MOVING TO 2022

 

2021 is gone. 2022 is born. A year has passed. We are all thinking about the past year by making new resolutions for the New Year 2022 to make our life comfortable with the available resources. Past is easy to remember, but the future is yet to come. We have to plan. We have to come forward to decide what to do and what not to do. It is hard for many of us. Under the present circumstances of the global pandemic, we cannot live in the past. We have to change, change our lives. Challenges are many. Facing them will not be easy. With a little bit of wisdom, it should be possible to overcome the hard challenges. Yes, that should be our future plan. 

The year 2021 started with coronavirus vaccination champagne and ended with the spread of Omicron – a Covid 19 variant. Its ability to spread among the human population is said to be several-fold greater than that of Covid 19 and its earlier variant Delta. The new variant originated from South Africa and spread to European countries, the US and many other countries including India. Will 2022 is going to be an Omicron year?

Doctors and World Health Organization were interviewed by all news channels in order to inform the public about the dangerous Omicron. They all said that people have to be cautious as the spread goes on at a faster rate. Governments imposed lockdowns. New Year 2022 celebrations were cancelled in many states of India. People stayed at home and ate their New Year feast. They all wished their friends and dear ones through their smartphones or ipads.

In spite of all this chaos, the elections were conducted in 2021 for Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Life went on without a care for the pandemic. Thus we learned to live with the coronavirus and its variants.

I have a doubt whether the vaccinations we got have an effect on the Omicron pandemic? ‘We feel’ – the doctors say ‘that some amount of immunity is offered by the vaccinations.’ However, they are not cock sure. Will there be an end to this panic? Schools and colleges were opened and closed. No one is sure whether they have corona or not. It appears that children are threatened by the new variant. Day by day the vaccination process is extended to all age groups. Some talk about booster doses too.

Whatever may be the impact of the pandemic all over the world people have faith that they can live with it. People are moving from one place to another, one country to another country without fear. Life activities are going on as usual. Life moves on. Marriages are happening. Food materials are available and people are happy of course with a little bit of fear in their minds. Most of us do not think about fear. We concentrate on our life activities. That is what we expect to happen in 2022.

In 2021The United Nations, Climate Change Conference took place in Glasgow, UK from 31 Oct. to 13 Nov. It was simply called COP26 (Conference of Parties) the annual summit. The participants were world leaders. I consider it as an important event during the pandemic year to happen. The major decisions included reducing the emission of Carbon dioxide, usage of coal as fuel. All countries agreed on these decisions and ended up at the summit by producing a big report. But what actions they are going to take in their country is a big challenge. Every year such reports are made and the actions taken are not sufficient. This has been pointed out by the activists at all times.

Climate change in the background of the coronavirus pandemic and now the Omicron variant is also threatening the world population in the form of storms, flooding, wildfire, sea level rising due to melting of ice in Antarctica and arctic regions, very hot and cold weather and many other natural calamities. Therefore our future depends on the invisible virus and global climate change. Our future generation is looking for a safer life. That life has to be provided by the present generation. It is our duty and responsibility. Hope our leaders will concentrate on these two issues and find a suitable solution. - NARA