Colleagues No More

 I mean ones who are no more, or who have passed away.

Recently, a former roommate from the school hostel at Hyderabad passed away. He was generally in good health, and had no history of any problems. Just died of a heart attack. 

That made me think of some others who were my colleagues or friends. One was a lively faculty member at IMT in Ghaziabad. I came to know she died after a battle with cancer, after I had left IMT. Had no idea she was ill, even. Maybe it was discovered later. 

Another three that died early. My good friend and classmate at Osmania engineering seems to have had some kind of a rare infection many years ago, and died from it, though most people survive. A colleague at IFIM, and at KIAMS, who may have brought it on himself, with his lifestyle. And earlier, yet another colleague and great friend in the U.S., who also had an early demise, probably caused by some lifestyle and consequential issues.

COVID has been relatively kind to my friends' circle and most who got it came away unscathed. Not so with office colleagues, some of whom lost a loved one.

Of Lockdowns and Beyond

Just when airlines thought they had got their act together and would fly higher into profits, the Covid-19 has virtually grounded them all. Domestic flights too, till April 14th. (in India)

So after the lockdowns end, when they do, will normality return to air travel, hospitality, and all the rest? Business travel is likely to pick up first, followed by a cautious uptick in personal travel, and finally, leisure travel or tourism. People are likely to be wary of international travel for a few months at least.

What about retail? A lot of business has actually come to the small kirana stores, as they are within walking distance of most houses, and are an essential service. Maybe bigger stores will take a while in India at least, to get back all their customers. They might have to incentivise customers. We are, in the meantime, re-discovering the virtues of small businesses. Hopefully, mom and pop stores will continue to thrive in India, and not just for groceries- given the employment challenges, they have the potential to keep the families working.

Hygiene-related products may see a sustained interest, because this crisis has taught everyone the importance of washing hands and disinfecting surfaces that you can.

A simpler lifestyle might result for a while, having got used to the necessities and being able to live without a lot of discretionary spends. Marketers of many discretionary goods will have to work harder to attract customers.

Getting the lost mojo back into many economic sectors will take quite a while. Hope it happens within a year or two. If not, education may also suffer-higher education, more so. Hopefully, allocations to the health sector will go up across countries.

Urban Versus Rural

I have grown up in rural or semi-urban areas in my early life, but having come in to the city of Hyderabad, rarely went back to rural areas except on holidays or when driving through.

Rural life looks idyllic from an urban lens, but there are hardships that may not be apparent. Availability of water, electricity and so on is the first major difference, and is one reason why we (India) are still considered underdeveloped.

Given equal opportunity, rural kids can do as well as any other, but availability of schools and training in spoken English is not easy to find in many parts. That creates a lifelong handicap and gives an edge to the Urban kids. Not easy to correct in later years of a person's life.

One way to develop rural areas may be through Tourism. With greater interest today in sustainable tourism and its many variants, it is possible to come up with a plan for the variety of lifestyles and learning opportunities that tourists have, potentially.