It’s 5.30 pm. One of the tennis balls used in the cricket match has dispatched for the decisive six. There are shouts of jubilation by the winning team. Two more matches are being simultaneously played out in my housing complex. I could very well imagine being seated at one of the stands at the Wankhede. It is summertime, and school kids and collegians are living out what are typically some of the normal scenes that I have been seeing from my window for years now. But, 2020 wasn’t a normal one. And, by the looks of it, so will 2021 be.

The guard had been dropped long ago. The rush to return to normalcy despite the curbs and warnings has fallen on deaf ears. But what’s equally worrying is the sense of obliviousness among young India over what’s being fought out of the medical frontlines of our country and the fallout from an economic standpoint. This was driven home in a harsh reality check when recently, I received a phone call from a collegian who I had taught at an NGO during his school days in Mumbai. He was back in his village now, since he had his summer break, and was using the time to help raise rations and funds for his fellow villagers who had lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic. “Didi, can you please help spread the word?” He quickly shared details of the NGO that he was helping out with. We chatted a bit; all the while I could sense the intent in his voice. It was refreshing to learn how this once shy, precocious boy who stuttered while speaking English had found his confidence and was now helping make a difference in his little small way.