COVID-19 – Journey from Normal to the New Normal

Sooner we accept the reality that COVID-19 will not go away soon, the better equipped we shall be to endure it. Moreover, when it does go, it won’t be a definitive ending like a project completion, It would fade away rather slowly with only statistics to confirm its departure.

Our history syllabus although designed for a broad grasp of major historical developments, missed out on the pandemics of the past centuries. Absence of these from our collective subconscious left us out of depths when COVID struck. Microbes were the invisible enemy then as now and the survivors will be left behind licking the wounds like the in the past.

The Bubonic plague, which also originated in the East Asia continued for 5 years from 1347 claiming an estimated 75 to 200 million scalps. The Spanish flu of 1918 is more recent and continued for over a year claiming 17 to 50 million human lives.

If history is to be believed, a recession with unprecedented impact on the global economy is inevitable. The jagged rocks will surface as the tide recedes but we should use this crisis as an opportunity to rethink our priorities. Undoubtedly, one of the biggest lessons is the necessity of private and public investment in the health system.

The need for social distancing have shaken the foundation of the very first pillar of civilization, the construction industry. With lockdown in every other city, we suddenly found ourselves at the mercy of the new estate, the digital estate. Not able to reach the offices, the A-E firms finally jumped, albeit clumsily into the world of “work- from-home”.

Another equally old profession, teaching too witnessed similar paradigm shift. After a brief pause, schools restarted classes using available technologies as students got the taste of “Learn-from-home”.

In the coming days this clumsiness will disappear as the change become more pervasive and the technology further augmented. Before we realize the full implication of the changes, we will transition into the world where these will be “new normal”.

The lean business models and where the employer does not pay the utility bills or travel allowances is not expected to face resistance from the business leaders.

Let’s visualize together what could be the “new normal”, looking beyond face mask, 20 seconds’ hand wash, sanitizer and “work- from-home”:

• With more people working from home, the demand for office spaces will decline.
• As people get used to shopping online, the demand of malls too will also see a downward trend.
• When we spend more time at our homes, demand for spacious residences are bound to increase. This might very well set a trend of people moving away from the overcrowded cities.
• Freed up real-estate of the cities will require new functions and new visionaries will arrive at the scenes to redefine the societal priorities.
• A journey of trial & error will begin leading to innovation and trend setting.
• Multifunctional areas that support work & leisure together will evolve as people reinvent spaces for social interactions.
• The geographical boundaries and physical distance will become even more irrelevant as students in the remote countryside will access superstar instructors in megalopolis. 
• Reduction of the carbon footprints at individual levels is bound to bring the clean air & starry nights to our cities.

·     History will salutes the ones who embraces the chaos and opt for a seamless transition into the world of “new normal”.

Magic Moments

The last Friday, I was there to welcome the Sun and bid him goodbye.

The Sun was rising but the moon stayed back. As if hanging around to bid goodbye before leaving to the other side of the planet.

Sometime we need to pause and look around. There are so much beauty in our everyday life.

What does your brain say!

This post is not about bio science although you might have such a feeling and that's a disclaimer.

The brain which is the command center for our nervous system is the most complex object in the universe and the good news is that we all possess one inside our skulls. 100 billion neurons link to one another in a complex but a unique pattern within the lump of fats and proteins. The scientists and neurologists are still at the beginning of unraveling the incredible power of the human brain.

The brain has the power to learn new languages, perceive beauty and remember tens of thousands of individual bits of information. Human brains can also achieve amazing results by easily joining the dots even if there are some dots missing. Our brains can make out the objects, a person’s face or a sentence in a language of our average proficiency.

Let’s take the sentence above as an example. How many of us would not be able to decipher it meaningfully! But this is just a simple one sentence, whereas you have come across entire paragraph in the past with misspelled words and still managed to read it on the fly...without pausing for a moment. 

This is because we have given total autonomy to the brain and it determines the entire sentence based on the limited information based on past experience. Habituation is what brain does when it sees the same old thing day after day. In such situation the brain economizes on the attention and this is the strength of humankind.

But the challenge is to make proper use of the power of the brain as uncontrolled use could also turn out to be its greatest weakness.

We are usually prejudiced based on a few visible traits or characteristics. He looks like this therefore he will behave like that or she is dressed that way hence she is of that particular type. We ourselves have experienced similar situations in the past or often heard our friends and colleagues making such comments.

This is where we need to be rational with our thoughts. Life is full of wonders and wonderful things will happen whenever we keep our mind open and pay attention to what happens around us. We will have better understanding of our world, make new friends and probably develop new lasting relationships.

We have to remember that there is nothing in a caterpillar that tells us that it will become a butterfly. The sentence on the top could well be this without our prejudice.

Jammikunta... a daily pause for a cause

Our motherland is as diverse in its customs and practices as it is with individual and collective social values. Some people despise others’ patriotic or nationalistic fervor. Despite staying outside for two decades, I am on that side of the fence where people cherish these values and naturally the news about Jammikunta gave me a pleasant feeling.

