As many countries globally are seeking to find a path out of the impact of the pandemic, others are seeing spikes in cases, despite vaccination efforts. This poses the much-asked question: will things ever return to the same state as they were pre-COVID?

Similarly, education faces the same questions. As students return to their learning settings for face-to-face time, the question of how in-person learning will last lingers. Additionally, as it has been well noted, there were a suite of positives in switching to a remote learning model. We’ve heard anecdotally of nervous students coming out of their shells and we’ve also seen successes where attainment has remained constant—a testament to the hard work of both teachers and their students.

Over the 12 years since I have been writing the book, Indian Economy, I have been fortunate enough to interact with many readers of the book. The majority are aspirants of the UPSC exam and some are preparing for other competitive examinations.