Forgotten once again...

The COVID-19 has been ruling the world for the past few months.  It is a declared Pandemic and an undeclared gamechanger.  The People and the Governments work hard in nourishing their economy.  What was built through hard work of many for over several decades has been brought to standstill by this Virus.  It is not only taken the life of many people but also brought down many economies worldwide.

The way we live our life is different now.  The imprint of Corona is there in all walks of life.  Probably, it is apt now to split our life into two parts, the new BC and AC.  Where BC stands for “Before Corona” and AC for “After Corona”. 

We never imagined that we would be forced to stay at home and work.  Our working habits too have changed with the change in Purpose.  Earlier many IT people had the luxury of working from home.  In the pre-COVID19 period, many people normally availed this Work from Home option whenever they had to take care of some domestic commitments.  In most cases, it was enough if they attended a few Calls and sent a few emails, to show that they indeed worked from home.  And once their office hours were over, no one used to disturb them. 

Things have changed now.  There is no starting or ending hours for work anymore for those who work from Home.  The calls start ringing so early making one feel if it was the alarm that was waking them.  The Video Calls have made things even worse.  This has forced everyone to be more formal while working from home.  With makeshift desks, domestic background, interrupted power supplies, noise pollutions, domestic diversions and many such hurdles, the work goes on.  Ironically, despite working for more hours and completing more tasks, one often feels dissatisfied at not being able to complete enough work.  While this has been the case for some, for a many due to COVID-19, their workload has reduced considerably.  They still feel that they have done lot of work.  This is more of a psychological effect as they feel they are the only ones working at home while the rest of the members of the house are relaxed.

The children too would never have imagined that they would be asked to stay back home and learn.  Their problems are different and more age specific.  Not everyone has a spare laptop or desktop.  In homes that have 2 children, the problems are plenty when their e-Class timings clash with each other.  The fight shifts from who get the only Laptop/Desktop to who gets the Mobile phone.  One attends the class in Laptop/Desktop and other in Mobile, with a pride.  Their timings are different too.  For some, it is a continuous schedule while it is 2 or 3 lectures for others, spread across the whole day. 

With all the diversions at home, the noise pollution, the aroma of the live kitchen, with no classmates to talk to, the Students begin their learning sessions.  For younger ones, it is always more exciting and fun to learn through their mobile or laptop.  With no clarity on when the schools are set to resume, the student life is more in a transition mode.  How it is going to change post corona is to be seen.  For those who attend college, the effectiveness of e-Classes is very mixed and unclear.  Students in professional courses have more often utilized this opportunity to the fullest and their e-Classes have been found to be effective. 

Surely the COVID-19 has changed things totally. Just like we often do.  The women of the House are forgotten yet again.  Debates on ‘Working from Home’ and ‘Learning from Home’ are doing the rounds.  Their plight is never discussed or thought about in any forum or media.  The adjustments and sacrifices, the Lady of the house, makes is multi-fold. 

While everyone stays at home, the women have to prepare variety of foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Normally, a packed lunch would have saved her lot of time in the Kitchen.  With the men and children staying at home, timely food and that too freshly cooked food, ensures that the lady of the house stays in the Kitchen more than normal.  This surely will have an effect on her Knees, Back and Neck if proper care is not taken. 

If young kids are at home, it becomes a big challenge for the mothers to ensure the child is silent when her husband does his work, especially while on calls.  Her regular relaxation in front of the TV or a short nap in the afternoon are all cut-off due to the work/learn from home sessions of the rest of the family members.  It is even worse if the Lady of the house is also working from home. 

The challenges these ladies face under these testing circumstances are many and they manage to do it.  That is the specialty of Indian Women.  But unfortunately, when one talks about COVID-19, one refers to the work from home and learn from home situations only.  The sacrifices of the Lady of the House are forgotten yet again….