How We Went From Searching ‘Vaccine Near Me’ To ‘Swimming Pool Near Me’

2022 was collectively bittersweet for people across the world. While 2020 pinned on us a pandemic we're still coming to terms with, 2021 was a mountain we could barely climb given the aftermath. The last three years changed so much so soon, and while we're still reeling from the horrendous event that affected millions of lives, 2022 was the year we picked up the pieces and learned to live a little differently. What I found most intriguing was that people carved their own definitions of what 'normal' meant for them and, interestingly, we learned that normal also lay in the mundane, in the imperfections and blurred spaces.

Well, with respect to every experience, good, bad and life-alerting, let us look at the fun part as we approach year-end. There is something extremely endearing about us Indians; we go all in -  for everything. From locating the best possible vaccines and centres to making the best possible plans post-vaccination, we don't leave anything in between.

Google India released its year-end list of top-ten search trends recently and although all lists are interesting, I found the 'near-me' category most hilarious, and relatable. From searching for the 'covid vaccine near us' to looking for a swimming pool to take a dip, because why not, what a year it has been and how wonderfully were our interests entwined. The chronology of what follows is amusing, ironic and so relatable.

Suggested reading: Who Were The Most Googled Women In India In 2022?

Popular Google Search

India searched the most for covid vaccine centres. Phew, I'm glad. Imagine, if we'd searched for swimming pools directly without getting vaccinated. Because we were capable of it, weren't we? Looking at how restless we were during the lockdown and the is-covid-back anticipation phase, I recall a tweet from two years back when a girl posted her brother's drawing of a wine-tasting tour in their house.

People’s imaginations peaked during challenging moments, and humour and relatability got us through most of it. So we dusted ourselves off, looked for the nearest vaccine centre, got vaccinated - downloaded the vaccination certificate with full enthusiasm; yes, ask Google, 'how to download vaccination certificate' topped the 'how to' category list, and then strode off to discover a swimming pool.

The acceleration from' Covid Vaccine near' me to 'Water park near me

The ‘swimming pool near me' search was followed by the 'water park near me' search as we'd rather take a dip from the tallest water slide and scream our lungs out and tell covid to hide its face because we are not getting down that slide. Ok, we did get off because the movies were waiting. For die-hard filmy ones, the experience of watching films at a theatre and the cinema halls opening at full capacity was a breather. We moved to the halls, watched films back to back, compared how most films were better off at OTT because that's our new thing now, and then moved to our next hunt - FOOD.

Why sit at restaurants now when you can takeout and sit at home? As I mentioned earlier, we've all tweaked our definitions of normal. Now, we like both ways of eating, at restaurants or at home - with the food delivered from restaurants. I mean, we are all major contributors to Zomato shooting the stars like in the past three years, aren't we?

With most offices opening at full capacity this year, it was time to slip out of our pyjamas and wear something work appropriate, hence we searched for malls near us. Malls started overflowing and so did the metros. The 'malls near me' and the 'metro stations near me' were soon followed by 'RT-PCR test near me', which is good because precautionary tests are something that should be encouraged everywhere, and people are still following through with it in whatever capacity they can. 'Rental houses near me' was the tenth most searched topic, which shows how people either returned to their cities of work or looked for new places to begin again.

In all cases, the chronology of the near-me searches feels like a bittersweet recollection of how far we've come and how this year served as both a reminder and a stimulus to make new choices, learn from old ones and move forward with higher spirits.

The views expressed are the author's own.