HILLSIDE HARBOUR - Dock Your Thoughts

#letsblog Lockdown Dairies

By Rtr. Anshul Ratna , Editor

It was the beginning of the year 2020, and we had just crossed approximately two and half months of our regular life, when this global pandemic hit our nation adversely. There were memes swarming all over the social media platforms screaming “Can we uninstall the year 2020, this version has a virus in it”. With countries and cities being pulled into a standstill, COVID-19 or more profoundly called the Corona Virus, has made the communities stay away from each other, as the basic need for survival. Everything else, other than the essential items came to a halt. Some regions fought really well, and some are deterrent to change and slow and very few have failed drastically in containment of virulent disease. As a community, while brawling against a global pandemic, it’s very easy to lose our hopes and brood over the negative effects of the event. But, as it’s known that for every low there’s a high and so does this scenario will have a silver lining to it. Let us not talk about the negatives of the event, rather let us think that we will definitely survive this and when we do it’s a different world that awaits the adaptive beings. Let us look forward to some of the positive impacts of COVID-19 Practicing Better Hygiene is the new lifestyle – Being hygienic is no more restricted to being a good habit, but has become the very skill we need for survival. We humans are social animals, and we have the ability to connect with our fellow beings, which cannot be changed and neither would we want it to. But the recent times have made us aware of how to be hygienically more social. We all have had a lifestyle change for the good, from covering our mouths when we cough, sanitizing our hands after contacting any surface, and from shaking hands to Namaste from the contemporary era, because we now are aware of what can happen if we don’t follow these practices. Education becoming more digitized and affordable – The whole education system is under a threat posed by the pandemic. It is saddening to see Schools, Colleges, Universities, and Coaching Classes being shut down. Yet again, the educational institutions looked at the brighter side of this, and found a way to overcome this challenging series of events, of course, with the help of technology. Online classes have become the new norm and it comes with more benefits to the institutions, in the form of lesser investment on infrastructural costs. This as a result has made the education more affordable. Moreover, the parents also get the first-hand knowledge about how the classes are going forward and how their child perceives the concepts. We can expect a drastic increase in the reach and accessibility of education within every section of the society now, with the growth of online classes.

Working remotely turning mainstream – From Zapier to Invision, many companies, now, work remotely, with 100% of the workforce in action, not physically present, but virtually. The lockdowns have made most businesses go remote, from shopping to getting groceries, from classrooms to meetings.

Companies are gradually adopting the culture where they trust the integrity of their employees & believe that they will work loyally even when not looked after every now and then. The companies are now saving the investments made on for larger spaces and actually not going to allow geographical locations stand in between hiring the right talent.

A new wave of tools & Software – Organizations are now in need of online tools & software that can help the digital shift seamless. This has opened doors to many applications that let you identify and enhance the crucial processes and workflows. From ZOOM to Google Meet, from Say Namaste to Webex, these mobile applications have helped us stay connected in these difficult times.

From self-diagnosis apps like Aarogya Setu to touchless biometric attendance systems, we have come a long way ahead in the field of digitization. Workaround tools are no longer stay just enhancements; they are going mainstream.

Helps you build genuine relationships – Prior to the pandemic, we all have been so busy living the LIFE, that most of us had lost those real, genuine moments with our loved ones. The reasons might be the busy schedules, running around to make ends meet or rushing to be in urgent meetings. I agree, many of you were lucky enough to go for family vacation, but even then,

didn’t you dream of those pending files waiting for you to arrive at your workstation.

This pandemic has positively impacted the way we maintain relationships, and has given us a chance to spend quality time with our families and plan our work better.

As lives have slowed down, we have found ways to stay connected with people, even if it’s virtually. The impacts of the pandemic will become the reality for the next few quarters or years, but we need to redefine our lives, and stand strong and evolve as better human beings.

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” – Lyndon B. Johnson