I am in India, but I swear that political events in my immediate vicinity and globally have literally made waves. Then, enter Coronavirus!

Have you read statements by WHO’s health officials’ who are calling this a global pandemic? Have you also seen how some bad online resources are deliberately digging up dirt on China and manipulating the readers? Talking about how people who have diabetes in China are prone to major health problems is one thing. But then all of a sudden, how did Coronavirus jump into this? Why is media telling us that Coronavirus was a byproduct? Perhaps we should take a deep look inside and question why we subconsciously try to find answers to problems which l don’t think anyone has been able to tell, especially the health officials.

The air travel shortest distance between India to China is 1,854 miles and takes 3.31 hours to arrive. Except people who had come into contact with returned travellers, so far, Indians are safe. I am sure that people are responding to the situation and doing their best to educate themselves – perks of the internet. Not to say that Indians are better than Westerns or anything, but things, in both immediate vicinity and globally, are such that we all are taking things one step at a time – always the best approach. I don’t know about the west, but the past few months have probably prepared Indians to handle yet another challenge so the upshot is that Indians are not surprised that COVID-19 is happening really fast.

But a lot more happened later in the corporate world: the YES bank crisis. And for me, as I live in the millennium city where I am surrounded by elite corporate culture, but still have to go to a really conservative part of Delhi back and forth, has really put me in the centre of analysing the situation. And trust me, it has not taken a toll on me. But if I was working in YES bank, yes it would.

Rest assured, things are going to get worse as I’ve heard that the virus is “10 times more lethal than seasonal flu”. Someone I knew – a relative of my father’s close friend – was the second victim of the virus and had lived in the same place where I used to visit. Unfortunately she passed away. I don’t know how well-informed each Indian is, because the country is so diverse and every house, every community has their own mindset. I don’t know if they will treat this epidemic as a myth, online scare, viral news, or pretend like it is the voice of demonic wrath. I really don’t know.

And YES bank is well, summoning Naresh Goyal and other bigwigs so well, who knows what is going to happen in that world, which is closed to the rest of us.

However my dad recently pointed out that markets are still on in China. He also works alongside Chinese businesses and so far, there have not been many restrictions on shipments. Apparently if China sways, the whole world sways. But China is swaying us folks to keep things normal. We know all the facts. The world news is at our fingertips. We all know what is happening around the world, in the wake of this open challenge.

In India, no matter what the world says, it’s either “this way or the highway”. Virus will spread. Businesses will operate. So just keep calm and pray to Indian Gods!