N is for normal. Such a transient word! Over the years I have realised that it is a word that means different things for different people. It’s meaning also changes based in circumstances and context.
If we look at the world around us, what was normal to us two years ago, has changed. Pre COVID, shaking hand, hugging strangers, sitting in a crowded cafe, sharing food was all part of our day to day normal lives. Now they seem so alien. COVID has created a new normal for the world and the society.
I also take the term normal people with a pinch of salt. My friend Poornima and I used to discuss this during our long walks. We all are weird to someone else. So what does the term “normal” people indicate? My conclusion is that it is when most of our energies match, we consider the behaviour normal. Hence I loath the idea of boxing people as normal or not as it is based on perceptions.
I am hoping that that world returns to a new normal soon – a world where we can go out and about albeit wearing masks, a world where I can meet my family and friends, a world where I can have parties and plan my holidays without the uncertainty of a lockdown, a world where the government governs rather than rule our lives. I look forward to that normal and move in with it.