Jammikunta is situated in Karimnagar district, about 140 km from Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana. Life comes to a halt every day at 8 a.m. as people pause for a minute to sing the national anthem. This has become a daily routine of the people in this sleepy town since 15 August 2017, following an initiative by a local police inspector.

After many centuries of subjugation by foreign invading forces, I strongly feel there is a need for a nationalistic approach to reclaim our lost identity. Without a strong identity, I am afraid there will be no we tomorrow but for our shadows.

At this point someone might bring the statement made by the great English writer Samuel Johnson’s statement to the table as a counter argument.

"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

The context of this comment is unknown so we don't really know for sure what was on Johnson's mind at the time. His friend and biographer, James Boswell however, assures that when Johnson made this famous pronouncement, he referred only to false patriotism. As for Boswell’s credentials, his biography of Samuel Johnson, is commonly said to be the greatest biography written in the English language.

I am optimistic that as respect grows, we shall evolve as a stronger as individuals as well as civic societies. 

Jammikunta, showing the way

There I am...

Today we were strolling on a park as the Sun was leaving for the day. My wife's phone camera came handy to capture this magic moment as I left mine inside the car. There I am ready to feed my Instagram account after a very long gap.

I thought it is a good idea to introduce myself through my various social media existence. My Instagram account is sumandebray and I post photos taken  exclusively with my phone's camera. It will be a pleasure if friends from my blogsphere  comes along and joins me, I shall be a follower too. I not particularly interested in individuals who have thousands of followers while they follow a handful....in other words, I stay away from the celebrities.

My Twitter handle is @Sumandr and I am already connected to some of you.

Then there is the professional social media that I am part of as well. This is the linkedIn and you may find me here. You are invited to come and be part of my network.

A few screenshots from Instagram page.

Our World’s Toothpaste Moment

There was a campaign to convince the companies that cardboard packaging for toothpastes were a complete waste. Being one of the most common household product in everybody’s life Toothpaste have a huge multiplier. After all this product used at the least once a day by old, young and everyone in-between.   

A few days back we bought a promotional pack of three toothpaste and it’s unfortunate that we were given 3 cardboard boxes while we desired none. It’s a fact of life that most of us will discard the boxes into the bin without a second looks.

There are no doubts that by changing this habit, a substantial amount of burden on our world will be reduced.

Don’t get me wrong, I very well understand the significance of packaging and am not advocating to deprive consumer of this experience. I shall never forget remember my experience of unpacking my Tissot watch. Back in then, it was a luxury product for me long before I learnt later that it doesn’t qualify to be one. The velvet lined wooden box had the central chamber for the watch, a drawer in the lower part housed the user manual, while an independent slot was allocated for the warranty card.

There are other products for which the unpacking experience has got high intrinsic values. Some of the toys for children, particularly those for girls, values a lot for packaging. My daughter typically loves to unpack her toy in front of the camera and post them in her YouTube channel.

But these are not everyday products like a toothpaste or a shaving cream. I do not believe anyone has the time to enjoy the unpacking experience of these basic necessities. Why do we need them in that case?

I propose to start a campaign to leave the box of toothpaste and saving creams at the super market after the checkout. A message to the manufacturer that we do not need those.

Are you going to join me!

fair trade & modern day slavery

The other day I took my daughter for her choir practice where they meet two or three times every week to rehearse for an hour. I was strolling in the school corridor looking at various displays, notices and bulletin boards while they were busy inside.

The fourth graders of this Swiss school had prepared a bulletin board based on their self-research and it was very impressive. I am glad that I stood there for few minutes as it made feel more about the plight of the farm workers. Being enlightened early in life about “Fair Trade Practices”, I am optimistic that these children will grow up to be a more socially responsible generation.

They have noted down the following for the banana plantation workers who gets the lowest reward for their efforts as per the banana split.

• Work for 14 hours a day in harsh weather conditions
• Have poor working condition
• Spray fertilizers and pesticides
• Cut down the bananas
• Carry heavy loads of bananas for washing
• Wash the bananas
• Cannot usually join a union

Banana Plantation is only an example but disparity exist in all types of export oriented trade, be it farming or manufacturing. The incident of Rana plaza in Bangladesh in 2013, had shocked the entire world but there are still thousands of other businesses where workers continue to endure hardship to maximize profits.  

I looked up on the Wikipedia for information about Fair trade. Fair trade is an institutional arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions. The philosophy and the core principles are very good. However, what is lacking is its implementation on ground. Licensing unfortunately doesn't help the farmers much, although it provides significant marketing advantage for the business owners.        

Fair trade is grounded in three core beliefs:

1. Producers have the power to express unity with consumers.
2. The world trade practices that currently exist promote the unequal distribution of wealth between nations.
3. Buying products from producers in developing countries at a fair price is a more efficient way of promoting sustainable development than traditional charity and aid.

Being a part of the CIOB, we take sustainable construction development very seriously. Construction is by far the largest industry in this world and we ensure that the supply chain selection process is rigorous. The message to the manufacturers is clear and unambiguous. Exploitation of their workforce will not be tolerated.

Will you be joining hands to stop this modern day slavery!