Not Counting 2020 as a year

March 15, 2020.

I remember this date to this day while I am writing this post. I remember coming back from my college hostel situated in Nowshera.  It is like nothing has happened. It is still March and I will be going back in the next one or two days. But, I am stranded. Not at home but in 2020.

It was March, when I got to know that lockdowns were being imposed in Pakistan. Markets, shops, cinema, schools, colleges and all sorts of public gathering places were closed. A good step 🙂. Practicing SOPs and being quarantined at home was not bad. Well everything looks good as long as we haven't tried it.

The Lockdowns were a blessing in disguise but I am not discussing that here. I am discussing why not to count 2020 as a year? Why should 2020 be skipped from the historical calendar?

First of all let me define what a normal year looks like?

To me a normal year is full of new experiences. Meeting new people, discovering new places, doing something that's not related to staying home everyday.

In a normal year people don't have COVID. In a normal year people don't use social media/mobile the whole day as a means to connect with friends. In a normal year you don't wake up with the feeling that the day before is the same as the present day. In a normal year you have holidays. But not this much. I don't despise holidays but excess of them has made me hate them. 

I want to return to the life I was having on March 14, 2020. No lockdowns, no fear of being infected and no false hopes of things will get better. I want to enjoy the talks that I had with my friends. I want to visit the places that I could have visited if there was no pandemic. I want to enjoy the fearless handshakes once again.

The whole year 2020 for me has been without those things that I consider for calling a year to be normal. I think things need to to restarted. Calenders need to delete 2020.

But I am still hopeful. Things will get better.  The sooner, the better. With the news of  vaccination arrival in Pakistan, it will be stepping stone towards the normal life. Let's hope for a normal 2021.

Let me know in the comments, will you consider counting 2020 as a year?