The Teachings of 2020

What the Global Pandemic has Taught Us?

At the preface of another decade, it all goes as a one-way window film through the AC compartments of Indian trains. By the end of February 2020, while India was struggling with anti-CAA protests followed by multiple waves of bloodshed, property destruction and mob attacks by slashing and setting people on fire in Delhi we weren’t aware that some other perilous danger was about to hit people emotionally, socially and financially across the globe. The invisible demon crept into our world, claiming thousands of lives, and if not lives, marooned them with the horrifying memories of the year 2020.

The last ten months have been the most challenging times that we have seen in our lives, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic which has thrown the world into disarray. We did never imagine that a reveling beginning of the year will end in this disastrous way inflicting the scourge of mass unemployment, crippled economy and the loss of precious lives due to the global pandemic Covid-19. We never gave it a thought that someday an invisible evil will change our thought process, our life style and our social and emotional behaviour so profoundly and we must agree that this happening is beyond any phenomenon of human civilization. All this topsy-turvy has taught us the lessons for life which will be difficult to forget and many have really transformed themselves entirely which is a good sign of reinventing and reintroducing oneself in a time of adversity and challenges. In a bid to assuage fears and uncertainty in life let’s have a look on the following points entailing the reforms and the lessons taught by 2020:

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     A Stitch in Time Saves Nine:

We all know the importance of planning and preparation as well as the fact that lost time can never be regained but do we ever value our time and focus on planning and being prepared for the worst? Certainly not, but the corona period has helped us lot to introspect and retrospect as how to invest our time and money in order to manage work and life to be ready to face the difficult times and survive the obstacles that fall on our way.

     Health is Wealth:

    Human is considered to be the mightiest of all creatures but when millions of lives were under an unpredictable threat we learnt to give enough attention to our health, hygiene and immunity. This pandemic has forced us to respect our body and well being. During the course of this unprecedented pandemic, people have shown great interests in buying healthcare equipment as well as maintaining healthy lifestyle and incorporated yoga and physical exercises in their routine on regular basis. Even the healthcare industry has produced inspiring examples of innovation in products, services and processes.

     Definition of Development:

We considered industrialization, urbanization, space science and nuclear weapons as the mark of development of human civilization. We all witness how the lockdown in the initial time of the pandemic revived the magnificence of snow capped mountains, blue sky and crystal clear lakes. It has forced us to think that the clamour and chaos in the name of development was really not the aim of human life rather maintaining the mesmerizing beauty and enchanting melody of nature is the sole responsibility of human civilization.

     Learning is a Lifetime Process:

This pandemic has changed this ideology that childhood is the only learning period of life. People of all age groups and from all walks of life learned digital payments, online teaching and learning, virtual get together and games, online consultations and what not. This was a paradigm shift for us that how we can learn even the impossible things in just a wink of eye and get hooked to all-new-normal practices in a jiffy. We must feel grateful to be imbibed with this human instinct that even in this tough year, we’ve braved the pandemic and we are alive and healthy to experience what life has in store for us.

     Change is the only Constant:

The biggest strength of humans is the ability to change and reinvent ourselves. One has to have fire in one’s belly to move on and surmount any challenge that comes on the way to success and perfection. If we can flow and walk with the changing times we can make life better. Getting accustomed with new patterns and system always helps in restoring energy and encouraging new habits and passion for a smooth sustenance.

     Family and Friends are the Assets:

Once again it has been proved that none can be as caring and loving as your family. In the race of cut throat competition we forgot that our loved ones always demand our time and attention and that’s the most expensive gift for them. Lockdown period helped people refresh and rejuvenate all those relationships and friends unions. These are the essential ingredients of the recipe of a healthy, blissful and contented life. Spending quality time with your loved ones is indeed a luxury of life.

     Education:

Education is the biggest investment for an individual, society and a nation; and that’s the only reason that teaching and learning could not be hindered by the pandemic, millions of lives were touched and taught during this period by various virtual teaching platforms and brought a revolutionary change in the mindsets of people that learning depends upon classrooms, buildings and infrastructures. In the wake of this pandemic many universities and institutions have launched online courses to facilitate learners and aspirants from miles apart breaking the boundaries of distance and physical landscapes. We are waiting that a new hybrid model of education will emerge soon with significant benefits and the online education will eventually become an integral part of school education.

     Work from Home:

Curtailing the commute time and traffic congestion were the challenges for many employees before corona period. The pandemic made it mandatory to stay at home and manage your work and it became an indispensable part of our work life. The new trend of ‘work from home’ helped many to manage kids, household responsibilities and the job work. Many companies have reduced the number of offices and the expenses by promoting this concept as a new normal of work culture.

Thought Provoking Read: Self-Isolation-or-Self-Adoration

The unforgettable experiences and learning during this pandemic should never go in vain with the passage of time, Let’s hope to have a virus free new year, Let’s wait for a joyous beginning of the year 2021 with this promise with SELF that we will never stop infusing joie de vivre into the scenarios and spaces we live in; no matter how difficult life is!

Organ Donation: Life After Death

If Life is Meaningful Why Not Death?

Jash Oza, a two-and-a-half-year-old, innocent boy, and the apple of the eyes of all his loved ones in Surat gifted new lease of life to five others including two four-year-old children from Russia and Ukraine. On December 9, Jash fell from the second floor balcony of his neighbor’s house in Surat. He suffered a brain haemorrhage and, on December 14, doctors declared him brain dead.

