The New Normal since Pandemic

–Tusharika Bordoloi

Time can never mend. There was a time when I used to get scolded for not going to bed and getting up on time.
A time when I maintained a strict schedule that was repeated every day even if it was tiring. But practically speaking, I have never paid much attention to my schedule critically as I was too busy and accustomed to following it regularly. But now, neither there is any scolding nor any strict schedule to maintain. Pretty sure it is not only me but everyone out there at this period. And the main perpetrator is none other than this so-called COVID19.

I still freshly remember when on 24th March 2020, ‘lockdown’ was implemented all over the country limiting the movement of the entire 1.38 billion population of India. All public places such as shops, malls, restaurants, cinemas, schools, and even online deliveries were closed. Not a single soul was to be seen. It was all so new to everyone, and this decision was faced with different views and criticism. But as time passed, it gradually became the new normal to everyone.

When the lockdown was first initiated, I became utterly upset as it also made us cancel our long vacation trip which I was awaiting since the last 3 months. All flights were cancelled, international and domestic, and hence there was no question of traveling for a long time.

But honestly, it was not that bad either. Evidently, the trip would have been fun without a doubt; but me being a homesick person since forever, liked it. Also, it was the time of vacation, and the beginning of the semester was still months away, I had a lot of time to invest in myself.

I started doing whatever I have been longing to do but could not because of school and studies. The first thing I did was to start painting which has been my favourite hobby since childhood. However, another obstacle popped up as I found the dearth of paper and canvases. It had been so long that I painted, I didn’t even notice that I had run out of it. Well, that is when the walls of my house were sacrificed. And now there are no more walls left instead of the roof. During this period, 6 walls were made to change their looks. This did not last long though, since it only took me a day or two to complete one wall. Plus my parents were also tired of seeing all the colours all over the house which were once nothing but white.

During this pandemic time, I also became really addicted to my phone and social media but was saved from getting nagged by my parents since they were also doing the same. My parents, especially my mom, got really into web series, Korean dramas and Netflix. Well, I must have to give credit to Netflix for being the main culprit to our schedule being so disorganised as of now.

I, on the other hand, started posting my artworks on social media. This helped me gain feedback on how to improve my art and also introduced me to many good artists out there. Some of those people also ended up being close friends of mine. Also, me and my cousin brother being movie addicts, discussed, shared and watched all kinds of movies available, even though we could not do it together like usual, to kill our time.

The first two or three months passed as the lockdown continued. And then we were introduced to ‘online classes’. Basically, it was just school conducted through videos and online live meetings. At first, it sounded new and interesting. But the only problem I faced was waking up early which felt nearly impossible as my sleep schedule was already far away from being normal. I did diligently attend the classes for the first couple of weeks but when the idea of recorded classes came by, waking up early became an option for me which I decided not to choose. To be honest, even though our teachers did a hard job teaching us the lessons and complete the portions, online classes are not as effective as physical classes.

The pandemic did have advantages of its own. Our family never had been this close since all of us were busy doing our jobs and never had a proper conversation unless it was at the dinner table. We got our long-awaited family vacation, even though it was at home, and it lasted longer than expected. People may complain that their freedom was taken away by covid but, in my opinion, covid gave us more freedom than ever. It gave all of us a break from our daily mundane schedules and people could focus and spend spare more time on themselves.

To conclude, 2020, the official year of the pandemic, even though it brought drastic changes to everyone’s lives, it has already become the new normal for me. I do miss meeting my friends regularly, going to school, and going out with my family but I definitely do not miss my old stringent schedule from the past.