COVID19 as a pandemic has affected people from all age groups. Lockdown, as the effect of this pandemic, has impacted every human life in multiple ways. The youth and teenagers have faced the brunt of the lockdown in more than one way. As COVID19 continue to challenge the youth they have also shown the great power of technology as a driver of social and economic change during this period. Caritas India along with St. Thomas Moore Study Circle (TSC) organised a webinar for youth from across India on the theme “Youth: Reimagining a New Normal”, while the same being live-streamed at Caritas India’s Facebook page.

The webinar commenced with Rev Fr Paul Moonjely, Executive Director, Caritas India giving an introductory remark. In his remark he motivated the youth to think about society and to come together with the thoughts for reflection in this time of lockdown. He further emphasised that even though we are all in a lockdown, but the energies are not down.

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Kurian, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India through his keynote address re-echoed Fr Paul’s sentiments and added on how youth should be motivated to find their own ways of engaging themselves into fruitful activities beneficial to the society. He also urged the youth to be love and light in the post COVID era by adding value by their contribution.

The first panelist Ms Jeena P S, Indian Basketball team captain expressed her sentiments of missing basketball matches and practices. She voiced out emotions of all sportsmen and athletes on missing out their time on the field. Whereas, she expressed the happiness of finding time to spend with her family and advised the youth to do the same and maintain their confidence during this lockdown.

Rev Fr Chetan Machado, Secretary, Catholic Bishops Conference of India, Youth Council, the second panelist, shared from his experience of listening to the young people that they are not enjoying the extended lockdown. It has started to affect the interpersonal relationships among the youth. He emphasised on the importance of physical presence in communications and stated the critical role being played by social media during the lockdown. The blessing of social media is everybody’s lives has made staying connected with each other in this difficult situation possible, especially focussing on youth from non-metropolitan cities.

Third panelist Mr. Sandeep Chaudhary, Senior News Anchor, News24 highlighted the economic impact and scaling down of aspiration among the youth. He voiced out the plight of millions of workers and especially the daily wage earners losing their jobs due to CORONA. He highlighted the impact of less revenue in the economy due to COVID19, on the young people, specifically the ones standing at the beginning of their career. Their desires of owning life and building their dreams will be affected in the pandemic. His message to the young is to adapt to the situation, accept this new normal, be with oneself in happiness.

The final panelist Ms Jannabi Das, Indian Idol Finalist, and Playback singer motivated the youth to find the passion within oneself and nurture the skill. She re-echoed the sentiments of many young people of facing a dead-end at different junctures of their lives. She requests the youth to be firm in those moments and find their inner talent and passion while taking the first step towards building oneself.

The way forward from the webinar session was to stay connected with the participants through virtual medium like WhatsApp group and connecting through Facebook. This group will focus on emotions from the youth and will undertake rapid research on the challenges faced by youth during the lockdown. The concluding remarks were made by Rev.Fr.benny Palatty and he touched upon a veritable array of nuances of new normal common among the new normal.

The webinar touched upon and distilled the concerns of youth in the following areas; economic impact, mental and physical impact, impact on interpersonal relationships, role of social media, familial relationships and actualisation of skills. The webinar which lasted till 6:00 PM was concluded with participants pledging through the song “We shall overcome”.