Friday, 8 May 2020

Lockdown Changes Life & Style




BY APURVA RAI
IT was not an easy decision announcing countrywide lockdown in the wake of Corona virus or Covid-19 pandemic. However, this was the only solution to prevent the virus from spreading among people. The decision to implement the lockdown came suddenly and took everyone by surprise; many not even knowing what it actually means and how it has to be followed. The administrative machinery had to work relentlessly to make people understand the lockdown and to ensure its implementation further. 

The effects of lockdown surfaced a few days later and as a result of it people experienced a life that was unheard of. Lockdown affected different people in different ways. Some just tried to get through it, others felt it has brought forward opportunities for personal growth. For some it took off as fun and relaxation and culminated in boredom. For some it has been time for multi tasking as they took care of family needs while also working from home. For students it has been most exhilarating experience as they got hooked to online classes, perhaps, for the first time. 

Talk to different people and they have a different 'Lockdown Tale' to tell.  The social media too has been full of all kinds of gossip stuff and videos to 'Gyan ki Pathshala' (School of Wisdom) to keep your senses on the right track. 

While the lockdown has been welcomed by people largely it also invited resentment from some quarters. Though merits and demerits of lockdown or its worthiness is a matter of debate there is nothing wrong in admitting that it has taught us many a new lessons in our life. It is not wrong to say that the lockdown is going to change our life and style for many more months or even years to come. It is also not wrong to say that post lockdown our lives are going to be same again as things have changed altogether for a long time to come, if not forever. We, the people, have to present a 'New U' (you) if we want to live a safe and secured life and ensure a happier and brighter future. 


The lockdown has transformed our lives in more than many ways. While many people would revert back to their older lifestyles, few of us might adopt the positive changes that we have experienced all these days. Surely, many of us have reinvented ourselves during this time. Knowingly or unknowingly, the new life has been very positive for many of us and has also transformed our mindset for the better. 

HEALTHCARE: Post lockdown the biggest focus is going to be ensuring good health for all. Corona virus, which took its wings from Wuhan in China, traversed all over the globe spreading fear and panic everywhere irrespective of nationality, colour or religion. Even the most developed nations with sound medical facilities crumbled resulting in lakhs of deaths.
India, which ranks very low in medical care, however, managed to keep the virus impact under check by implementing lockdown and appealing to maintain social distancing. The prolonged lockdown did cause unrest among people and the government also faced criticism from various quarters it cannot be ruled out that the mortality rate has been among the lowest in the world. But this does not mean we should become complacent in future. 

The lesson that we learn now is that there is an urgent need to further strengthen our health care system which is in a poor shape despite so much of investments in the past several decades. We should also learn that the governments, both at the centre and the states, would henceforth determine honestly that strong public health system would be their foremost priority. The present condition of public health system is not hidden from anyone and there is no need to write more about it. 

Even the private hospitals will have to change their outlook now. India today is an important nation for health tourism only because of high quality and prompt medical facilities largely provided by the private sector. Sadly, the treatment in private hospitals is very expensive and beyond the reach of a common man. Time has come when the management of private hospitals as well as private medical practitioners should change their thought and make treatment more affordable. 

ONLINE CULTURE: The lockdown opened the doors for online work culture, online classes, online tests, online fests, webinars, online concerts, online entertainment, online music and movies and much more. Everything on computers without the need to step out of your home. Many people had already been working from home earlier too but during lockdown it became the new norm. This is the future, the new world, new work culture, new working environment, new normal that we are going to see more often in years to come. 

Online work culture will have further impact:
a) Lesser Demand for Office Space: It's a reality that the real estate might see a decline in the demand for large office space. The companies might consider going for comparatively smaller offices, either rented or purchased, and ask majority of their staff to continue working from home. Staff might be asked to come to office for collective meetings etc on a pre-scheduled date on rotational basis. This will help the corporate save huge amount of money which may be invested in expanding business.

b) Redesigned Homes: Work from Home (WFH) meant you fix a corner in your room or go for a separate study room which is presentable and equipped with all necessary facilities like a book shelf, study table, internet connection, desktop/ laptop, headphone etc. In future we are definitely going to see homes being renovated or redesigned to make them compliant with WFH culture. A study corner or a study room is the new necessity. The builders too will not lag behind and include study rooms in their apartments which will surely give them a reason to attract more clients. And more clients means more business.

