2020 started in the usual boring way like any other year. We drank and ate on 31st December night, when it was 00:00 we shouted and welcomed the new year and then slept till late on the 1st, ate brunch and lazed around. On 2nd, it was back to the grind. I live in Mumbai and the reality that nothing changed hits you as soon as you are on the roads and in the traffic jams.
January was over in a blink and February had 29 (1 extra!) days. Being a sports enthusiast I was looking forward to the Olympics and other sports action during the year. Then we started hearing about some virus infections in China, it was so far away that it meant nothing to our lives.
March is the official financial year ending month in India so all of us were busy with budgets, audits and what not. In between meetings we started hearing that the virus has reached Mumbai from UAE and people were getting sick, that was close to home! Lockdowns started, initial days were full of unknowns and sort of an adventure – we were banging pots and pans on some evenings, lighting candles in our balconies some nights, all with the naive notion that if we did it collectively the virus will get scared and run away from India…Hahaha.
In April, the reality set in that we are stuck in our houses and this is going to be a long stay. Kids exams got delayed, My son had given his grade 10 exam for 6 subjects, he still had 4 more to go. There was confusion all around. To add to that, roads outside our residential complex was full of migrant people walking to their home towns, reminded me of the videos I had seen of annual animal migration in the Savanna desert of Africa.
May and June, was all about finding people coming up with innovative ways to sell you all the stuff you needed. We were eating more organic stuff than ever before. I don’t think our bodies were used to that and it took some time to get the constitution right. Alcohol was scarce and had to pay double to get it from a known contact (he made a lot of money – fleecing people like me). We played board games at home out of boredom.
Work – I forgot about that, I was working more than ever before. Holidays and weekends merged into the normal working days and everyone in our company was trying to find ways to make things happen and stay relevant. We took salary cuts (didn’t have to lay off anyone – thank God). I tried to work from one bedroom, then the other one, even tried the living room for some time. I also started trying out seating position that was good as per Vaastu ( Indian Feng Shui) for more business – hmm…would like to believe that it worked somehow.
July, August and September, was more of the same stuff, I can’t remember doing anything that was worth mentioning, except – wearing masks, washing hands and maintaining social distance!
By the way, my son did not have to write the remaining 4 exams and got good marks, yay!
By October, I was completely office sick, I was missing the long traffic jams and the pain in my back, sitting in the car for hours and my tiny office more than ever.
When November began, I could not take it anymore, started going to office and enjoyed it like never before. Generally, people got fed up and started to get back to the “new” normal, Thankfully the infections reduced as well.
Its December again and we got back to putting up Christmas decorations and into the festive mood. We got so bold that we even went on a small vacation!
And now it is 2021. It has started in the usual boring way like any other year. We drank and ate on 31st December night, when it was 00:00 we shouted and welcomed the new year and then slept late on the 1st, ate brunch and lazed around. On 2nd, it was back to the grind. I live in Mumbai and the reality that nothing changed hits you as soon as you are on the roads and in the traffic jams. But, I wear mask now, keep sanitizing my hands, maintain social distance (where possible). I do not shake hands and Namaste is the new norm.
Thankfulness:
I spent more time at home than ever.
Got to know my kids better and they got to know me.
Enjoyed great home food – my wife is an amazing cook!
Appreciated what we took for granted.
No one in our families got sick.
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Had a good chuckle reading it. Thanks for sharing your story Roy.
Thanks Bettina.