Namrata Sharma

As year 2020 is bid farewell and 2021 is welcomed, unforgettable events are written down in history. The world came almost to a standstill when the COVID-9 pandemic hit. Even as people are grappling with what the pandemic really meant, tragic scenes of people dying all over the globe became a reality that would leave scarred memories for generations to come. Millions of people died due to the pandemic and the lifestyle of living changed drastically.
While the world was aggressively moving ahead utilising the natural and human-made resources to achieve what was known as “success”, suddenly one after the other countries went under lockdowns keeping people away from each other. Phrases like social distancing, hand-washing, stay safe and flatten the curve became the mantras that were chanted in household and media, reminding people to stay away from each other in the hope of staying away from the virus that created havoc globally. The world was forced to redefine what “success and achievement” really meant.

Working culture
Year 2020 also introduced a new lifestyle and escalated technology in a way that was unprecedented. As lockdowns were imposed all over the world, the culture of working from home was introduced. Far distancing work and teaching commenced via the internet. There were several innovations overnight of how to reach people via the “net” for education, information, services and also social events. Zoom has become a household name. Nick Routely writes in Markets that “Zoom’s market capitalisation had skyrocketed to eclipse the top seven airlines by revenue, combined”.
Thanks to internet sites and services, including Zoom, Viber, WhatsApp, messenger, people all over the world kept connection with each other. Festivals were celebrated virtually using these services. Nepal’s biggest festivals of Dashain and Tihar were done “over the net” by arranging family events to at least see each other. The work pattern has been significantly impacted by the pandemic as flexible working hours and working from home has been introduced and adopted by rigid corporate and government sector.
Nepal, like all other countries has been severely affected by the pandemic. Year 2020 was designated as the Visit Nepal Year to promote the tourism industry which had been severely affected by the last massive earthquake that had hit the country. It was expected to draw around 2 million foreign visitors to the country, however it had to be called off. According to Nepal Rastra Bank, only 35 per cent of business operated partially and 4 per cent operated fully during the lockdown period of March 24-July 21. It also stated that industries and business slashed jobs by 18.2 per cent. Tourism Industry, transportation and education sector were the leaders in cutting jobs.
The plight of the migrant workers of Nepal has had a devastating effect on their lives and has probably driven them into deeper cycles of poverty. Together with the slump in the economic activities, a major foreign policy crisis arose due to the land debate between Nepal and India with our claim to Lipulek but India went on to deny our rights. However, the most disappointing political crisis for the Nepali people has been the latest dissolving of the parliament and the Prime Minister’s call for a mid-term election. The last thing needed in the country, especially as the people had voted for a majority government with a hope of their governing the country with stability for full term.
The pandemic has shown that although this disease excludes no one, it has affected the most vulnerable and marginalised community people more severely. The elderly, not only get infected more easily, but they also get secluded the most. I remember seeing my octogenarian parents and their friends leading a very independent and happy life before the pandemic. Suddenly, they were pushed into seclusion and forced to stay away from each other. Public transportation was out of their reach and many do not operate the gadgets that give access to the virtual world. So they were the first ones cut off from the new mode of webinars and conferences.
Similarly, domestic violence, gender and race-based violence has escalated globally. The income generation of the daily wage earners and low middle class families have been affected the most. The world will have the impact of 2020 for a long time and the experience will be written down in history for generations to see what has happened and how people coped. For me, the most important lesson learned was to realise that my values of small is beautiful actually is the way for the future. The so-called partying, socialising and hoarding of materialistic pleasure are not what the world needs now.

Important takeaway
One can give to the society by staying home too. I was able to reach out to thousands of youth via the net by teaching and taking session over the clouds to talk about discrimination and by also writing about issue that needed attention. This helped me share my experience, but more importantly kept me sane by interacting with them to make my life more enriched. There are several important life lessons learnt during this pandemic which needs to be incorporated within ourselves.
In March, when we went under lockdown, the vaccination against the diseases was a far-fetched dream. Now Pfizer has rolled out a 95 per cent effective COVID-19 vaccine, followed by Moderna, at 94.5 per cent in mid-November. As vaccines come, countries like Nepal still are awaiting their turn of receiving it. There are a lot of challenges ahead, but learning to be happy within oneself could be the most important takeaway as we bid farewell to 2020.

(Namrata Sharma is a senior journalist and women rights advocate. namrata1964@yahoo.com Twitter handle: NamrataSharmaP)