2022 has ushered in and the first day of the year is auspicious to make some resolution, introspect the past, and plan ahead optimistically.

It is now almost two years that we are living under the influence of the curse of a pandemic that has cost us lives, economy, health, and happiness. We have learnt many lessons though we tend to forget the learnings with a callousness that defies logic. What we tend to forget is that the pandemic is not the responsibility of any single stakeholder but we all have to do our part to defeat the invisible enemy.

Time has come to accept the fact that we have to negotiate really well to live with the virus. Vaccine inequality, Government failures, political hypocrisy will continue but we the people have to survive, sustain and solve our problems.

The first solution is to save ourselves from the infection for which we have to develop a conscious effort to keep a social distance, mask up, and sanitise (SMS lifestyle). The most alert person forgets and slips! These lifestyle changes are a must to survive and maintain good health. Let’s not forget the old adage ‘health is wealth’.

Economically we have to sustain but we cannot do it individually. It is a collective effort. Every time we break appropriate behaviour we actually contribute to the spread of the virus resulting in lockdown and monetary losses. When someone does not mask up he actually is contributing to the unemployment problem in today’s scenario.

We have to become 2X more innovative to reorient ourselves to fine tune our professional engagements so that our productivity does not go down. Businesses and employees have to accept changes, come out of their comfort zone, and develop a paradigm shift. We have to change to sustain our income!

It is equally time for going back to basics, take a pause, look back to the past seven or eight decades and take a peep into how life was then and can we amalgamate something from the past into our present so that we have a balanced future.

It is also the time to reconnect to our spiritual being as the pandemic is creating lots of uncertainties. We now need more inner strength to retain our sanity than ever and it is time to rethink and keep connecting to our belief systems. Community feelings and support systems need a re-evolution. Community service and feelings were always the strength of any society which is eroding. It needs greater engagement by social thinkers, elders, and youths.

Scientists and frontline warriors are going to be the heroes in today’s world and not virtual realities or traveling to space. Technological innovations to make a better health infrastructure, help stop climate change, reduce inequality in societies, etc. are more valuable than destructive side effects of technology. People and companies working to make a rather than making a ‘profitable venture’ will be more in demand.

Governments and International ThinkTanks will do what needs to be done but people’s movement is what can make us recover from the pandemic in days ahead to come. We have to start living with it in a more evolved and intelligent manner…

I wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year 2022.