Mirror Mirror on the wall, did COVID make you Human at all?

It is the 75th day of the COVID-19 lockdown in India. On Monday, the lockdown will be lifted across the country with limited imposed restrictions. The daily lives will come back to normal (as we would like to believe) unless there is a rise in COVID +ve cases in certain areas. Only such areas will then be locked, barricaded, and termed as micro containment zones for a couple of weeks.

We have no clue how long these Ways of Living going to continue. Whether you like it or you don't, this is a New Normal.

Have you been counting days? One of my ex-Colleague used to put up a daily WhatsApp status message for every passing day to assure that a better day will come.

I'm sure many would have been counting days and waiting for the lockdown to end; the Day has come.

As you get excited and prepare for the post-pandemic days with gratitude for being alive and safe, Why not look behind for a few minutes and realize how you have come out of it. 

It started on 22nd March in India with a day of Janata Curfew.

The nation was excited. We wanted to show the world that yes, a one-day lockdown could be effective to break the Corona chain. The good motivation of India having an edge over the world in terms of the number of Corona +ve cases in its pandemic fight, high morale, and a Sunday.

Software or whichever companies had it possible, started planning or started their work from home schedules. Few employees rushed to their native place, few stayed where they were, thinking it will get over fast, few got stuck at places.

And in 2 days, a 21 Days Lockdown 1.0 is imposed on 25th March.

Stuff gets real. A few have been working from home. Few can't really work from home (of course due to the nature of business). People who were busy working the whole day, now are at home. No one can step outside.

You are caged, anxious, restless, can’t sleep, don’t know what to do, how to spend this time. The uncertainty has put its foot in the door.

House-helps / Cleaners / Cooks ain’t allowed anymore. 

People who never cooked before, stock up Maggi, Bread, etc.

You are excited to cook awesome dishes. And then there is sinkful of dishes 😀. 

Housework is divided; you wish you would have purchased a small house and had very few things to clean.

Your organization is arranging virtual sessions to make sure you stay sane during this period. Virtual activities are being arranged, probably more than what you had at the office premise.

In the meantime, the Indian Government rescues citizens outside India from COVID-19 affected countries. We feel proud that our cases ain’t rising like a few of those other countries. We are confident that Indians are immune to any virus whatever may come.

As we reach closer to the end of this lockdown, a few don't have a job anymore. The government asks people to pay their House-helps and other small wage workers because they don’t have a job. You feel neglected as a middle-class person because you don’t have a job too. Guidelines are floated not to let go of employees during these times and keep paying. The government says not to ask for rent from your tenant, and probably you realize, your EMI gets paid from this rent. Banks give a moratorium of 3 months with interest being charged for the period.

Suddenly I realize who will feed my strays. As I enquire, I find out about volunteers who are going out to feed stray animals. There are so many strays on streets hungry and thirsty due to shutdowns.

The Lockdown gets extended till 3rd May and we enter Lockdown 2.0 on 15th April. 

You feel exhausted with all the housework. Quite a few businesses which are trying to function normally are impacted. Hiring is on indefinite hold; Offers are revoked; you don’t know how to deal with this uncertainty. Your team member who is stuck at their native and can’t work remotely are asked to apply for leaves. Your friends on the bench are scared. Teams are being ramped down because your Client is hugely affected.  Savings in the bank are exhausting and EMI payments are piling up month-after-month. 

Your company holds back any increment, bonus payments till the situation normalizes or probably next Financial Year. You are informed about the pay cuts of around 10-40% on your current salary so that company has enough cash balance and it doesn’t have to fire anyone; you are relieved.

Companies are now worried and we are talking about a recession worse than 2008. I’m not sure how many of you have had a face-off with the 2008 recession. It was scary.

Females returning from maternity leave were handed over pink-slips. New joiners, freshers were laid off. Workforce with the experience of more than 10 years was asked to leave on the pretext of no skill upgrade. One had to do whatever work possible to keep the job or join a company at a lower payscale. People had no job for months or almost a year. 

Since Corona +ve cases are not increasing at a scale as compared to other countries, you are hopeful that yes as a country we have done it.

Amidst these uncertainties, we enter Lockdown 3.0 starting 4th May.

