No, I am not talking about the new year. I am talking about what we call the “new normal.” In late 2019 we started using this word for everything around us. Everything was new, yet everything was normal. We took it as normal because we realised, this “new” was important to save our life. But is it even “new” anymore or has it become just the “normal?”

As 2020 came up in its full swing things changed, things changed drastically. And with that our conversations too changed. We all started talking about how many times do we need to wash a particular thing to protect us from the virus. We wanted to know when will the virus go back. We were keen on protecting our families from this invisible enemy. Our shopping carts started flowing with sanitisers, soaps, masks, health foods and so much more.

Old and New

Do you remember what the “old normal” was like? It is there in our memories. It is there in front of our eyes, like a lucid dream. It was just… normal without any conditions. From the past two years we have been trying to get back to it.

Then came the vaccine and we got hope that the “old normal” will be back. But the vaccine created another “normal.” Do you Remember before 2019, what our conversations were like? They were something like, “we are tired after our vacation?” Now, all we started saying was, “we are tired after our vaccination.” Yes, vaccination replaced so many aspects of our life. We started posing selfies with the hashtag “#fullyvaccinated.” Yes, all this became the “new normal.” And we kept on embracing it in the hope that we will get the “old normal” back.

We had hopes that the new year will bring in luck. But late 2021 came with a new variant of this villain called corona. So again, the question is, is this “normal” even “new” anymore?

I wish the new year brings the “old normal” for us and not just the “normal” this virus has created. We are hopeful that this too shall pass. Wishing you a happy and safe new year. “Mask up and use sanitiser.” I know you remember this mask and use sanitiser script by heart now. After all it’s become the “new normal” to end our conversations with this sentence.

Happy New Year friends. Let’s hope for the “old normal” to be back soon.