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Exhaling Finally

Adversity sometimes does good in our lives. One benefit of this difficult time as I observed it from the outside was that it brought my parents closer to the middle ground that had evaded them their marriage of fifty years. They realize they have to stick together, protect each other so the unit stays safe. There is no difference between one and the other. 

The fiftieth anniversary came and went unnoticed in the middle of a lockdown. It was apropos in a sense, It was the marriage I had observed most closely growing up and one that left me with no desire for that institution. Age and a forced year long isolation from the world seems to have created some connections that did not exist. It is still an uneasy peace but there is some peace finally. I hope the day will come soon when they can safely drive into some offbeat destination in rural Bengal and spend a month away from it all. 

But post-pandemic life may not be what we think it might be, J tells me her friends are not rushing to avail every socialization opportunity they get. There is some inherent caution among the young people- they would rather be safe than sorry after the endless disruptions to their college life. 

Per a report released by the Harris Poll in March, three-quarters of survey respondents said they learned during the pandemic that they “preferred smaller social gatherings at home or at [a] friend’s place over going out to bars or restaurants.” A similar proportion predicted that in the post-pandemic world, they would miss “the comfort of [their] home while socializing.”

I find that the more time that passes, the better I am able do without a social life. While meeting people is hard, I have been able to restore communication with people I had drifted out of touch with. Resuming long-distance and remote turned out to be an easier path on both sides minimizing the awkwardness of talking after a long hiatus. Now we are in a good flow state and not everyone is anxious to meet in person. All this was much harder at first and than it it now. For many this was a learned skill and we got good at it over time. Some of us actually enjoy it and might want to keep rather than lose the skill we worked hard at learning.

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