The world shall remember the year 2020 as the year of Pandemic in the centuries to come. It made a bold time-marker in the history of civilization.
The escape of Coronavirus from a
research laboratory in Wuhan Province of China was the subtle story when 2020
began. Within a few months into 2020, the highly contagious virus spread to all
people-inhabited places, without an exception.
The disease also tested the
effectiveness of the political system. Countries with the totalitarian type of
government system were more effective in preventing and controlling the spread
of the virus than the liberal democratic governments.
There was a rush in the study of
biology and genetics of the virus to develop vaccines against it. By the end of
the year, several biotech companies declared the invention of vaccines against
Coronavirus. They brought the vaccines to use with little resistance from the
people. All companies kept the test result and active-ingredient of the vaccine
secret, even then the acceptance was high. It was because of the strategy
adopted. The immunization started from the front-line workers and officers in
high portfolios.
In February, I was in Jhapa to attend a program at
Nepal-Bhutan Foundation. I also had worked on the conservation of historical
documents.
 Teknath Rizal, Dr. DNS Dhakal, Dr. Dinesh Bhattarai (former ambassador), Balaram Paudyal, President of Bhutan Peoples’ Party (BPP), Shailendra Arora, etc. |
In a team of Nepalese scientists, we met the Chief Minister
and ministers and officers of Province 1. The CM welcomed us with Rudraksha
mala. There was a plan to establish a multi-disciplinary research center in the
province. Months later, I had had the privilege to meet the Chief Minister of
Gandaki Province and had a discussion over lunch.
Communication gap
However, I was glad that many students were experts in R.
Youth Activism
I took part in a series of discussions that led to the
publication of a journal by Youth Advocacy Nepal. I have an article on ‘Green
revolution’ in the journal.
The PDF of the journal is HERE
Research
I had opportunities to take part in social research, one for
Gandaki Provincial Planning and Policy, and Two, for Good Neighbor
International. In course of research I visited, Kaski, Tanahuan, Nawalparasai (East
and west), and Lamjung. Sadly, no new district was added to my list of districts
visited during the research. However, I had visited Palpa and Gulmi at the beginning
of the year.
I had the honor of being affiliated with Nepal Environment and Sustainable Agriculture Foundation, and MUNAA Market Limited.
Lockdown
Lockdown enforced to control the
spread of coronavirus brought most activities to rest. Closure of schools and
academic institutions kept the students at home. Examinations of all levels
were postponed indefinitely. People celebrated
the festivals indoors, if at all.
All places of gathering like
temples, cinema halls, restaurants, vehicles of mass transportation were closed.
While other facilities opened gradually, cinema halls remained closed till the end
of the year with no sign of reopening soon.
Online business
The online business became a prominent
medium of exchange in markets. The online order followed by the home delivery system
became common practices in capita and other major cities. Globally, online
media like ZOOM, Google Meet, Believe flourished. The vaccine business soon
followed it.
Academics
In 2020, I read about 25 books,
400+ articles, and 1000+ abstracts. I could publish 4 research articles in
national journals and two articles got rejected.
Our team of IAAS people started
an online discussion on Agriculture. It was conceptualized as a platform for
college friends to meet and exchange updates and progress of life. However, the
program became formal and academic to the extent that we had to abort the plan
after 20 episodes.
I also had the privilege to teach
technical writing courses to Master level students of Tribhuvan University. I had the privilege to author academic articles
and edit The Bhutan Watch Journal.
World War III
All the countries suffered from resource
drain-out because of the pandemic. China became the only country that benefited
from the spread of the Coronavirus. The Chinese government was fast and
efficient to control, cure, and prevent the spread of Coronavirus. It could
control the movement of the people, track the carrier people, and sanitize the
entire area. Large Chinese companies took advantage of the crisis by selling sanitizer,
masks, incubators, and PCR and diagnostic test kits. The resources drained out
from other countries enriched China making it the richest country in the world.
Critiques accuse China of intentional design and release of the virus. The
preparedness to handle and take the opportunity of the situation added value to
the suspicion. If true, it is the third world war with China as the winner.
Even if it is false and the escape was accidental the mode of future wars will
be more biological than physical or chemical.
We have to expect the number of human-designed
catastrophes and outbreaks of diseases and pests. As skills become more sophisticated,
inventions will be more selective, specific, and effective.
East meets west
The 2020 Pandemic also mixed eastern
and western cultures. The eastern values like Namaste, avoiding physical touch,
regular washing, physical distancing, and western values such as individualism,
independence in personal dealing were mixed up and became global. There was a loss of value of life with funeral
rituals. Both the eastern and the western values respect funeral rituals that
bring relatives and friends of the dead to a fraternity. The Coronavirus fear
jeopardized this fraternity. Dead had no
respect for the pandemic. Security personnel take away the dead bodies and disposed of them legally than religiously. In a long run, this practice will further break
down family ties and intimacies.
As the year 2020 transits to
2021, the development of science and technology rises and respect for humanities
fall.
