“It’s been 30 years since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic,

what does the world look like”

“Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.”

Time indeed flies! Here we are. The ones who were once fighting for
attending physical classes have now implemented rules in their
offices for permanent “work from home”. The ones who once did not
like staying at home at all have decided to lock themselves in a four-
walled room alone for the whole day and sometimes week. Who
would believe that it has been almost 30 years after the end of the
pandemic which took our friends, our relatives and our precious ones
away from us for the rest of our lives? Who would believe that it has
been 30 years that we wore the masks? Who would believe that it
has been 30 years that we deliberately stood 6 feet apart from the
next person? It has been 3 decades that the virus vanished but there
has not been a moment when the fear of experiencing such a deadly
phase has left our minds. The fear of not being able to experience
the outside world. The fear of not being able to meet each other.
And most importantly, the fear of losing someone again. Today is 20
November 2051. The same day I lost my Horlicks buddy, my
grandfather. I never thought that an invisible particle of virus could
snatch away my grandfather whom I loved to the best of my heart.
The one who saved me from my mother’s scoldings. The one who
got me my favourite chocolate. And most importantly, the one who
made me understand how to set apart right and wrong. But the
Covid Parks, which are now 25 years old, made us all feel that the
world has not really come to an end. These parks have been
constructed in all the Indian states. Whenever anyone visits the park,
they plant one tree in the name of the person they have lost. I myself
have planted approximately 30 plants there. Whenever I visit this
place, I feel like I am sitting with my grandfather, talking to him and
in return I feel like the environment responds to all the things I’ve
said. It may just be an illusion of mine but I believe in it. Over this
span of 30 years, a lot has changed, and has been added to the style
of living. We no more have to go to offices for work. We no more
have those creative paper “menus”. It’s all in the “app”. There are no
more chai breaks at office to be back bitching about or bosses. Even
educational institutions did not survive. Online school is the “new
normal” for this generation. My niece once came for stay at my
home and went to my room where she saw my school farewell
pictures. She asked me, “Maasi, what is this big building?” I replied
to her, “It is my school.” She widened her eyes on the fact that we
actually had a place to go to everyday where we would carry our
bags with paper books to for studying. This generation of children
have only two classes to be attending per week and that too for
physical fitness in a sports complex. I sometimes get reminded of the
teenager “me” who used to say that she feels suffocated inside that
rectangular piece of fibre. and that she would never wear masks
after the “DO GAJ KI DOORI, MASK HAI ZAROORI” phase would be
over. But now we are the ones who have to match their masks to
their outfits every day. We no more have the privilege to be going to
those dark halls with sofa like chairs where we could watch movies
on a screen bigger than 2 walls together. We have to take up 4
compulsory holidays per month which let us spend time with our
families and not taking them for granted. Sometimes, we go to the
covid museum too. There is a wall in the museum where the family
members of the deceased during the pandemic can write their
names. Even looking at the wall, makes me have chills all over my
body of how many people actually died at that time. The museum is
like a story telling building. As you move forward, you will get to
know how the pandemic unfolded and how the world came out of it.
Whatever life is right now, I like what it was like before. Although I
only got to live my life in that way for 16 years, but they were much
precious to me than the 31 years I have now lived except for the
covid phase, of course. My niece loves horror movies. Who would
tell her that we, the survivors of 2020, have actually experienced
how it feels to be the characters of a real horror movie where the
villain is an invisible particle and the victims are the whole world. I
still remember someone telling me “WE will not be the same people
we were” and we actually aren’t anymore.