It will be worthwhile to treat 2020 as a year of reckoning and learning
Date : 18/05/2024
Back in 2019, if any astrologer had predicted 2020 to be a catastrophic year, the idea would have been dismissed. On the other hand, amidst the Covid - 19 pandemic, when astrologers had predicted its vanquish soon, saying that this too shall pass, people still believed them. This year, if any astrologer says 2021 will be a normal year, he will be dismissed too. It can be seen that our inferences are quite volatile depending on recency of events.
Taleb’s ‘Black Swan theory’ refers to the occurrence of unpredictable events of large magnitude that have severe consequences but with very low probability. Can we say, 2020 was a Black swan year? Or should we get overwhelmed by the catastrophic impact of 2020 as neo normal? We need not. People are already betting on animal spirit. So, will 2021 be a Unicorn? Unicorn or flying horse is an imaginary animal which has captured the imagination of people over centuries. In ancient Indian literature, we have this concept of Uchchaihshravas. This was supposed to have emerged from the churning of the ocean of milk (Samudra mathana) and it was supposed to be snow white and king of horses.
Will 2021 be a Unicorn? Let us pray it is.
What should we carry from 2020 to 2021 and to the future?
Will social distancing and mask be permanent in our lives? Will virtual offices and working from home become the new normal? Will tele education and telemedicine take over? Will travellers become health conscious? Will we become socially responsible citizens? Will we stop complaining about crowding and traffic snarls? There are several hypotheses being floated around. If we go by the swelling crowd at the bazaars, main streets, hotels, etc, most likely we will be going back to our old behaviours.
What would we carry forward? : Reflecting on 2020
In the Yaksha Prashna of Mahabharata, Dharma asks Yaksha several questions on Dharma and behaviour, and one of the questions posed was regarding the most puzzling behaviour of human beings.
Yaksha: What is most wonderful?
Yudhisthtira:
अहन्यहनि भूतानि गच्छन्तीह यमालयम्।
शेषाः स्थावरमिच्छन्ति किमाश्चर्यमतः परम् ॥
ahanyahani bhūtāni gacchanti yamālayam |
śeṣāḥ sthāvaramicchanti kimāścaryamataḥ param ||
Day after day countless creatures are going to the abode of Yama, yet those that remain behind believe themselves to be immortal. What can be more wonderful than this?
The Mahabharata, Book 3, Vana Parva: KM Ganguly transliteration, www.sacred-texts.com
It is very apt today. Initially, we were worried about the virility of Covid-19, but later when we got to know the measure of the disease, we started believing we are immune. We started taking liberty with our ways of social distancing and started taking chances. We started believing in the mask of immunity. And also with a tinge of belief in destiny that if it is deemed, it will come anyway. Not only us, but also in other parts of Asia, USA, Europe and many more thought the same way . Even the fear of the second wave does not seem to affect us. This is something we should reflect upon. We should take risks, but for what intent?
It will be worthwhile to treat 2020 as a year of reckoning and learning.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev in one of his talks mentioned that we should be grateful when we wake up in the morning for the fact that we are alive. This is true. The biggest achievement of 2020 was that we survived with the least scar. Cribbing about downturn or inadequate freebees or lack of tax concessions or automatic interest accruals are peripheral. One can definitely make up for what is lost in this year, but the fact that we are here to carry forward is the biggest achievement of 2020.
Let us count our blessings.
India has proved its resilience that we have built over the years. We didn’t wilt. We did not have to face the situation that we had during the great Bengal famine, with current population level of 138 crores. We had enough food supply to support and systems to reach. Our health system coped up admirably. The population of our health workers and corona warriors is more than the population of many Nations. We became global suppliers in critical medical care items. Our banks rose to the occasion. Experts predicted several dismal situations, fortunately none of those turned true.
It is prolonging longer than expected, we are managing the prolonged disruption also.
Corporates learnt to manage with virtual offices. Banks and ATMs worked from day one in spite of quarantines and social distancing. We had systems in place. Hospitals rose to the occasion. Schools and Colleges started adapting to the virtual classes and now we have moved far from the reality of residential programmes. Social behaviour started showing drastic changes.
Cities started breathing and started looking beautiful again. Sky recovered its original design. It became safer to cycle and walk.
What did we gain personally? We spent quality time with family. We became health conscious. We started exploring home remedies and became aware of the health benefits of our own food.
What is your take?
What is your take on 2020? Others' wisdom are always sermons. What would you say? Please reflect upon what you and we gained, you and we learnt. What do we need to imbibe these? Otherwise, it will flow of and we will miss a valuable life experience.
Learnings have short shelf life, if we don’t reflect and gather.
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A very informative article, sir! It serves to evoke hope of a more resilient India and of a better year ahead. My take on 2020 would be the erosion of faith from public institutions such as the WHO. 2020 witnessed predictions turning untrue, which is likely to lead to the question, "Are they trustworthy?" 2021 may hopefully herald a new dawn, resulting in a more cognizant public that would subject public institutions to their watchful gaze.
2020 we can say that black swan ,but many things we was forgot like as our tradition some rules and regulations which I followed in childhood, after a long time I met my family members I spent time with them ,I got time to interact our relatives and neighbours ,during covid I felt that I was return to my childhood memory I followed same rules regulations like that I had followed in my childhood again morning wake up spend time with whole family,tooks meals with them after a long time, setting together to saw Ramayan Mahabharat ..In my views some things happened good but definitely something happened very bad we learnt a lots of things like as how to cope with ,how to secure our family, limitation our need,future planning.
Dear Prof Ramesh, Wonderful article. I agree with your views... one key take away for me, is the ‘resilience’ showed by People of India against the pandemic and also finding ways to grapple with the situation. We will certainly need to have a structured process to institutionalise the learnings and drive behavioural changes to taking it to 2021 and beyond. If you really go back, our ancestors have followed many of these principles way back, like ‘Namasthe’ instead of shaking hands, maintaining distances during certain times, Many practises were taught to us without probably sharing the reasoning.. if we can reflect those, I am sure there are lot of good lessons we can follow..
Nice one. Good analysis of the past and present. Positive projections about the future.
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Precisely what you have captured. 2020 was a watershed year which offered us the unique opportunity of solitude and introspection. The need to connect with our inner selves. To build our physical as well as mental immunity and resilience. As the giant wheels of commerce get moving and concerns of mundane survival gain supremacy, the key takeaway for future is simply to develop a regular habit of meditation and introspection. Yet again, Nature has shown us our vulnerability. Let us learn to keep respecting it and being grateful for being still around!