Did We Need a Pandemic to Reconnect?

It has been 12 weeks now, since the whole Corona episode forced many of us to stay home. Though we have all continued working, studying, teaching, cooking, cleaning etc, this pandemic has been extremely successful at disrupting our normal lives. It has been ranked as one of the worst pandemics ever witnessed by current generations and it is extremely saddening to see the number of lives that have been lost.

But what good do we get from dwelling on the negatives only? Don’t get me wrong, one life lost is too many but maybe it’ll help us regain and maintain some sanity if we focus on the positives. Globally, many large cities have started seeing better air quality, the ozone layer has improved, and wild animals have been getting a free reign on otherwise crowded roads. Little things to rejoice about, right?

On a personal level, I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with friends and family. It all started with a family zoom call to wish an aunt who was celebrating her 60th birthday amidst this lockdown. There were over a 100 members on the call and that inspired me and many others to organize many more such calls. There was one call that I especially loved hosting: the one where I got to see my college mates, some whom I hadn’t seen since 2005. We had parted ways promising to stay in touch, but life happened!

The best part of the call was that as soon as we were all online, it felt as though we were picking up from a conversation that was paused in 2005. Nothing felt different…except a few pounds here and a some silver strands there, we were still the bunch of college kids who loved to sit at the little coffee kiosk on campus and indulge in conversations that ranged from literature to life to a lot of nonsense.

We ended the call with a renewed promise to stay in touch and have these calls more frequently and something in me says that we will be sticking to it this time. Even though life has led us all in completely different directions, I could clearly see how much we enjoyed each others company.

It is sad that we waited 15 years and for a pandemic to reconnect, but like I said earlier, there are some definite positives that we can take away from this whole experience. Some that can leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart.