Goodbye ‘Handshake’, Welcome ‘Namaste’

Yes, most of us are under lockdown during the pandemic but we also have to think about our life after this thing settle downs. Well, experts tell us that we have to be ready for more, like a second wave, come winter and we all have to be ready for it then as we are doing the best to protect ourselves now.

Yes, the handshake has come to an end. And I hope the high-fives and fist-bumps will end as well. So, should we do it our way, the ‘Namaste’ forever till the world ends. You are right, Namaste will be the only way we greet from now on unless you want to have a go at getting the coronavirus or the flu or some other virus from the usual handshakes, high-fives and fist-bumps and other physical contact when greeting someone.

So, the world has changed. We can still shake hands and hug our families but let’s not take the risk when we are out meeting friends, colleagues, lovers and foes. Social distancing might be around for a while.

I feel sorry for shopping mall owners, movie theater owners or any other establishments that host large public gathering. But of course, we might even get 24-hour theaters and malls here back in Nepal as well if we can keep on practicing social distancing forever. Well, it might not be practical to do that but we all know now that we will facing this kind of crisis forever. The world will not be the same even after we somehow control or help to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

Trump as usual doesn’t care. Many years ago, the world looked up to America when it came to helping others or bombing third world countries or meddling in other’s domestic affairs. Now, America under Trump doesn’t want to do any of that. Yes, it’s wrong to bomb others or work to change the regime somewhere else for oil or nukes or whatever but the US can still be a leader when it comes to providing aid and help to the developing countries and even its allies.

But Trump came to power not to help the world but to break down his own country’s system, to make America great again by destroying the ‘American Dream’ for the rest of us while doing nothing for his voter base either. Yes, angry white Americans did vote for Trump and so did the so-called conservatives but look where it is now.

Trump has failed his own people but it seems that his voter base and the Republic Party and the racist Fox News will always have his back. Good for him. He knows what he is doing. He attacks the media because that’s what pumps up his voters. He attacks minorities and the world. In a few years, hope his voters will realize that without immigrants, America will never be a great nation.

It was the immigrants who made America great then and will make it greater even tomorrow but only if America once again gets a President who worries about all of the citizens in his land instead of only the white people. Nothing wrong with being white but if America wasn’t kind to all those immigrants from Europe then, the white Americans of today would not be in the United States, would they?