Let us hope tomorrow is another day

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. In the present circumstances, however, everyone must stay at home to protect themselves from Covid-19, but paradoxically not many people find this forced stay comfortable.

While each one of us is enjoying relaxed mornings, it is the household chores that is the bug bear for many. More so, because our domestic helps too are locked down in their homes and we are tackling the menial jobs ourselves. What amuses me is that we, the moneyed people, are convinced that we are entitled to services of house helps. No wonder, the topic permeates our conversation and the gigs and memes on social media are dominated by how families, especially men, are coping in the absence of house helps.

I am neither an economist nor a social scientist, but I feel this lockdown and coronavirus crisis will herald changes in our lifestyle in its aftermath. The world has witnessed extreme changes in social set-up. American civil war classic Gone with the Wind has effectively portrayed how the extravagant lifestyle of the high and mighty plantation owners who employed slaves to manage their vast estates, had exploded beneath them after the war and how many were reduced to a hand-to-mouth existence.

All of us know from classic English literature how domestic servants, butlers and housekeepers, had a compelling presence in British social and cultural life. The second World War, obviously was a jolt to the economy of the country and of individuals. During this time, the middle-class servant less homes emerged and later on labour-saving household devices replaced domestic staff.

The year 1989 was the golden jubilee year of World War II. I was a student at Cambridge, UK, during that time. Talking about the war, a British colleague recalled how after the war, people coped with scarce resources and how his fiancée, wore skirts made from fabric of discarded parachutes and her mother categorically asked him to bring his own tea leaves while visiting them. After the civil war in America, an impoverished but ingenious Scarlett O’Hara (Gone with the Wind) designs a dress for herself from velvet curtains.

These few days of lockdown have brought a sea change in our attitude towards life. Suddenly, food menus have become simpler and even fewer pieces of crockery are used at the table. Material things don’t matter any more and spending quality time with family has taken precedence over everything else.

The last few days, have taught us that money should be put to better use rather than filling our own coffers. We are all surviving very well minus the uneccessary shopping and consumption of junk food. My decluttering sessions have become less ruthless, I pause and think how each ‘unwanted’ item can be recycled. In times when so many people are jobless and starving, it is almost vulgar to own two dozen pairs of footwear, not to talk of wardrobes overflowing with clothes.

Nature is also healing itself. It is said the planet is sick and humans are the virus. We selfish humans have destroyed this beautiful planet at an alarming rate, had bullied other fauna away forgetting that Earth was created for all of us, not some of us. Let us hope, the good sense learnt now prevails when the current crisis is over. Let us hope for tomorrow is another day.

MATERIAL THINGS DON’T MATTER ANY MORE AND SPENDING QUALITY TIME WITH FAMILY HAS TAKEN PRECEDENCE