We have been reading enough grim news about the pandemic. So here’s looking at some of the ‘not-so-bad’ side-effects of the viral outbreak.

Exams: We always believed that exams are so important for children that we simply cannot do away with this primitive, humiliating ritual. Today though, there are instances of children getting promoted to the next class without any exam stress.

Work from home: Work from home is an ideal solution for the traffic and pollution problems in most cities, but we believed – mostly the company insisted – that it was important to drive our car, burn fuel, waste a lot of productive time, and go to an office to work, every single day. The pandemic has helped us figure out that it is possible to log in from home and still get work done.

E-meetings: Clients who always insisted on face-to-face meetings have now discovered that it is possible to have fruitful meetings over Skype. It saves travel, time, biscuits, water bottles, coffee, tea, air-conditioning…

Malls: We thought malls are the best place to unwind. Shopping, cinema, food. There was the familiar FOMO if we didn’t rush to the plush cinemas and catch that inconsequential film on the first day. Today we find that our home is the best place to unwind. Especially when the children are around and they have no homework to do!

Weddings: We believed that weddings should be grand, an opportunity to show off our social standing and wealth. Today we know that it is possible to invite just 15 people and hold the event with simplicity and dignity.

Funerals: Funerals are now simple private moments for the grieving family and close friends.

Prayers: We have learned to have conversations with God, without actually going to a temple, church or mosque.

Birthday parties: OMG! We never thought our children can age without them. Today birthdays are quiet and meaningful family-only events, where we celebrate the fact that our children are alive and healthy. Isn’t that what birthdays are all about, unlike the competitive sport that it had become among parents?

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Fighting our demons

The strange thing about the human race is that the moment there is a threat, everyone wants a piece of the pie! Social media has given rise to numerous experts on COVID-19, who often seem to know more than reputed sources like the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)! I have also been busy writing in journals, trying to build my scientific fame.

However, do we really care about what people want to know? Their doubts, fears, apprehension, and perceptions, buried in a lockdown state…Let us develop the habit of taking a step back, and fighting a tough time together rather than competing for the hot seat! Can we, please?

Let us develop this long-term habit of distancing ourselves from ‘digital screen time’ and senseless forwards. Old habits die hard, but they can be changed. We had almost forgotten that it is possible to spend time with our loved ones. Let us continue to spend quality time with people we care for and share our fears and laughter. It will help soothe our pandemic anxiety.

While we fight for which brand of cookies to hoard in our secured homes, there are groups of migrant workers who are walking 80-100 km to reach their destination or are stranded at stations without food, money or even a place to relieve themselves. Let us donate funds/resources for people who do not have the luxury of affording water to clean themselves, forget hand sanitizers! Perhaps, this sensitivity will go a long way in curbing the spread of the pandemic.

Starting from the royal family in England to the beggar stranded on the streets of Kolkata, COVID-19 does not discriminate. An inanimate viral particle has made us realise that we, the proud and evolved civilization of this planet, are equally vulnerable irrespective of any socio-economic-political-religious-caste-racial-regional divisions!

This might be a good opportunity for us to consider the world as a global family and practise compassion and empathy. Let us take this as a lesson for life: Vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the world is one family).

(The author is a psychiatrist with NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India, and a member of the First Check.)