- Blog By
Ms. Sumita Sen Mazumdar
Editor – Content & Academic Coordinator – KG
The Indian Public School
November 19, 2020 | In Blog 
For millennials and even those born in the late 70’s, the global COVID lockdown situation brought about unprecedented challenges. In India, an entire generation of adults who had never faced a situation somewhat akin to the aftermath of war or a sudden life of severe restriction were thrust into it overnight.
Dream turned nightmare
For some people, it was almost as if their favourite childhood fantasy of not having to go to school had strangely come true, albeit decades later when they were now adults with families, work or businesses to attend to, groceries to buy and bills to pay.
Collaborations gone haywire
Government regulations and the resulting inability to lawfully move between regions forced members of the population to work from home. This temporary workaround also simultaneously presented many new unprecedented challenges. Physical distance made regular collaborative communication difficult. Communication became somewhat like the childhood game of Chinese Whispers or Broken Telephone. Minus one or more of the usual accompaniments to one-on-one communication that the average person is used to such as lip movements, tone, body language, there was room for gross misinterpretation and distortion resulting in more attempts than usual to get things right, no matter what your occupation.
The key lies in adapting
Yet, somehow we managed. Things might have slowed down, but nothing actually stopped. Life did not stop. Teachers made video adaptations of lessons and took online classes too. They still are. Doctors did video consultations. Bank tellers worked from home. We adapted. We don’t know what lies ahead and this may very well be the tip of a giant iceberg. So many new unprecedented challenges, new perspectives to things once taken for granted. However, what we reaffirmed was that despite challenges, human beings are a resilient lot. We coped. We’re still coping. As the Friedrich Nietzsche saying goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. On the flip side, while we’re still awaiting a cure, we’re also finding out alternative ways to do things that we probably wouldn’t have thought about if things were going on as usual
As Einstein said, in the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity. Maybe it might take time to figure out where and what the right opportunities are and how exactly to harness them, but there surely are opportunities and we must not lose sight of that perspective; not if we want to stay ahead. As history has proven, time and again, through several crises arising from a multitude of causes, life has somehow always found a way to thrive. The more perceptive and industrious among us have used these periods as stepping stones or in other words, seized opportunities to not only survive but also flourish.
So, put on your thinking cap. If there ever were a crisis of epic proportions in recent times, this is it. Study it well to seize your equally epic opportunity.
Read https://theindianpublicschool.org/building-the-muscle-of-self-awareness/ and build your muscle of self-awareness.
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