Lockdown Lessons (Guest Post)

The lockdown has given us enough time to ponder and reflect over a lot of things.

Here’s a lovely blog post written by my mother. She has penned down all that she has learnt in this regard.

Man is a social being. People thrive in this society by socialising, communicating with others and keeping relations, be it personal or professional.

But in the present situation, the word “social distancing” is much needed, to overcome the Coronavirus Pandemic. The otherwise busy and bustling human life has come to a standstill because of a virus which has created havoc in this world.

In the initial days when the news about the spread of this virus in China came out, I thought that there’s nothing for us to worry as it hasn’t shown its presence in our country. Or so I thought. My relief was short-lived. As the days passed the virus started spreading rapidly and made its presence known in our country too. I felt shivers down my spine when it spread across the country and in almost all the states, including the state where I reside.

We do not watch the news channels on the television these days, but to remain updated, I started scrolling through Twitter. I now feel absolutely terrified to even check Twitter (or any other social media for that matter). Every time I see the numbers rising steadily, the fear rises.

I want to put across a few “lessons” I’ve learnt as a homemaker during these times of social distancing.

Firstly, I have slowly adapted to a minimalist lifestyle. Making the optimum use of groceries and other resources with almost zero wastage was a challenge initially. However, I have come to manage this pretty well.
Secondly, we were partially dependent on our house help for sweeping and mopping the house. Now, we have learnt to clean the house entirely by ourselves. We share the cleaning work and do it all without any house help.
Third, I have always been an extrovert. I love talking to people and going out for walks. I find joy in interacting with people I come across during my walks, even if it is for a few minutes. I miss the long evening walks with my daughter. To be honest, we had been going for our walks even after cases started reporting in our country, but took utmost care while doing so. We used to avoid people and take empty pathways and roads, just to get some fresh air and movement.
However, the most important lesson I’ve learnt in all this is to wash my hands properly. 😄 We were taught in our school days to wash hands but never bothered to take the activity seriously. But now, this has become such an essential part of my daily routine.

This pandemic has taught me so many practical lessons.

Being a homemaker, I always used to hear people talk about “working under pressure.” Till date, I never experienced it as I generally did all my work at my own pace, because well… I was the BOSS. Haha!
Now I realise the true meaning of this phrase. I have learnt to do work with a lot more patience, maintain very good hygiene and tackle any situation with a calm mind. I’ve managed to master a lot of tasks at hand for which I would depend on my house help previously.

I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all the people who are on their toes day and night, away from their family, just to keep us safe and protected from this virus. I’m positive that with co-operation from each and every one of us, the whole world will soon defeat the virus and things will get back to normal.

Stay home and stay safe.