A vision of post-pandemic era

What will the post-pandemic world be like? Will everything remain the same or be changed completely? What will be the patterns of our social order, surroundings, health habits, social behaviours and relationships? Will the world completely move to virtuality? A lot of theoretical researches are being done on these subjects to seek out the actual answers.

The COVID-19 pandemic made us realize the vulnerabilities in the system of education, healthcare, administration, leadership and the overall society. It is time to emphasize the critical importance and enhance the relevance of peace building, conflict resolution and the nuclear disarmament movement in the post-pandemic era.

If the SARS-CoV-2 is eradicated, or greatly reduced, will we still be able to shake hands with someone more naturally? Things may not be the same anymore. The spontaneous expression of our feelings, the change in the course of our culture is very much inevitable now.Online, Skype, Google meet, Phone calls, Zoom will be the new day "Let's meet." The use of WhatsApp for quick conversations between colleagues, chats with friends on Viber to fix their plans, Skype or Zoom for meetings with colleagues are slowly starting to take off.

People may choose to avoid face-to-face encounters to save time in the days ahead. Spending 2-3 hours for meetings, moving from one place to another, arranging breakfast, lunches, making banners, posters, etc are unnecessary hassles, realizing that all the arrangements may be reduced in the coming days. By encouraging people to work from home, it will be possible to reduce the time and money spent on traffic jams and travel.

Fighting at the border is not the only way to show patriotism, stethoscope is better than weapons. People will be increasingly protesting against the government's decision to buy weapons without buying food and medicine. Governments will face stiff resistance in purchasing weapons and military vehicles without allocating money to public health and medicine in the post-pandemic era.

Where the military were considered to be the mainstay of patriotism, there will be a radical change, physicians, public health experts, researchers, microbiologists, nurses, etc. will become the main symbol of patriotism. In our society where nurses were not respected much, the work of hospital staffs including nurses will be properly evaluated in the future.

The importance of the army, police and other armed forces will increase in the internal service of the country, not to fight with other countries at the border. In a world plagued by Corona, it is clear that none of the countries that are at the forefront of military power, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, etc are helpless today. On the other hand, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which have less military strength than these countries, have done better so far in resisting the pandemic.

Not men, women's leadership is the future of our future world. We have seen women as leaders, good, slow, steadfast and able to make difficult and necessary decisions. The role of Indira Gandhi in the liberation war of Bangladesh, the determination of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in economic growth, the position of the PM of New Zealand and the PM of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina have been praised for their most successful leadership in this corona-ridden world.

The global collective power will hit America with a single blow. It is important to remember that the epidemic does not mean any geographical boundaries, this time everyone has to stand by everyone. We will see a whole new set of economic and social spheres, where America will no longer be able to maintain its role of superpower.

The role of political leadership in this epidemic is also evident. In Bangladesh, we have seen that those who are headed by the Ministry of Health lack the capacity to make decisions on medical and public health-related issues. It is said that the success of corona's treatment in Germany is due to the Chancellor who worked as a scientist in the past. Almost every country in the world has the experience of not putting the right person in the right place. In the days ahead, experts, researchers, teachers, scientists will get back to their rightful place and they will take the world forward.

There may be a radical change in religion, faith and its practice. This is the only time when the pillars of all religions become shaky. Never before in the history of the world have the doors of prayer of all religions such as mosques, temples, churches, pagodas been closed together. At the same time, so many people have never been at risk of death due to the orthodoxy of religion.

Religions will be modernized. Questions will be raised about the need for physical presence in religious places of worship, alternative religious practices will be discussed, and in many places, it will be implemented. People may be interested in investing in education and medicine by reducing the investment that is based on religious institutions.
The writer is a lecturer in the Department of English and Modern Languages at IUBAT-International University of Business Agriculture
and Technology