LOCKDOWN AND WHAT I MISS MOST!

Lockdown has thrown different kinds of challenges to different families with or without kids. A couple of days ago I saw a news item which reported that a frustrated and depressed 12 year old boy, unable to bear the constant pressure his mother was putting on him to do something or the other, slapped her! Shocking! Another forwarded  video featured a harassed father constantly busy trying to separate his three years old twins fighting and hurting each other. Many other parents also face similar situations  with bored kids constantly up to some mischief. A video showed two small boys gone berserk painting each other with colours that they looked like two little ghosts. A  friend was complaining that his  teenage daughter had gone into deep depression.

Then there are cases of domestic violence; mostly by violent alcoholic fathers beating their spouses and children for silly reasons. Earlier they used to do this under the influence of liquor. Now they take out their frustrations on the family for not getting their regular quota of dharu.

While there are many such negative stories,  we cannot ignore the positive aspects of the Lockdown on families. For the first time families are spending quality times together. They are learning to be happy with home cooked meals, instead of the junk food they ordered at the slightest excuse. Most importantly members of families have learnt to share the responsibilities of running a home in the absence of the ubiquitous velaikari (maid). To give some relief to the home maker of the house from her 24x7x365 work days.

I saw this happening in my daughter`s home where I spent the first 21 days of the Lockdown. She had made a detailed time table, prominently displayed on the side of the refrigerator,  assigning responsibilities for her husband and daughter while also  indicating what she would do. I was given the easy job  of cutting vegetables. Knowing my interest in cooking she even allowed me  to cook my favourite recipes a couple of times.

Many men who had  never entered the kitchen in their life, agreed to help their wives in the kitchen. Lockdown has helped some of them to learn cooking, an essential life skill. A friend, in his early sixties,  was so proud of his new hobby that every day he was posting the photos of the items that he had learnt to cook from  his wife on his Facebook page. Many other friends discovered their ability to write well. Some of the senior citizens have even started writing their memoires. I know of friends who are catching up on all good  movies they missed seeing or viewing their old favourite movies again. There are music buffs who are getting lost in their world of music and the spiritually inclined watch the many religious discourses on their favourite TV channels. Working from home has become the norm for millions of IT professionals and others whose work is mainly done using their laptops. Luckily school going children are kept busy with online teaching. Meetings on Zoom have become common with members of several voluntary organizations. My Rotary Club even conducted a Tambola programme online  for members.

As for me, I  completed the first draft of my long pending novel project and read three books when I was at my daughter`s home. After I returned to my home, apart from regular exercise, reading  & writing  I am spending more time in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes. It is also  a sheer joy to play with   with my two year old resident grand son. I have had no reasons to feel bored.

If you ask me what I miss most during the Lockdown- it is my walking friends. Yes friends who would help me recharge my batteries every morning. I miss the friendly banter, vegetarian and non vegetarian jokes, helpful  health tips and of course the Kumbakonam degree coffee at the Saravana Coffee house at the Bessy.  With the friendly Velu  serving customized coffee; with sugar, without sugar, with nattu chakkarai ( powdered jaggery) or even Sugar free tablets!

 Like all of you I am also eagerly waiting for the Lockdown to be lifted so that I can relive my normal life all over again! But will the life be the same post Lockdown? I wonder!

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