Opinion | Five big ways in which the covid crisis might change us as people
We could see greater distrust but truer friendships, more religiosity and perhaps a kinder world
coronavirus, COVID-19, covid-19 pandemic, coronavirus outbreak, masks, mortality, health workers, humanity, social distancing, physical proximity, work from home
What sort of a society will we inherit from the covid-19 pandemic? On the surface, it would possibly look more or less the same—after all, we are not going to go around wearing masks for the rest of our lives, and it is highly unlikely that even families that can afford it will all invest in another home specifically so that spouses can take a break from each other whenever prolonged physical proximity gets a bit hard to handle. But there will certainly be deeper and more subtle changes, and we probably won’t even notice, till some alert sociologists start pointing them out a few years from now, and their TED talks go viral. So, as someone who has been mostly working from home for 10 years, with a limited social life, let me make five predictions.
One, we will emerge a society with a much higher level of distrust. Today, the suddenly-awakened fear of mortality is leading people to keep a close watch on one another. Neighbours are calling the police to report on families not strictly following behavioural guidelines. For many of us, the spectre of inevitable—and massive—job losses has increased insecurity more than at any time in our lives. Most people will possibly carry that distrust, suspicion and insecurity—at a conscious or subconscious level—with them as long as they live. We will trust everyone less, whether it’s people or institutions. This leads me to the next prediction.
Fear exposes the core personas of people. Our interactions with friends and acquaintances during this period, even if they are just on WhatsApp groups, would give us rare insights into their real selves—how selfish or altruistic they are, how fragile or tough, how narrow-minded or unbiased, how courageous or cowardly, and how reliable. Without doubt, we will have a much better sense of whom we can count on in times of need, and who our true friends are. A crisis is always a sieve—it separates the greedy and self-obsessed from the kind and generous. A harsh lockdown reveals whom we want to talk to, whose company we miss, and whose we don’t. We also now know who the people are that fecklessly lie about their travel histories, or ostracize health workers and airline crew members, or see a disease as a stigma. We will recalibrate our relationships based on insights gained under a looming threat. Many of us will end up with fewer friends, but they will all be real friends.
Three, we have all suddenly been exposed to the randomness of the universe, what philosopher-writer Albert Camus called the “absurdity of existence". A direct result of this will be more religiosity. More than ever, a lot of us would want something to lean on, and I certainly will not be surprised if displays of religious devotion become more frequent and widespread.
Just count the number of messages on your phone over the last few weeks that mention prayer and praying. When we finally come out of all this, some people—including former non-believers—will want to thank their gods fervently for letting them come through unscathed, and the less fortunate will also find solace in acknowledging and surrendering to the perceived higher powers. The number of people who prefer “spirituality" to religion will also see a jump.
Four, for those of us who employ domestic helps (which, I suppose, includes almost all Indians reading this), nothing has woken us up quite like covid-19 to the importance of the services we have been taking for granted in our daily lives. Once the lockdown lifts and our helps return to our homes again, we will respect them much more. The same for sanitation workers and other people whom many of us rarely paid attention to. This will be something very positive to come out of this crisis and could have long-term implications, especially in a class-ridden society like India. At the same time, many of us would have been working to get more autonomy over the daily mundane tasks of our lives. This is also good. And by the way, a litmus test of whom we should consider worthy of our friendship should be whether someone who can afford to has been paying their domestic help when he/she is unable to come to work.
Five, we may—just may—actually emerge as a kinder and gentler society. After all, if we have failed to notice that a virus does not distinguish between a Hollywood star and a slum dweller, and if that has not made us slightly more humble, then we may have failed as a species. If we haven’t been delighted by the sight of dolphins playing in the waters off Marine Drive in Mumbai or peacocks perched on parked cars in concrete jungles, we are truly irredeemable creatures.
We have seen heroes emerge during this crisis, ordinary people rising to the occasion and doing whatever is within their powers to alleviate suffering, out of genuine compassion and with nothing to gain. Perhaps this crisis will make us more responsible and thoughtful beings. We certainly have the brains to be so.
I have friends who believe that this chaos will give birth to a new age of healing and harmony. I do not suffer from such wishful thinking, but I know that this pandemic is a huge reality check for humanity. And reality checks are generally beneficial.
Sandipan Deb is former editor of ‘Financial Express’, and founder-editor of ‘Open’ and ‘Swarajya’ magazines
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