I am a mother with a 4-year-old son and I have been cooped up inside my home for a long time. I will skip the part about how Covid has changed everything because everyone knows about its catastrophic impact only too well. I don’t even want to get into the part of what my country (India) has been through in the last two months ..because it is too painful. However, I will expound in detail on two vital lessons this pandemic taught me. The first lesson, I am guilty of shying away from, because it was new and uncomfortable. Probably a little absurd too. I will also be writing about the ‘lightning in a bottle’ moment I had. That was the second lesson.
They say that people learn best when they do. In their own time. I am a voracious reader and a keen observer of anthropology. Past and Present. So it was surprising that the first lesson from this pandemic came around mid-April 2021. Yeah, pretty late, but better late than never. It was a time when my family and country were going through our toughest times. I think now, that I was able to comprehend these two lessons because the days were so dark. My mind found the light it needed, to survive.
The world was in too much of a hurry to fix the pandemic as fast as possible. We were in a rush to get back to our ‘normal’ days quickly!
My first lesson was patience. We all know what patience means, and we all have it. However, did we really have the capacity to tolerate a pandemic kind of delay? I think not.
I was only too happy every time they announced that the lockdown was getting over. It was easier to believe what we wanted to happen than the reality of what was going on. I'm guilty of it too. It is comfortable that way. If we only had learned to develop some patience and accepted that this was like being in convalescence for a lengthy treatment we would have done much better. The idea of staying indoors, in jail, or even a long hospital stay is not unusual to us. We were all in this pandemic together, our actions as individuals impact the society at large If ‘collective patience’ had been understood, accepted, and implemented we may have saved many more lives. The human mind is astute, we can adapt far more successfully to situations than we give ourselves credit. Hence governments and citizens should in the future invest more in fostering an environment that talks more about values like patience, endurance, etc. It will serve us well.
My second lesson is what the land of the midnight sun taught me and it all started when I began to watch Ragnarok. Have you heard the term ‘Janteloven’? Well until recently neither did I. I was Wikipedia-ing the series Ragnarok, then the characters, then Norway, and came upon this word.
Janteloven (the law of Jante) at its simplest describes the way that all Norwegians (and in fact, other Scandinavians too) behave: putting society ahead of the individual, not boasting about individual accomplishments, and not being jealous of others. (Source)
What the above lines meant, at first baffled me. Not because it was hard to comprehend, but because it was so simple. I then proceeded to read about Norweigan society and I was amazed at what the statistics had to say about this beautiful Scandinavian nation. Let me list out a few points for you.
- Norway is a progressive welfare state. Norway in general is a more cohesive society than the UK or USA.
- Norway is considered to be one of the most developed democracies and constitutional states in the world. They are economically sound and advanced.
- Most Norwegians believe in equal distribution of wealth and that everyone should have equal opportunities.
- They pay high taxes but the citizens do not complain because they understand its necessity.
- It is also an established fact in Norway that people with physical and mental challenges should have equal rights and be treated with as much respect as other people. They follow it.
- Systematic efforts are made to ensure that women and men are equal when it comes to education and wages.
- Informality is widespread in Norwegian society. Formal titles and social position normally do not mean that a person should be addressed any differently than the man in the street.
- Norway is considered one of the happiest places in the world to live. That can only be achieved in a society that is advanced and progressive collectively.
- Also one of the safest countries in the world.
In a nutshell, the people of Norway by and large put society above self.
And that my dear friends, is what the land of the midnight sun taught me during these challenging covid times. If we learned to implement Janteloven (society above self), we will be more capable as a country to handle a situation like the pandemic we are going through.
It all began when I started to google about Thor. So I have to give him some credit. In hindsight, it seems apt that the God of lightening helped me understand a very simple but valuable concept, during the most stormy days of my life.
In a few days, the lockdown in my city will ease. I understand the reason why many people will need to get back to work. But, I also know that I will stay home and still follow all the protocols no matter how challenging it is.
Coz, Janteloven.
Note: I also write short stories on Substack. Feel free to drop by there as well. The content is different from what I write on Medium. https://rosegarg.substack.com/
Sources:
https://www.oecd.org/statistics/Better-Life-Initiative-country-note-Norway.pdf
https://www.lifeinnorway.net/what-exactly-is-janteloven/
https://www.studyinnorway.no/living-in-norway/norwegian-society