We saw lower carbon footprints, better air, controlled air-pollution, fewer road crimes, good food, birds chirping, trees/plants blooming when you were not out there. I saw sparrows after a long time, while it seemed as they vanished. We realized that we can live without eating out, without unnecessary shopping, without partying.

But on the other side, inside your house, you were wreaking havoc. 

Anxiety, uncertainty, and You!

Quarrels, Domestic violence (here and here) cases are on the rise. WHO posted the guidelines on Facebook about what to do if you have to leave the house during these times. 

Stray animals were dying Hungry and Thirsty. Supply Chain was broken. I couldn’t get food packets for my strays for more than a week.

Migrant workers and their families were hungry and scared. While the government was bringing back the citizens out of the country, the ones staying here weren’t allowed to go to their places. 

And then you sat on your chair while having breakfast and watching the news, said, why can’t they stay where they are, why are they spreading Corona while the government has arranged for the food for them. 

While you should have asked, how/where are they staying; How are they staying in a 10 square feet house; How are they getting fed; How can I help, because it is too much to expect from any government. 

Corona +ve numbers were on the rise and we come to the terms that there were not enough tests done earlier to avoid community spread. We didn’t even know how deep Corona has penetrated. And colors started changing across the demography of the Indian states. 

Buying essentials started getting difficult. People were expected to maintain social distancing when they get only 2 hours window to buy essentials and they do not even know if there will be anything left for them to buy during this time.

Then, 18th May sets you up for another extension with Lockdown 4.0.

Migrant workers were being migrated to their homes where they thought they won’t starve to death. You said they came here when this land gave them food, now leaving in the crisis. You forgot your bank balance, your monthly grocery stock, and your almost 80-100 times bigger house. They walked more than 1000 kilometers in the heat of almost 40 degrees celsius. How scared a person can be to take such a drastic step!

Then a pregnant Elephant died in Kerala. Even though it had nothing to do with Lockdown or COVID-19, it just undid the 2.5 months of lockdown. How can we be still so unkind to any living despite seeing so many deaths in a short span of a few days? Probably unkind is too soft a word for this, Or I do not even have a word for this act. A black life dies under a white knee.

When Unlock 1.0 starts on 8th June, can we try to unlock the possibilities of humanity?

Are we capable of making the best of the post-pandemic era? Do we even realize what can happen when we stay put? Do we realize the potential of helping others?

You have been complaining about not getting time to be at home, spend quality time with your family. And now, no one is forcing you to come out of your Home-Sweet-Home. Do you now know that the Housework is tiring as well? Or you will forget when you go out and let one of your family members get buried again while you feel proud of yourself that you have done enough.

When you used to get ready to go out every morning, with the clothes you also used to wear your outdoor personality. You were friendly, authoritative, humorous, liked not to own it, follow what is said, or ask people to do what you want. Whatever you would become out there, is not who you are at Home. Going out every day is a chance to be different - willingly or unwillingly.

Now 24 Hours, it is the same person who you are. You have to choose what kind of person you want to be.

It is difficult, I so know it. It is possible that you find it hard to accept the version of yourself. It is hard to believe if that's you. You are facing yourself, and trying to believe if that’s who you are. The one who is supposed to be loving, caring, sharing is quarreling, angrier than earlier, unsure.   

Here when you can’t escape yourself, are you comfortable living with yourself for so long?

These are the times that tell you what matters the most to you. Is it your ego, your anger, your relationships, your work, your home? Do you care about someone’s plight or just your convenience is what matters?

We have come so close to death. Today having money can’t save your loved ones; you can’t get a bed in the hospital; you can’t cremate them to help them cross the bridge. 

But you can definitely help; Help by guiding, sharing the load, feeding the hungry or at least by not stopping people who are helping.

The Geeta-Saar resonates with so much truth today. It can’t be stated any better than this as a matter of fact.

You came empty-handed, you will go empty-handed. खाली हाथ आए थे, खाली हाथ जाओगे ।

But to reach this realization, it took multiple lockdown extensions. Now let’s not forget this again.

COVID-19 has not only crippled our Lifestyle, but it will also leave a larger Economic as well as a Personal footprint on our lives. Let’s bring some better out of this so that when you tell this story to the next generation, it has a Moral of the Story different from going back to same routine.