Skip to main content

COVID 19 Lock-down Experiences: A Pessimist's Musings


So, we have entered the seventh day of the nationwide lock-down that was suddenly imposed on us to ensure social distancing.

We get that it is necessary to prevent the spread of Coronavirus or COVID 19, but how the lockdown has thrown our lives into a tizzy!

Though a lot of positive messages are circulating about how this period has made us pause and reflect on life's blessings, I beg to differ. I am going to be a hardcore pessimist.

COVID 19 has emerged as a larger monster than terrorism and ecological disaster combined. Its cruel jaws are still very active, pulling thousands of victims into them everyday. So it is necessary for us to be holed up in our homes avoiding outside contact as far as possible.

STAY AT HOME is the strict order.

Granted. We are put up at home, without our support lifeline of helps, cleaners, cooks, drivers, home delivery service, restaurant takeaways and deliveries, etc.
Lets see how we are coping.....



Why ME?

Mini wars are raging daily in households on who will do what chore. The unpleasant duties of sweeping the house, mopping, cleaning never ending utensils, washing clothes, dusting, etc. etc. are shuffled between reluctant family members.

However helpful you were in the beginning of this ordeal, doing these chores on a daily basis takes a toll on your energy and enthusiasm.

How many marriages will survive the confinement period?

Imagine being with your spouse 24/7. Even the best of relationships need space to survive. Suddenly, we have started noticing all the flaws in each other with greater insight.

No going out for dining, no movies, no vacations  = more tiffs, more sulks, more catfights.....

Since everyone is at home with limited options of distraction and entertainment, we are at each other's throats every now and then. Some of us are even wondering how we managed to put up with each other for so many years!

Won't be surprised if the number of divorces go up after the lock-down period is over.




What about Mental health issues

What about people with existing mental problems like anxiety, depression, OCD, schizophrenia?
How are they coping this terribly gloomy phase? Without counseling sessions, and even access to therapy, the condition of most of these people must be really worsening.

Watch out for more suicides, breakdowns and self-harm stories emerging after this phase is over.


(Image Sourced from the Internet)

Ray of HOPE

Well, if there is a positive, it is the news of the Earth healing itself, of bluer skies, greener grass, happier birds and animals, cleaner air and water, and minimal carbon emissions.

So perhaps Earth has sent us to a corner of the room to reflect on our misdoings!

Mother Earth..Do release us from this punishment. Promise, we will take better care of you and yours.

PROMISE REALLY. 
Labels:

Comments

  1. The Everyday Girl30 March 2020 at 07:35

    I enjoyed this piece. You are really good at asking thought provoking questions :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Does Mother Mary Really Come? You bet!

Prolific writer-activist-thinker Arundhati Roy's memoir, an ode to her mother's formidable personality, is cleverly titled, Mother Mary Comes to Me. Below the title is a picture of young Roy nonchalantly smoking a bidi. Irreverence, thy name is Arundhati Roy! At 372 pages, it is a tome, a sweeping saga that recollects both her mother's remarkable life, as well as her own. Is it a Memoir? Yes and no. Though the book title refers to their mother-daughter relationship, the book - at several junctures treats each one of them as independent and exclusive from one another. In fact, for a good part, her mother finds no mention at all, and the reader is engrossed reading about Roy's exploits and struggles through Architecture College, early attempts to find her vocation and calling, her dabbling with cinema, acting, scriptwriting; her romantic liaisons with the luscious JC, Sanjay, Pradeep et al. A life as extraordinary and unapologetic as Arundhati's mesmerizes in itself. ...
1 comment
Read more

The Sadness Within Us

A curious phenomenon has taken place over the years. Technology has advanced in leaps, modern medicine has become far more effective, we can control pain and disease far better, mental health is getting due attention, there are more avenues for creativity and entertainment.  Yet.... We are no longer able to be really happy. We are a chronically unhappy people. Forever dissatisfied, never content. Always thinking about the past or the future, never enjoying the moment. Think about it. When was the last time you were really, truly, wholly happy? Blissful, joyful? You slog hard at office, get that deserved raise/promotion, party hard to celebrate, and yet at the end of the day, a hollowness creeps in. An emptiness, a feeling of futility. You have a grand wedding - its the stuff Instagram dreams are made of. Your sweetheart looks like a million bucks with the latest designer lehenga, you yourself are spruced up, your family and friends are beaming, the event is going on swimmingly. Yet...
Post a Comment
Read more

Emotional toil of festival times

Festivals are happy times, right? Time for merriment, revelry, celebration, enjoying yourself... Wrong! Studies show festivals call for a steady spike in stress levels. Cortisol shoots up, starting with preparation for festivals, and remains high throughout, in the quest to do everything perfectly, "at least during the festival". Guess who bears the brunt of this? Yes, its the one who takes emotional labour for everyone she cares for - the woman of the house. She wants everything to be perfect, so works her ass off tidying and cleaning things. Then she wants her family to be fed well, so spends hours toiling away making delicacies in the kitchen. Rangoli to be painted - there she is with the brush. Festoons to be hung up - she's balancing herself on a stool. Furniture rearranged, flowers put up, puja room decorated? Yes, only one person who signs up for all this. Then there's the stress of the whole family at home, stepping on each other's toes. She has to appease...
2 comments
Read more