Lockdown made me realized that before this pandemic I have never really lived in my house. The house was just a place where I used to come back to, usually tired and exhausted most of the time, just rest and eat. Most of my life happened outside at the school where I study in or with my classmates. Ever since lockdown doomed on us, all of these activities that happened outside found its way into the home, one of the major shifts was that of the work. Work started happening in the house and it demanded a special or a space dedicated to the activity as it was not only my work that started happening in the home but also that of my dad and sister.
A 2bhk flat which was sufficient before for a family of 4 now started to seem quite inadequate. Each corner of the house was now discovered and claimed by different members of the family as theirs. Everybody started locating themselves in the house with respect to their needs which was basically work-driven. A place beside the switchboard but with enough natural light and some view at the same time not at all noisy to attend work calls peacefully with the best Wi-Fi connection spot. Now to this work factor, another thing called the house chores got added as the house helpers which were once available went back to their hometown, and also it was now super risky to let a third person enter the house. House became a total of private space.
The doorbell almost lost its sense of existence as no one now visited us, it felt ages to have heard a doorbell. On the contrary, the cell phone started ringing almost throughout the day, work calls, normal social calls, and the list go on. This demand of constant being available on phone drained me a lot. I couldn’t quite adjust to this change where everything starts happening at the click of your finger, yes it’s convenient for most people as it cuts shorts the travel time, travel expenses but I feel it freezes your mind and everything feels so stagnant. Does everyone have the kind of environment one needs to work at home? And is it just fixing your Wi-Fi connection to have a better work experience, honestly no. I know people who live in a 1bhk home with 5-6 people in it and they don’t even have a spot for themselves in the house to work continuously and find their peace Brought us close as Family: The family members who usually claims to know each other the best started discovering new things about each other. All of us got a closer view and started understanding each other’s routines, what the work schedule looks like. This space was usually taken by a friend at work or someone from school before COVID-19 as they were the ones we spent our entire days with and. We started connecting with each other better than before at least that was the case with me, shared a lot of my experience, secrets while helping mom with chopping vegetables, assisting her with cooking, and almost made her my best friend living under the same roof. While growing up I have always missed this feeling of a family the most, we couldn’t make it to more holiday trips because of our clashing work/school schedules or sometimes health problems of my mom. Movie nights with friends turned to movie nights with family, an outing turned to a play and lunchtime with them.
COVID Glossary 