With nerves of steel, the youth of the nation can undoubtedly cross the barriers caused by the current Coronavirus outbreak. Being locked up within the four walls of the homes, industries and offices around the world have shut doors. But, that does not prevent the youth from evolving with better skills, post-lockdown.
For instance, the Government of India has recommended online teaching and promoted credit transfer facilities. This can benefit students by making accessible online learning by the best teachers of the world to the comfort of their homes, with uncompromising quality (for those accessible). Though everyone walks with a different shoe, the path still can be made satisfying.
As a promising youth of the nation, we must combat the pandemic through our intellectual synergy. For instance, our community came up with drones that can sanitize streets, apps that can track the spread of the virus, cost-efficient ventilators, attempt to discover a cure, and lots more. Academic journals have been flooding with COVID-19 research, which is enabling policy-makers to move forward.
I feel that growing in adversity is very fruitful if nudged in the right direction. We believe in the pithy and punchy adage, “Failure is the stepping stone to success.” But, I often rephrase it to “Failure is success turned inside out!” As a biologist, I have been fascinated by the lobster, which grows inside a rigid shell. Whatsoever, the lobster tries or if it cries its eyes out, the shell remains the same. Another example is a butterfly, which grows inside a cocoon and hatches with magnificent colors. What if each of them failed to outgrow their challenges? As organisms of the ‘lower order’, they seemed to have better tolerance and patience, and above all, the confidence that this too shall pass.
Instead of worrying about the past, it’s always better to lay a foundation for the future. This pandemic is shaping a new world order where everyone has to start adapting to a new normal. Being blessed with good connectivity, we can use this time efficiently to help our nation survive this sickness. We have encountered loss at different levels, ranging from academia to industries. The economy is working hard to gain back the losses made.
As was rightly quoted by Marcel Proust, “The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeing new lands, but in having new eyes.” It does not matter how many times we fall, but rising up stronger every time can take us far. Let us believe that this too shall pass, and the ‘new normal’ is better and bright.