Backpacking Through Life

Life after Lock-down

After a long break putting pen to paper or rather cursor to document in the digital world. A really whirlwind of a time not just for me but across the globe due to a virus colloquially called Corona Virus clinical name being Covid-19 which turned into a global pandemic A crisis unheard off and unforeseen by mankind since the Plague in 19th Century Bringing life to stand still as if God almighty has put the world on hold to make mankind realise the excesses it has committed over all these years A halt to the devastation be it environmental or in family & human relationships due excessive consumption and personal desires

Then came the lockdown which laid down new rules or rather the new way of life A life which taught us all that you don't need much to survive on this planet and lead a happy and a satisfied life .

Here are 4 things that this pandemic taught me that I would like to share with everyone 

Health & Hygiene – Safety first

People have suddenly become conscious about health & hygiene in these pandemic times . People have started washing hand frequently as directed by ICMR “ Wash your hand through ly for 20 seconds with soap or use 70% alcohol based Hand sanitiser” A good habit which was followed to limited extent but now due to the virus spread people have inculcated this frequent washing in their daily routine.

Also due to wearing of mask at all times certain vices like tobacco chewing or Ghutka chewing vices have taken a break. As result city footpaths , roads and walls are safe guarded against the red spray showered by these ghutka chewers. It took the threat of fines and legal penalty in Singapore to remain clean and in India the threat of disease and pandemic has changed our behaviour and etiquette's.

Life due to the pandemic has changed  and changed for the better I guess.

Work From Home - The new normal

All those working in corporate jobs rushing to their offices early in the morning to be in their designated cubicles Working their ass off skipping lunch to meet the given deadline Staying back late in the evening to support global teams across international timelines And finally heading back home in the most horrendous traffic jams by road or packed like sardines in metallic tubes called local trains (Mumbai’s life line) Eating the dinner watching the TV news mostly pre planned debates with cross talking over aggressive and preposterous guests holed up in tiny windows across your TV screen talking or rather shouting from the rooftops on issues which seem alien to the Aam Aadmi (mango people) with even more loud anchor hosting the debate trying to show off his proves and cutting off his guest mid sentence to add fuel to fire But suddenly all this changed with the rising cases of Covid positive people and the infection taking a pandemic proportion Now the first thing to get hit was the mobility of the population at large Buses stopped plying or rather ply’ed persons engaged in Emergency services  Taxis and aggregator cabs stopped and the last straw that broke the back was when Local trains were stopped 

All most all offices started asking their employees to Work From Home (WFH) to keep their businesses running Technology came to the rescue People started adjusting to sitting in front of their Laptops or desktops getting connected to their office networks to keep the communication ON with the outside world using emails conference calls and video calls Even the weekly meetings shifted online with Zoom or Google meet All most every one adjusted to the fact that you can work efficiently even with out the physical office premise Also the fact that a lot of time was saved without the daily commute The extra time could now be utilized effective for extra activities which can bring in new business or streamline existing processes to reduce time consumption

The flip side being large corporate’s quickly understood the benefits of this WFH culture which reduced the need for large office space for their operations This in time will bring down the lease rentals or development of commercial spaces which in turn will affect the Real Estate economy Also the top management started to lay off personnel as the need for people at work started reducing The amount of people needed to do a particular job was greatly reduced due to multitasking and also due to available new age technology This is a disturbing trend but reality of life which every one has to accept and move forward

Family First 

All through your working life everyone is busy with getting ahead on their professional life so much that family life takes a backseat  To top the rat race and out maneuver the office politics you end up spending more time at the office and networking with business contacts even on weekends that you forget you have a devoted wife and cheerful kids at home who need your time and attention And now in this lock down i feel family is the one which always supports you in your good times and bad times without any great expectations All you need is a firm bonding and transparent communication and trust in each other Rest will fall into place

Limited needs unnecessary desires

Living in metro cities we are habituated to a lifestyle which celebrities excesses or over and unnecessary consumption Take for example the first things that got hit by the lock-down - Restaurants Gym’s Cinema Halls and shopping malls After eating lavish and fat rich foods and indulging in junk food like cheese burst pizza’s and chicken burgers with extra cheese at your friendly neighbourhood restaurant or MacD’s or Domino’s you felt guilty and went to the gym’s to burn those extra calories  To compensate for the time you never gave to your family you would take the to Cinema halls to watch the latest movies spend a bomb for the tickets first and then spend some more for the pop corn samosa and cold drinks Then go out for dinner and spend a little more for the dinner This would become your routine every 15 days if not weekly On other weekend's you and the family would shop at the ‘n’ number of malls for clothes and fashion accessories You would spend on some essentials and some on frivolous things which you will never use 

But once the lock-down was announced everything got closed No more eating out at the Restaurants no more movies at the Cinema halls no more shopping at the shopping malls or hitting the Gym’s to sweat out those extra calories What was open was only the Kirana wala shops those small hole in the wall shops selling aata dal oil rice sugar and pulses  Some shops selling namkeens and other basic food items for satisfy your cravings be the sev puri or pani puri to be taken home and made into a lip smacking dish using sweet chutney’s and minty pani and boiled watana as ragda  All this could be made at home and devoured with your entire family  For the amount you spent at the hotels  for one dish you could make an entire meal at home and enjoyed together  

 Am I right or Am I wrong you are the best person to judge But the fact is we ourselves have expanded our desires to a limitless indulgence and are running after money to  meet our desires A race in which we are running like crazy and trying to outdo the next person just to keep up with the Jone’s as they say 

Time to take a break a much needed reality check and restart our lives A new start A new life in-sync with the world around 

After sitting at home for the last 3 months one thing that comes to my mind is that you don’t need much to live your life to the fullest What you need is “ Do waqt ki roti  Ek chhat Do gaj zameen “

OR Food to eat ,a house over our heads, a supportive family and land to bury or cremate your body once you pass away

So remember that prayer taught to you in your school

“ Thank you God for the world so sweet

Thank you God  for the food we eat

Thank you God for the birds that sing

Thank you God for everything”