GREATER ROLE OF MEN IN HOMES: I am a man, why should I cook? Why should I perform domestic chores ? So far the men folk have, generally, lived with this kind of reputation in our society. Up till now the men had the reputation of being a grumbling, order-passing figure who sits on a couch and watches women perform all domestic chores only to find mistakes or criticise them at the end.  So much so they would not even serve their plates and expect the lady of the house to do this miniscule job. Ironically, level of education does not reflect on their personality from any corner. 

Of late, a change in personality was noticed, particularly in metropolitan cities, where men shared the household responsibilities since their spouses too went out to work. The lockdown, however, saw a drastic change in the role men played in their homes. Many men ventured into kitchens and cooked, good or bad, for their family, rendered a helping hand in mopping the floor or washing clothes. Social media was abuzz with photographs of food cooked by the 'dads'. 

Men, hopefully, will stand up to their newly earned reputation post lockdown. Don't be surprised when you go for lunch at a relative or a friend's home where the hostess introduces you to a new chef and serves a stunning new dish prepared by 'him'. A meaningful change that we are going to see in our future lives. 

DO IT YOURSELF: The lockdown and social distancing norm created an environment where the domestic help was sent on leave and the work fell on our shoulders. Most of us proved we are good at everything and can clean the utensils, mop the floors and wash the clothes quite well by ourselves. Besides this, we also took care of our flower pots, took care of pets and did car cleaning as well. Post lockdown too the 'new domestic work culture' is likely to continue as social distancing will have to be observed to the keep the corona virus at bay. 

Surely, we have imbibed the western culture in true sense now; so far we just wore western dresses, listened to western music and spoke English loudly to show off our modernity. The lockdown has made us westernised in true sense. 

SIMPLICITY IS THE NEW RULE: During lockdown when we did most of the work by ourselves and remained confined to our homes many people realised that life is all about simplicity but adopting it has been so difficult. Many of us awakened to the fact that we needed one decent, well designed home to live, lesser clothes than we have in our wardrobes, lesser commodities that have cramped in our homes, simpler food that we never thought of eating, not more than one or two cars and the need to lead a more disciplined life. 

SPREAD HAPPINESS: Life is so simple but we made it complicated. Hope we retain rules of simplicity and lay more stress on stress-free life and happiness of our soul. We need to shift our focus from more of material world to nature, environment, wildlife and seeing places within the nation and the world. 



We must realise we are in the world and should make the most of it. We should make happiness our pursuit, spread a little sunshine here and there. We should enjoy the flowers, the breeze, the waving trees, the rivers, sea, sky and the mountains. Should we not say hi to a passing child, wave at children going to schools in a rickshaw early morning, help a pregnant lady by sharing her luggage, stop and ask the well being of an old person whom we meet on the pavement. Life is great and much beyond the commodities that occupies most of the space in our homes just to pump our ego and vanity.

SPECIFIC INDUSTRY WILL GROW: The new living environment and Do it Yourself (DIY) lifestyle means that some specific industries will see growth as the demand for certain products will escalate. There are huge opportunities for such industries engaged in manufacturing and selling of home maintenance gadgets. Besides, the food and beverage industry too stands to gain in the post lockdown world. 


Things of everyday use like an easy to use broom which does not give an aching back, fast and convenient floor mopping gadget, brushes to wipe out dust, floor cleaners, smaller washing machines which use less water, folding racks to dry clothes, convenient ironing tables etc are many such things which are likely to come in greater demand for some time to come.
Similarly, ready-to-eat food stuff, pre-cut vegetables, variety of packaged food including heat- and- eat chapatis, packaged salads, variety of yogurts, sprouts and a variety of takeaway add-on fresh food products are likely to see growth post lockdown. The sweet shops remained closed during lockdown and it became difficult to control our cravings for them. We have seen many families posting photographs of variety of sweets, cakes and cookies that they made in their homes. Those who could not make them were jealous and felt helpless. Packaged sweets too is likely to see a huge growth since social distancing norms are there to stay for many more months to follow. 

