evaluate and re-prioritise what matters, But for others, Some are really valuing and appreciating the time they’re able to spend with their partners. Before lockdown, external
Factors may have been taking away from the relationship. As the first real break we’ve had since this whole shebang started, it sure was awesome to get out and see some of the beauty that Switzerland is renowned for this weekend. It’s also nice to get away from the reality of home-office and the much-discussed possibility of a second wave. The way we live may need to change forever. However, I think it is good to keep all these strict guidelines in place. I hope Covid-19 has taught us about the uncertainty of life, how everything can change in a heartbeat, and how important it is to be prepared. Distance must be maintained everywhere. Nevertheless, there are still a few people around ignoring the rules, but I guess that’s happening everywhere. Let’s hope for the best.
(Mr. Topader is a writer and columnist. He can be reached at [email protected])
