We have all heard a lot of complaints ever since the imposition of this countrywide lockdown. We have all heard people say things like –‘How can we miss our offices?’, ‘Wont we go crazy sitting at home all day?”, and “How will we get our provisions for survival?’.
Some were worried about missing their gyms and salons. All those accustomed with home delivered food were at a loss to understand how they would manage food. And most importantly most households could not think of living without their, otherwise insignificant, life-lines - our domestic help.
My niece, a corporate employee, after few days of sincere WFH realized she is not receiving adequate support from seniors or juniors and started feeling bit low on energy. I guess many of her peers were struggling with the new way of life.
We also heard that world over cases of domestic violence also surged. The distressing visuals of migrants sufferings, solely because of an unplanned decision of locking the country will remain in our minds for many years to come. These are only some of the unpleasant truths about lockdown.
But against the many unpleasant happenings, hidden is a brighter side that’s worth remembering. We suddenly had more time in general and some nice things did happen during the lockdown. People from all walks of life pouring in to help the needy, as per their abilities, showcased that humanity is alive and will remain so. Children aged 10 or 12 breaking open their piggy banks to support the poor assured us that India will not be short of good citizens in coming days. Community kitchens enthusiastically cooking and distributing food proving once again that there are good Samaritans out there doing their bit to see that no one sleeps on an empty stomach.
Back home, my niece though felt bit low for sometime but was more than happy to celebrate her birthday the way she used to celebrate as a child. Celebrating this special day entirely with parents, after a long gap, made it a rare occasion. Otherwise birthdays for working professionals are mostly spent in offices. Few gifts, a small office party and dinner with parents or friends at a posh restaurant have become the set pattern of a birthday celebration. This birthday brought back many long lost childhood memories for her. Having traditional birthday special delicacies peacefully at home with parents was much fun. The fun did not stop here. She had ample time in hand to return the favour on Mother’s Day .Her mom was so excited to be relieved from kitchen duties the whole day.
Many families, where members are otherwise extremely busy with their professions and hardly get time to interact with each other,got an opportunity to spend enough time to speak, to share and understand one another. It was a rare opportunity to cook together and have them together. After a long time drawing room discussions on everything from politics to movies to local issues happened. Children enjoyed their no school days the most. The cards and board games got back their lost positions in the household. People enjoyed the slower space of life. No one was in hurry. The age old complaints of ‘not giving time’ to one another were partly resolved.
The period was also for proving culinary skills to one another. Facebook, Instagram got flooded with pictures of who cooked what. Celebrities were also in the race. There were many first timers as well. What made me more than happy was that my daughter, who actually hates cooking, too cooked something or other which looked quite eatable. The one, which looked most interesting was the biriyani she cooked on Eid with a combination of brown rice and basmati rice. Moreover now I am convinced that those who say ‘I can’t cook’ or ‘I hate cooking’ are not going to sleep hungry under any circumstances.
Many of my acquaintances, who in the beginning complained about missing their gyms and yoga classes discovered household chores like sweeping, mopping and dusting and enjoyed turning these to home workout sessions.
Moreover, when families started relying on themselves rather than their domestic help, deep cleaning of cupboards, drawers and almirahs finally happened after being long overdue and put aside for pre-Diwali cleaning. We also realized the contributions of our house helps in our day to day life. I am very hopeful we have all considered their absence as paid leaves, this is the only way we can show our gratitude to them.
The time has arrived to ease out of the lockdown slowly through exit processes for the sake of economy. We are all set to be back to business with new norms. Life will go on. We will be back to some form of normalcy at some point surely. But there are some key takeaways from this crisis situation that will hopefully remain with us – family and social connections are important, we must know to nurture them even without a pandemic. We have a lot to be grateful for – yes that includes our domestic staff and all front line workers who make our lives so much easier.
Let’s start our post pandemic life carefully yet enthusiastically, as slightly better versions of ourselves.
The writer is a retired bank officer and the views expressed in the article are her own.