Who says recession is going to stay? Only thing is the focus will most likely change and the industry needs to capitalise on it as it becomes more innovative, sensitive to consumer needs and changed way of life. Industry will have to do some research work, find out what has changed, look into new lifestyle, find the gap, cater to the new fresh, fill the vacuum and introduce products as alternatives. Of course, the success mantra would be reasonable pricing and good quantity spiced up with purity of ingredients and hygiene.

There have been many a talks and controversies about the lockdown, its implementations and effects but the second opinion only goes on to say that it was a necessary evil to keep us safe and healthy. It would become more meaningful if we forget the difficulties that came our way during this period and share our stories of change to our children and grandchildren.

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NOTE:

Read more articles by me on life affected by Corona pandemic. Copy/Paste the given links to open the write-ups.

1) स्वाद का लॉकडाउन
https://apurvarai.blogspot.com/2020/04/blog-post_28.html








2) ठहरे कदम
https://apurvarai.blogspot.com/2020/04/blog-post_17.html








3) फासलों के दरमियां
https://apurvarai.blogspot.com/2020/04/blog-post.html

 






4) Mass Exodus in History
https://apurvaopinion.blogspot.com/2020/04/mass-exodus-in-history.html








Wednesday, 1 April 2020

MASS EXODUS IN HISTORY




BY APURVA RAI
THE second decade of the 21st century has seen an unprecedented event; you may call it a scare, you may call it a pandemic or you may even call it a war or a biological war, to be precise. The entire world is fighting an unseen enemy, coming from the Wuhan province of China, posing danger to human lives all across the globe. Every single person on earth today lives in fear, feels threatened, finds himself helpless to the wrath of nature and runs away from even his near and dear ones to run for his life. The enemy, which crosses the boundaries and lines of control of all nations without fear, passport or visa, seems invincible.

The enemy, which poses danger to the entire human race, has challenged all progress, developments and technological advancements that the modern world has made. The enemy number one to mankind today is known by the name of Corona Virus or Covid 19. 

Corona has brought the entire world to a standstill-- all offices shut, factories closed and shops forced to bring down shutters. Almost every country is in a state of health emergency with complete lockdown and full restriction on human movement. You stay where you are, but, stay away from all others, no matter if they are your friends, family or relatives. The idiom 'Proximity breeds contempt' may be revised as 'Proximity breeds disease' in today's global scenario. 

In India, too, a 21-day complete lockdown was declared on March 25, 2020 by the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nobody was allowed to go anywhere as rail, road and air traffic was completely shut. Highways were closed for vehicles, trains halted and flights grounded-- everyone was stuck where he or she was. The fast paced life in the cities of Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru suddenly came to a halt forcing people to stay indoors and work from home, wherever possible. The people were asked to stay indoors and get groceries delivered at their doorstep. 

But the facts of life are different-- not everyone can work from home. Thousands of labourers and other workers were suddenly left with no work, no income, no earnings yet all expenses intact. Millions lost work overnight. There was panic and a large number of them rolled their beds, packed their bags, took their families and set out for their hometowns. Yes, they all started trekking under scorching sun in the absence of any conveyance. All appeals to stop them fell on deaf ears.The distance to be covered ranged between 100 kilometres to a thousand kilometres without any means of transport or food for the children. Still they were willing to traverse and prepared to face any amount of hardship that would come their way. 


Within a day of lockdown India was witnessing a massive exodus from metropolitan cities to the hometowns. The migrants were seen in the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi/NCR. The entire purpose of lockdown, to implement social distancing, stood defeated. Migrants were on road, carrying their belongings on their heads, beating social distancing, hunger and starvation, facing hardships together. They started walking all their way to their hometowns, mostly in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar or Rajasthan.

