We’re so lucky to be able to stay home during this pandemic. First, that we’re aware that it is a virus and not a curse from the Gods! Glad Xi Jinping said ‘No Ming Ling’ early on. Okay he could have said it a tad sooner, but better late than never, right? Ya, so I was saying, we’re pretty lucky. We’ve got our jobs, our schools and all our shoppings on the internets. We don’t have to hang around people unless we like them. Family being an exception!
People are now making bread, and are proud of it. Most of us do that everyday - rotis, puris, parathas and dosas - regardless of the lockdown. Folks are on and on about yeast starters and yoghurt bacteria - all basic survival skills. Same thing with learning languages. We should all be speaking at least three anyway. All these over achievers during lockdown are just people who were underachieving in normal times and are oversharing to hide that fact.
It’s been a while and everyone has come up with a coping mechanism. Yours truly, began with Marie Kondo-ing her cupboards and then realized it’s much too painful to handle skeletons made of fabric, shoes and paper compared to the ones made of past deeds so the cupboards were firmly shut and the dreariness of everyday life took over. Or at least that’s what I thought it would be. Life is anything but dreary. Life is life. Waking up, cooking, eating, cleaning, working, internetting, exercising, talking, reading, working, eating, internetting, eating and cooking.
Mr. Crown Virus has been an equal opportunity offender. He has put people out of jobs, denied health care to most and of course has given us all an open invitation to Yama Devta’s party. The only people who are restricted entry are those masked people who mostly stay at home and wash their hands. It’s not like he doesn’t like them or they can’t step into his abode but basically these are people who insist on pursuing earthly pleasures for a bit longer. Those who are fortunate enough to still rock this planet albeit cooped up in their human enclosures have all gone back to enjoying the best things of life that are free. Art, music, generating yeast ( outside our bodies), observing flowers and birds and worms (outside our homes), wifi, walks and of course reading.
The only profession that did not get hindered is the teaching profession. Teachers googled and zoomed with children and gave them enough homework to keep their parents who were (not) working from home, busy. Parents??? Oh Parents. Having to contend with their child(ren) for the whole day for weeks and teach their own children? Most of them revolted. My child can’t see a video and understand the difference between a circle and a sphere. These teachers are doing nothing they said. Truth is, the teachers were doing nothing - in the babysitting department. Even if teachers had students engaged with study online, the parents still had to be involved. All day!
The 'once a week' homework had turned into everyday classwork. Parents were googling seven raised to the power of three and Newton’s laws. Everyone who used to wax eloquent about quality time with their children have had to readjust their child rearing economics. It’s quantity time now. Parents have to face their brats, they can’t blame institutions if their child is not eating healthful foods, they can’t blame other classmates if their child is disruptive and inattentive. Parents have been finally made to parent their child, supply nutrition, teach them manners, make sure they still know that books exist and hopefully raise a decent generation of resilient geeks. And that, methinks, is the one if only good to come out of this pandemic. Discipined parents!
