Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu on Monday underlined the need to adopt new ways of living in corona times and suggested a 12-point framework for this new normal to deal with the virus by learning form the lessons so far taught by the pandemic. He stressed on the need for new attitudes towards life and humanity amidst indications of the virus likely to stay for longer than earlier expected.
“Live differently and live safe,” he put forth his mantra in a lengthy Facebook post hours after the announcement of lockdown 4.0 with restrictions substantially relaxed.
He dealt with the philosophical and moral issues thrown by the COVID-19 contagion saying life can’t be lived in isolation and the virus outbreak highlighted the inter-connectedness of lives. He said, “What affects one person anywhere affects everyone everywhere, be it the disease or economy.”
Giving an account of the nature of life ‘Before Corona’, Naidu stated that man emerged a loner in his quest for happiness and material advancement reducing the family and the society to being mere adjuncts and his confidence bordering on arrogance made him believe that he can live alone and all by himself, unmindful of the lives of others.
“Stacked with better tools to fight the epidemics than when the pestilence struck humanity earlier and empowered with gene editing, Artificial Intelligence, big data etc, man was seeking to play God,” he stated.
On the life ‘After Corona’, Naidu noted that it has shaken the fundamentals of living by oneself and highlighted the need for living in harmony with nature and fellow humans. “The invisible microbe once again proved that life can change very quickly. It brought into full play the uncertainty that can co-sail with life,” he pointed out.
“Uncertainty continues to haunt the people. Uncertainty is the known source of anxiety which can lead to psychological issues,” he said even as he suggested adopting a new normal of life by staying calm and confident.
Naidu stressed that the corona challenge is more a civilizational issue than that of individual lives and new norms and ethos of living should be evolved to save the present civilization.
Noting that life can’t be lived for long in confinement, he welcomed the new relaxations for lockdown 4.0 even as he recalled how people living with HIV virus had no vaccine for long time and had to change habits. Similarly, Naidu urged the people to learn to cope with corona virus by changing the habits and attitudes towards life and fellow humans.
He suggested a 12-point new normal of living during corona times that includes among others living in harmony with the nature and fellow beings; knowing that safety and security of lives are interconnected, rationally analysing the impact of every movement or action on the spread of virus, not responding impulsively to the situation, strictly adherence to the behavioral changes ushered in so far like wearing mask, maintaining physical distance and ensuring hygiene besides preventing stigmatisation and replacing the sense of collective helplessness by the spirit of the virtue of living interconnected with shared destiny.