Guiding Light: Musings on post-pandemic times

Swami Brahmavidananda

Now that we have more or less flattened the curve the fear of the Covid virus is coming down. But people, being what they are have new fears- What is going to happen? How will the economy be? How will our lives change? No one in living memory has any idea of a post Pandemic world. The last pandemic we had was the Spanish flu in 1920. Before that, the cholera in 1820 and in 1720 the plague, give or take a couple of years.

Whatever records are available are no longer valid because the society has changed so much in a 100 years. Therefore this anxiety, worry, fear is natural. People are even calling it the fear of the unknown. The unknown cannot be an object of fear or desire or love or any other emotion. It is not the unknown that we fear.

It is our projection of what is unknown. We know that there is a life post the pandemic. We don’t know what it is going to be. Therefore we project a lot on it. And these projections do not come from any knowledge or wisdom or any sense of security. Our fears get exaggerated. As it is most people are insecure. On top of it we are projecting a negative scenario in the future.

We can always have realistic projections based on data available rather than projecting widely from our insecurities. We need not look at the future with rose tinted glasses. That is equally unrealistic. But can we not say? Our forefathers survived so many pandemics. Can we not do the same? Are we not better equipped? Has not more scientific progress happened? Will a vaccine not be produced in the next few months?

Therefore the future, even if not rosy, definitely is something that human beings can tackle. Since we have survived three pandemics in the last three centuries, we will survive. Not only survive. We will thrive after this pandemic is over. Industrial growth will slow down. That’s okay. We will bounce back and rebuild our civilization again.