Let’s go back to the time when life was normal. Jokes sounded funny and prayers were not a way of life. A period where a gathering of people was permitted.

A time where leaving home for work, or other errands, was the agenda, and school going kids sang merry songs on the bus back home. A time when malaria was what worried us.

Let our minds travel back to the parties at which zero distance was kept between people, and hugging was the norm. Rewind to the time where we laughed and held hands, unwashed as they were and we were not hesitant at all. A time when the air didn’t feel stiff, and houses of worship weren’t closed. 

Sit down and recall a time when coffin makers did not have that much work to do and mortuaries, or burial sites, did not run out of space.

A time when children fell into their relatives’ arms delighted to see them and played with them without instigating terror.

Let’s cry for the time when people had what to eat, when daily income earners saw beyond the horizon and had hope for tomorrow. When a layman knew nothing about quarantine. A season where Presidents rarely appeared on our screens crying for their people.

Let’s forgive the time when jokes and memes about the novel flu circulated. The time we thought it would last only a few days in China and fade away.

I would like to term it as the waves of our planet turning against us. Sweeping catastrophe towards mankind, reminding us that indeed this world is not our home, rather, our core of existence.

The pandemic has taken the whole world hostage. No one is certain how long this will last.

From shaking Italy to threatening the US, COVID-19 has brought the world to its knees. It has proven that social class, location or money doesn’t make you immune.

It has taught us that we can live without ‘parting’; that carnivals can be postponed and sports can take a break. It has changed everyone’s perspective of life and proven that routine is not a constant. 

I honestly thought that by 2020 we would be waiting for flying automobiles, but here we are, ‘learning how to wash our hands’. Here we are finally having time for our families and eating healthy. Here we are turning to God.

We are also here, with the hope that we will live to tell our grandchildren about the ruthless invader that caused a mighty turn of events.

The writer is a 16 year old S5 student with a vision of becoming an architect and writer.