“If Corona has taught us anything, it is that life will go on” An opinion piece by Pincap MD, Praveen Sinha

It takes an event of significant proportions to put the entire world in disarray and in 2020 an entire generation has had to battle through an invisible force named COVID – 19. Almost a year on since the early onset of the deadly pandemic, the virus whether you like it or not has become a part of our daily lives and will continue to be so, until a sufficient number of the population is not vaccinated against it.

Recently during lunch hour at the office, I was discussing the impact of the virus with a few of my team members to understand what changes they have incorporated into their lives since the pandemic. Most of my team members are in their 20s or 30s, a generation that is expected to shape the future of tomorrow and a generation which is dealing and will have to deal with the potential fallouts of the pandemic in the coming years. I came across several interesting insights throughout the discussion, some of which are as follows:

• Almost all my team members now have healthier food habits. Most of them are choosing to eat at home instead of ordering food online and consuming food which helps improve their immune systems. Food consisting of Vitamin C,D and A and Zinc are of prime importance.
• All of the team members are now equipped with medical insurance. This is a welcome change
• The discussion brought to light the fact that the symptoms are very different from patient to patient. Some reported almost no symptoms while some had severe difficulties, while for some it was no different than a normal round of the flu.
• There is a lot of misinformation about the pandemic still. One of my team members still thinks it is a hoax and this is the system’s way to keep us under subjugation.
• The first thing everyone wants to do after this ends is to travel abroad.
• Everyone has at least one OTT subscription.
• They all agreed that they have cut down on frivolous spending and started taking more care of their finances.

It was an interesting chat which revealed that while we are adjusting to the new normal, we definitely miss fragments of our old lives. It is humanity’s nature to explore and look for new adventures and travel restrictions at present, are actually creating a huge pent up demand for travel. Survival is an instinct that is humanity’s barest emotion. As soon as we were threatened, we started eating healthy, spending on insurance and taking more care of our personal hygiene. Sanitizers which were till last year considered a vanity product became an essential. Entertainment which is as essential for the human soul as food is to our biological system, made its way to every mobile screen when the big screens shuttered. The pandemic made us all think about our futures and rethink our lives. We have become more conscious about our decisions and have accordingly changed ourselves for the better. The conversations really got me thinking about the pandemic, it’s subliminal impact on our lives and how despite it’s daily threat, humanity will continue to march on scarred but undefeated. 

The featured writer Praveen Sinha jabong co-founder and current Managing Director of Pincap. A registered NBFC in Gurgaon.