Will 2022 be another version of 2019?

What good would this time do us if we go back to the world as we knew it before the pandemic, without an improved moral compass, and a desire to look and care beyond oneself?

- Nachiket Barve

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” — Winston Churchill.

It’s been a significant yet strange couple of years, hasn’t it? “The New Normal” is the ‘mot du jour’, bandied about causally as we all remind ourselves to mask up and stay safe (and sane). As we end this year, things seem to have normalised to a large extent in India — house parties are back, weddings have begun, travel has resumed. Heck, even the masks are slipping. But, are things back to what they were pre-pandemic? And more importantly; should they be?

The world was on a bender pre-pandemic — insta-worthy travel, relentless shopping, and bacchanalian excess. The pandemic put this franticness to a grinding halt. The familiar patterns of living all went for a toss, along with withdrawal symptoms from the lack of photogenic avocado toasts, of gym mirrors to flaunt those (touched up) abs, and even no place to wear all the latest trends. Civilians and celebrities alike were at a loss, flummoxed with the new order of things.

A few lockdowns later, and a few lakh deaths later, here we are, trying to cope, even as the new Covid variant Omicron raises its multi-pronged Medusa-like head, and leaves the future in a limbo.

What has this period taught us?

For me, it has brought home a new set of priorities. The importance of family, the pleasure of slowing down, the undiscovered joys of doing nothing (and not feeling guilty about it), the time to create new things without the pressure of a fashion week showcase or the stress of juggling a dozen balls in the air. I learnt what true luxury is — the ability to choose, the control over one’s time; the small things we take for granted: health, family, peaceful sleep.