India had never seen such a mass migration of human population in the 21st century; it was, perhaps, the first for many of us. Delhi's bus terminus at Anand Vihar became assembly point for lakhs of such migrants where the state governments arranged several buses to ferry these workers so that they do not have to walk.  Arrangements, however, did not seem sufficient and thousands of these workers stood in despair waiting to get a vehicle for their home.

Complete chaos at the bus terminus, assembly of people in large numbers and walking on foot together only increased the chances of corona virus infection. People risked their lives as they saw no hope. Many felt even if corona virus does not kill them they will die of hunger and starvation.

Corona made the modern day life difficult be it the people following social distancing to break the chain of virus from spreading or others who fought for their existence every day. Modern India was facing mass exodus in the most primitive manner. It was like history repeating itself when the world had witnessed similar mass migrations on several occasions at different times.

Come, let us recall some of the mass migrations that the world has seen before, including India.

What is Mass Exodus
This means migration of large groups of people from one geographical area to another. This, however, does not include seasonal migration, which may occur on a regular basis. 

Causes of Mass Migration
The reason for migrating are complex but people usually flee from their home due to war, persecution, climate crisis, water degradation, land rush, crime rate and food poverty. Today it would be apt to refer to an epidemic or pandemic too as one of the causes of mass migration.

IN INDIA...
It is not for the first time that India has seen mass migration. The first was at the time of Independence when India was divided into West Pakistan which is commonly referred as Pakistan and East Pakistan which is now known as Bangladesh. The mass migration was witnessed when people shifted from India to Pakistan and vice versa. 

1) India's Partition: Following the partition of British India into Pakistan and India, some 15 million people found themselves stranded in the 'wrong' part of the land, Hindus in Pakistani territory and Muslims in Indian territory. Thus began the greatest international migration in history with Muslims migrating towards eastern and western wings of the newly formed state of Pakistan and Hindus crossing over to India. 

Emotions ran high and terrible atrocities were committed on both sides ranging from damage to property, arson, killing and mob violence. Ordinary peace loving Hindus and Muslims became so enraged with each other that they committed such atrocities they would never have considered themselves capable off.

UNHCR estimates 20 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were displaced during the partition of India, the largest mass migration in human history.

2) Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits: The Hindus (also known as Pandits) of the Kashmir Valley, were forced to flee the Kashmir valley as a result of being targeted by JKLF and Islamist insurgents like Hizb-ul Mujahideen during late 1989 and early 1990. Of the approximately 300,000 to 600,000 Hindus living in the Kashmir Valley in 1990 only 2,000–3,000 remained there in 2016. 

Inflammatory speeches were made from loudspeakers of mosques and posters were stuck on the houses and shops of Kashmiri Pandits ordering them to either embrace Islam or leave the valley. They were threatened with their lives.

January 19, 1990, is widely remembered by Kashmiri Hindus as the tragic "Exodus Day" of being forced out of Kashmir. Most families were resettled in Jammu, Delhi/ NCR and other neighbouring states.


What happened on January 19, 1990: A curfew was imposed by the then governor, Jagmohan after he had dismissed the state government. Militant groups JKLF and Hizb-ul Mujahideen were exhorting people to defy the curfew.

Inflammatory slogans were relayed from mosques all day long. One of them said: ‘Kashmi mei agar rehna hai, Allah-O-Akbar Kehna hai’.

Kashmiri Pandits are known for their significant contributions to a variety of spheres, including Shaivism, philosophy, theology, literature and poetry, music, and the arts and sciences.

... AND THE WORLD

Apart from India several nations in the world have also witnessed mass exodus due to various factors. A 'second look' at some of them.

1) Great Atlantic Migration: The largest migration in history was the so-called Great Atlantic Migration from Europe to North America, the first major wave of which began in the 1840s with mass movements from Ireland and Germany.

