Old order changeth, yielding place to new

The present situation reminds of a poem by Alfred Tennyson which I read in my childhood which starts with a sentence…Old order changeth yielding place to new… Corona has really changed the world order… changed the way we live now and perhaps forever…By March 11, 2000 when it was declared by WHO as pandemic it's impact was being felt across the world by 7.8 billion people living on this planet.

It is an evolving crisis when no one, neither individuals nor governments are not sure when a vaccine would finally be available…even if one is successfully invented it is a gigantic task to produce in such large numbers catering to every human being. The best and only solution till then is learning to live with it…and live differently from what we used to be earlier…for generations… Corona has changed the way we think of life in modern times. The implications are beyond our comprehension.

So far the only Medicine is lockdown. But it cannot go on beyond a time. We have to open up economy and very soon. At the same time people should follow social distancing norms. We as a society have to adopt many systems, which will be 'new normal'. Public hygiene should get better. No one should spit in public or wherever they like. Washing hands after coming back home is essential. Even if Shopping malls are opened, it will take months for people to visit them with complete confidence. People will lean more and more towards online marketing. Work from home will increase and slowly will become pat of job culture in many sectors. In fact many would think twice or thrice before buying anything. It will certainly take couple of years for people to come out of the insecurity that engulfed them in the present crisis.

The world is fighting an enemy that erased geographical boundaries of countries. It is spreading everywhere. We, in India have almost won the battle of 'lives' with far lesser mortalities but now will have to fight successfully the battle of 'livelihood', the unemployment looming large on many faces across the country. While many countries are seeing severe lay offs with thousands losing their jobs, India can create more jobs by luring many investors who are looking for alternative to China.

As with every crisis, Corona too throws new opportunities. Many economies around the world will change their strategies. It will be highly beneficial to India to if the government acts swiftly and grab those opportunities. But for that to happen we must first put our economy on rails. The government of India will no doubt take some great decisions towards this aspect. We the citizens of India should give our complete support to each and every step taken by the Government. We should remember it is not only for the benefit of our family but for the well being of the whole society .

T V R K Murthy

Hyderabad

(The writer is a Post-Graduate Engineer and is also a Corporate Logo designer, designing logos for more than 6,000 firms worldwide. He is also a devotional writer with his books included in collections of libraries of Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge etc.)