Fondly called as ‘Babu’, when left his parents bereaved, devastated and lifeless, how difficult it must have been for them to decide and agree for the cadaver donation that none can even imagine. But thanks to the NGO, Donate Life which made the efforts to bring hope and survival to five more lives. His heart and lungs were transported to Chennai within 160 minutes and heart was transplanted into a 4-yr-old child from Russia and lungs given to a 4-yr-old from Ukraine. Kidneys were transplanted into two girls and liver was donated to a 2-year- old girl. The resplendence, Jash has left behind is eternal, or we can say Jash has gone nowhere he is still alive, his heart is still beating and eyes are shining as brightly as ever. He is going to live forever. We salute to the parents for contributing to this noble and altruistic cause.

Every year 5 lakh Indians lose their lives waiting for an organ and  more than half a million Indians are  in dire need of an organ transplant- kidney, liver, heart, pancreas and so on and it is estimated that 90% of patients waiting to receive an organ die without getting one. Kidney transplants are the most common in India and only one out of 30 patients receives one.  What is exasperating is that the second most populous country in the world has a donation rate of only 0.26 per million people that means only one out of 4 million people chooses to be an organ donor. And this wide gap in the country is due to myriad of myths, cultural beliefs, traditions and ritual practices.

With the increasing number of deaths due to organ failure, it becomes imperative to get the low-down of this humane attempt for saving lives. The most popular myth about organ donation is that if we are cremated or buried without our organs, in the next life we are born without these, which is completely an absurd notion. How one can carry his organs to his next birth if one can’t carry any of his possessions? Most of the religions teach the principle that a body is just like apparel and soul is immortal. It’s the soul that dons the body as apparel and leaves when the life span is over. None of the religions object to organ donation and transplantation. On the contrary, religions endorse the act of giving and donating and what bigger form of giving can there be than giving life. A pervasive notion about organ donation is the belief that patients will not be treated carefully when required if they are registered organ donors.  A recent survey conducted by a national newspaper revealed that 28% of a total of 641 urban respondents believed that organ donors will not receive any lifesaving treatment while 18% believed that their bodies will be mutilated which is a fallacy.

Interesting Read: Can Gratitude Be Enforced?

There are nearly 300 deaths everyday due to organ failure and to combat this number our country needs organ donors. Out of the 9.5 million deaths in India every year, at least one lakh are believed to be potential donors; however less than 200 actually choose to become donors. The remaining about 99,800 are lost. At any given time, a major city in the country has 8-10 brain deaths in the various ICUs and the conversion of these brain dead patients into donors can take care of the long waitlist of end stage organ failure patients. Organ donation is a kind and noble act that harms none but helps many.

Organ donation promotes a noble, humane spirit in society. It means that one is desirous of extending one’s spirit to others even after one’s death. Each of us can save 8 lives and we believe this is the best legacy any of us can leave behind as many unfortunate ones are waiting for an organ to embrace a fresh lease of life.

While ending this blog, I am leaving you to take time off and ruminate over this: “If life is meaningful why not Death?”

Let’s pledge to be an organ donor!

The Conundrum of Commitment with Self

“A task left undone remains undone in two places- at the actual location of the task and inside your head. Incomplete tasks in your head consume the energy of your attention as they gnaw at your conscience.”

The advent of New Year makes me reminisce the old school and college days when we would have new year resolutions to improve upon a skill or to learn a new thing, developing a new hobby, striving to become the better version of ourselves ( Not in the abstract way😊) and so on. By January end all were back to their previous habits and activities being oblivion of the New Year and those resolutions. Growing with time it made me conclude that we tend to hold ourselves back when it comes to change our habits, as it is rightly said, “Old habits die hard” but if we have procrastination as one of our ‘old habits’ it will take no longer to realize that our dreams, goals and Success are at a high risk no matter how skilled or expertise we are in our personal or professional life. Needless to say that it was only procrastination that led Raavan to his doom not Rama’s resolution to kill him.

 Enriching Read: The-Pursuit-of-Perfection

The surprising fact about getting rid of procrastination is that it doesn’t require scrupulous planning or intense aspiration as proceeding in an organized and systematic way with sustained commitment will be enough to help. We really need strong Will Power to overcome our habit to procrastinate as more often we are in a slumber of hollow, meaningless lethargy and old stubborn habits and squander our precious days, weeks, months and years. The activities that interest us require no will power and we never procrastinate about them. Does a child need willpower to eat ice cream? Do we ever hesitate in planning a hang out? Do we ever resist ourselves for spending most of our quality time on social media? Absolutely no; but we always want to spare a special day to start reading a book or going for morning walk or begin to organize our desks, wardrobes or declutter our surroundings. The reason is only the conflict of interests.

Let’s think it in a different way; we can cultivate willpower to avoid and overcome procrastination and choose wisely what is needed to fulfill our purpose of life. If the heart is not willing to walk on a treadmill for 30 minutes let’s start with 5 minutes a day; when it feels boring to read a complete book it can be a good beginning with an article each day, if it seems impossible to clean the entire wardrobe, arranging a small shelf is always a good inaugural ceremony to instill regularity and time management. Consistency in maintaining good habits will certainly help you strengthen your life skills and life management.

This principle applies in all spheres - career, relationships, fitness regime, self development, spirituality and so on. Having goals in life makes us alive and focused; chasing those goals keeps us energetic and enthusiastic and achieving those goals brings bliss and self worth.

Let’s not forget these words of the famous essayist, Francis Bacon, “Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand- and melting like a snowflake.”

Hope you will create an auspicious beginning to instill a good habit or a positive change in your life style today itself and won’t wait for the New Year  2021 to resolve for something.