2) Italian Diaspora: The Italian Diaspora refers to large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There are two major Italian diasporas-- the first  began around 1880, two decades after the Unification of Italy, and ended in the 1920s to early-1940s with the rise of Fascism in Italy. The second started after the end of World War II and roughly concluded in the 1970s. According to an estimate between 1880-1980, about 15,000,000 Italians left the country permanently. 

Poverty was the main reason for leaving, specifically the lack of land as property became subdivided over generations; especially in the South of Italy. Secondary reasons were internal political and economic crisis, organized crime and difficulties in the former Kingdom of the two Sicilies. 


3) Migration in America: The United States of America experienced a wave of mass migration like never before from 1850 to 1920. Between 1880 and 1914, over 20 million Europeans migrated to the US, at a time when the country only had 75 million residents.

According to a study, "In 1850, at the onset of the Age of Mass Migration, over 90 percent of the foreign born living in the US were from either Great Britain, Ireland, or Germany. By the end of the Age of Mass Migration, in 1920, this figure was only 45." 
It was one of the greatest migrations in human history. From 1846 to 1940, about 55 million Europeans migrated to the United States and South America seeking a better life. The result was that the governments in Europe from Vienna to Prague came out with strong messages and punishment to prevent the spread of the so-called 'America Fever'.

4) Great Migration: The United States not only witnessed mass migration from different nations, mainly Europe, it also saw internal migration which occurred during the industrial revolution. According to some estimates over a 60 year period, from 1910 to around 1970, more than seven million African Americans moved from rural areas in the US, to settle in the more industrialized cities located in the Midwest and Western regions.
Due to the massive number of people involved in the migration, historians refer to the phenomenon as the Great Migration.

5) Resettlement of Europe after Soviet Domination: At the end of World War II changes in the map of Europe meant that many people found themselves living in hostile territory. Majority of these people were Germans who were expelled, evacuated or fled from Central and Eastern Europe to the new Germany. This evacuation is known as the largest single instance of ethnic cleansing in recorded history.

6) Potsdam Agreement: This agreement was signed by the victorious nation at the end of  World War II. The agreement led to one of the largest migrations, involving almost two crore people, ever witnessed within Europe's borders.

One of the communities that were significantly affected was the Germans living in Eastern Europe. Estimates indicate that more than 16,000,000 Germans were forced to move from nations in Eastern and Central Europe back to their native home in Germany.

7) Russian Civil War: The period of this war is described from November 1917 to October 1922. It was one of the bloodiest war in Russia's history as it resulted in the death of close to 8,000,000 people according to some estimates. 

To escape the bloodshed, more than 3,000,000 people fled from Russia. Some of the communities that fled the nation were the Poles, the Russians, and the Germans.

The civil war occurred because after November 1917 many groups had formed that opposed Lenin’s Bolsheviks. These groups included monarchists, militarists, and, for a short time, foreign nations and they were collectively known as the Whites. Te Bolsheviks, on the other hand, were known as the Reds. 

The Red Army won this war because it was better-organized and held the best territory. After this war, the communists established the Soviet Union in 1922. 

8) From Rural China to Urban Centers: Grinding poverty was always a problem for rural China. During the regime of Mao Zedong rural population was not allowed to migrate to urban areas. In 1982 the people's communes were dissolved which led to mass exodus of hundreds of millions of people from China’s countryside to its fast-growing cities. In 1984 permission was given to peasants to move to towns of 100,000 inhabitants or less. Thus China saw creation of surplus labour. 

Since then Urban population in China has increased enormously helping the country to strengthen its economy. 

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NOTE:
Read my another article in Hindi on Corona virus.

Copy/ paste following link.

1) फासलों के दरमियां
https://apurvarai.blogspot.com/2020/04/blog-post.html














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 2) ठहरे कदम !
https://apurvarai.blogspot.com/2020/04/blog-post_17.html














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3) स्वाद का लॉकडाउन
https://apurvarai.blogspot.com/2020/04/blog-post_28.html













4) Lockdown Changes Life & Style
https://apurvaopinion.blogspot.com/2020/05/lockdown-changes-life-style.html