The coronavirus pandemic started when I was 19. I’ll be 21 in a few months. Having lost more than a year to the pandemic, I’ve often found myself wondering about the question of “What If?”. What if the coronavirus never spread? The first thing that comes to my mind is that my grandfather would still be here, probably sitting in his signature chair, legs folded and back straight with a smile barring all his teeth, wondering where he should go for his next trip. My aunt would’ve still had her mother to talk to for hours, my 20-year-old schoolmate’s family wouldn’t have lost the sole bread-winner of their family, my old neighbor wouldn’t have been left alone in an empty house and thousands of Indian households could’ve been saved from the trauma they’ve experienced over the past year.
The days wouldn’t have started with updates about how many new cases or deaths have been reported, but with the early morning rush of getting ready in time for college. I would’ve left the house mask-less, travelling in a metro packed with strangers with my only worry being not getting late for class. Meeting up with friends would’ve been a daily occurrence, not the rare event that it is now. I probably would’ve found more people instead of having to stick to the same 5 people I became friends with in the first semester of college. I would’ve gotten to live my college life, the supposed “best years of my life”, instead of being coped up in my room everyday with each day melting into the next and each night being a repetition of the last. I wouldn’t have felt so cheated, angry and frustrated.
A few days back I was talking to my friend about the same and what she said put a lot of things into perspective. She said that in spite of all the destruction and ruination that the pandemic has caused, it has also brought humans together in a way that’s not been seen before. Last month, when India was practically collapsing because of Covid, we saw so many people rise to help out complete strangers without expecting anything in return. People went above and beyond just for the sake of humanity. Despite not being able to meet new people, we’ve gotten a chance to get to know our own families better and learned to appreciate the mere fact that they’re safe and healthy. We’ve learned to value things like good health, good food, a safe house, the ability to breath things which we took for granted before. Even with everything going against us, we’ve found ways to stay connected and share happiness. While the pandemic has exposed the cracks in the in the system, it has also highlighted the compassion we hold for each other.
Of course, there are a million ways in which things could’ve transpired but the truth is that no matter how many alternate scenarios I come up with, things will materialize exactly in the way that they’re meant to. Humans, despite all the power and knowledge they possess, cannot control everything. Some things are way beyond our control. I’ve realized that we don’t even have to make the best out of a situation because sometimes, even managing to stay afloat is more than enough. So, the next time the question of “What If?” comes to my mind, I’ll take a breather, count my blessing and move on because as sung by the famous British rock band Queen many moons ago, regardless of what happens, the show must go on…
Author: Khushboo Verma