Looking back at the last two years, it feels like it took decades to pass. I am talking about the intense first, second, third and fourth waves of Covid-19.

Thankfully, those intense days have passed, unlike our expectations. Looking at the positive side of it, this pandemic taught us various great lessons of life which the majority of us were unaware of, and we would have remained that way throughout our lives. We learnt the importance of many things that carried less or no importance in our lives previously.

To specify it further, we understood the worth and value of our family, friends, happiness, health and much more. Staying at home was a ‘mission impossible’, especially with the people whom we avoided, including siblings and sometimes even parents. It was a very difficult task to bear so many people in the house, be it from the prospect of a parent, child or sibling.

We all faced equal difficulties, while troubling others as well. Sharing gadgets, bearing each other’s presence or even staying calm and composed despite all the storms inside us were surely tough.

But, we had nothing in our hands to end that phase … so we had one choice, to go with the flow.

Apart from that, the pandemic made us understand our hidden talents. For example, scientists got the best of chances during this pandemic, to try out new experiments and invent different things. Many people also learned new skills, took online course and indulged in new or long-forgotten hobbies.

Well! There were bad sides of it all as well. Many people lost their jobs, therefore, people had to go through severe poverty and hardships. Many suffered severe health problems and some faced deaths in their families. There was less interaction with the outside world or even the relatives. Loneliness and anxiety were felt by many and there seemed to be no end to it.

Then we learnt the importance and significance of the people in our lives, we came to know more about them, which made us realise so many things.

To conclude, this Covid-19 pandemic played a vital role in making the world realise the value and worth of relationships, health, food, outings, gatherings, education, interaction and many other things which we take for granted and disvalue.

Though Covid-19 is not going to leave us for very long time, but we have learnt to live with it and we have learnt how to defeat it.

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 6th, 2022