UNCERTAINTY LOOMS OVER 2020

As India grapples with Covid-19, a few young people talk about their plans and futures being halted indefinitely

With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, security and certainty have both gone for a toss. People are not only living with uncertainty about their individual health and whether they will have enough ration to get by during the lockdown, but they are also trying to come to terms with an uncertain future. For many young people, travel, education, work and marriage plans stand halted, at the moment.

29-year-old Kruthika Chari from Hyderabad, who was in the middle of putting together her eatery business, says, “All my plans are now on standby.” But Kruthika still has to pay rent for the leased space. “Life is completely uncertain right now but I am trying to be optimistic. That’s the least I can do while my business is kept on hold.”

At the rate the coronavirus is spreading today, it won’t be surprising if social distancing practices continue for a few months, more so, because our health care machineries are finding it difficult to keep up with the extreme rise of Covid-19 cases.

Another media professional, Nandini Vishvanath (name changed), says, “I have a project lined up for which I was supposed to go to Mumbai and I hadn’t cancelled my tickets till the last moment. I had taken two weeks out of my schedule to work on this project and that would have happened only if I went to Mumbai. I had to cancel my tickets and now it feels like this project is going to be indefinitely delayed. It all depends on how we come out of this situation or if we come out of it at all. I am trying not to think about when I will be able to go back to normal life. I’ve just told myself that it’s going to be a very long time, and I am taking each day as it comes by watching shows, cooking and exercising.”

According to a research, uncertainty is a source of worry and anxiety for most people. Saumya Mukherjee, 30, who lives alone in Mumbai, had plans of visiting her family that lives in Kolkata in April. “The fact that I may never see my ageing parents again is so stressful and sad. I am an overthinker so I am not in a positive space of mind right now. Life feels like it’s cancelled or paused at this point.”

PHOTOS: ISTOCK People are trying to come to terms with an uncertain future

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