The Pandemic “Covid-19” and My Experiences…

If we look at our human history, we have been facing a pandemic every 100 years. In the history of human civilization, we found people suffered from various infectious diseases that took human life and lost properties. Some of them were Plague (1346), Cholera outbreak (1817), Spanish Flu (1918), etc. In the recent past, we had epidemics like dengue. Now in 2019, it is Corona, a mysterious virus. And we are the generations who have been facing this.

Nowadays, the words ‘pandemic’, ‘mask’ and ‘sanitizer’ etc. are buzzwords. Every child, people from rural areas also are being habituated to these words. Before Covid, the pandemic was like a historical term. Except in hospitals, Sanitizer was generally used by cites health-conscious young generations. Masks were used by limited people in cities to be safe from polluted environments. But the scenario has completely changed. When covid 19 got viral, these words are also trending in our society.

I have never imagined; we would get to face this horrible situation. I used to think the pandemic was something that had happened in historical time. This situation changed our lifestyle completely. We can’t do anything freely as we used to do. The life of thousands of people is at stake. Many People are losing their hope. Numbers of families are losing their loved ones.

Everything was normal before the pandemic. We all were doing well. For me, I had just begun my undergraduate student life and was happy and excited enough to enter a new phase of life. There was no fear at all. I, along with my friends, used to do gatherings and spend quality time. We could do anything we want. But things have been changing, we are afraid to meet our relatives, friends and the near ones.
With this pandemic, our ways of living have been changed. We cannot go outside the house. As a student, we have to take online classes. We, who used to be face-to-face with our friends during studying, are facing our laptops or mobile screens. At starting, it is difficult for us to blend in a new teaching environment.

When the second wave of virus began to spread, the second lockdown also started in our country. At that time, I returned to my hometown and started taking classes online. It was easy for me because of access to the internet at home.

Thinking about this factor, I feel I’m one of fewer lucky girls to get a learning environment at least by the internet in this situation.

I belong to one of the rural districts of the country that is Salyan. If I look towards my periphery villages that are rural areas, students like us are not getting opportunities to take classes as they have no access to electricity, internet, and proper equipment. I think roughly 80 % of people from the country, especially from rural areas, are far away from their basic rights to get an education. Students are considered the building blocks of a nation. But if such a heavy number of students get deprived of education in this pandemic, what will be the coming future of our country? I wonder what result it will bring to our next generation. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed by our respected senior citizens.

Another big issue coming out is economic unbalance. Most of our friend’s circle belongs to a middle-class family. It is not that difficult for us to afford normal living in this lockdown. But there are lots of people who depend on their daily wage for necessities like food, clothing and so on. The situation nowadays is so terrific for them. They are having their most difficult time. They are suffering from what to eat rather than this disease. So, let’s help them to sustain their life in this period.

Despite negative impacts, it also gave most of us time for welcoming positive changes. Covid has certainly turned our life upside down but also has provided an opportunity to unlock our view regarding life and society. Challenges are meant to create opportunity. We have got to understand things about family, which we missed to hold on to. Because of the rush in studying and our work, we completely forgot to look back and analyze our life. So, this lockdown can also be seen as an opportunity to analyze, discover, and love as well as to modify ourselves to become the better version of ourselves.

To talk about my personal experience, I never knew that life inside just four walls can also be so great. I got a chance to know more about what a family is. I got to know how my father helps my mother in household works, how they cherish each other. Our living room, which hardly used to get all our family together, is now fulfilled with parenting, working, and studying at the same time. I realized family is the greatest preference over anything.

Although the situation is very uncertain and frightening, let’s see good in bad. Let’s motivate each other. Let’s realize family and societies are a crucial part of our life. I just hope this difficult situation will pass as soon as possible. I hope those who have lost their loved ones will be healed in time. Of course, the situation will not be as normal as it used to be but we can certainly hope for a new normal with our beliefs and roots.

To conclude let’s live every moment of life and should learn to be satisfied with what we have rather than rushing towards perfection.

Martin Luther King once said, “I have a dream, a dream deeply rooted in the American dream – one day this nation will rise and live up to its creed”. In the same way, I also have a dream, a dream to see the world rise again, winning this horrific situation and living a peaceful and happy life.

(Aakriti Oli: Student of Kathmandu University)