Pandemic - the catalyst

The above linked article is worth a read - get inspired in whatever manner and execute in whatever manner is feasible for you and me!

(Long read - where I have shared glimpses of the lockdown from my eyes. Do share some nuggets from your experience. Let's learn and become smarter from each other.]

Since the time I have left my corporate job in November 2013, I have been WFH. Though travel and photography took me out in normal times, pandemic lockdown and social distancing norms made me skip those activities. Having said, I did undertake photography of cityscapes (Mumbai is where I live) and lockdown themed images - many from the comforts of my home window & balcony - including bird photography! Making images of certain Mumbai spots has been interesting with least and sometimes nobody around. The pollution levels were minimal thereby the skies turned bluer and the waters glowed too. The birds chirped more.

I am in the venture of financial literacy and the lockdown forced us to change from classroom to online workshops which thanks to online meeting tools such as Zoom, we have been able to take periodic sessions for multiple stakeholders. We have covered nearly 400 participants in the last one year - and this includes public workshops and bilateral workshops that we have undertaken for certain corporates & NGOs.

Online learning continues - receiving and imparting - both. Wealth Management, Financial Planning, Stock Markets, LinkedIn, Photoshop, Advanced Photography, Understanding the heritage and wonders of the city, traditions, cultures - by attending online talks organised by Khaki Lab and Live History. Apart from financial literacy sessions, I took sessions on optimising LinkedIn for CAs, essential skills (soft skills) in the CA profession, a photo journey of Mumbai sites, a photo journey of Ladakh. I guided people in sourcing cycles, cameras, identifying locations for short hikes, revisited few resumes and refined them, searched for jobs for those seeking one, conversed with mentees on way forward. Reading books is something that I have been enjoying more in the recent past - must have completed at least 2 dozen books during the lockdown. I no longer start my day at 7am, unless I have my yoga classes (still I do not start at 7am! but at 8am!). There is surely scope for improvement in my sleep pattern.

Screen time increased and thereby eye irritation and headaches too increased. Please get your eye sight checked to ensure that you do not use incorrect specs. Technology helped friends & families to connect - more. WFH has increased usage of computers and smart phones - meetings, team interactions, work itself - all is happening via a screen. More so, individuals are clocking more hours at work, as there is no travel involved. So line managers are getting more work done from the team members. I believe that some of them are working daily till late hours and even on weekends. Logic being - aur kya karein, mall bhi nahin jaana hain! Even at school, students, apart from using screen to study / attend lectures are being told to do project work which forces them to use screen more than required (as they cannot go to library to read books, they have to do research using search engines). Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Sony Liv and many more apps found spike in their followers. I am yet to see a complete movie in the last 10 months and other than one series, I have not yet seen any other series. Second series is on currently - SCAM 1992 - what an amazing series! I was a CA trainee when the "scam" happened and I did notice the resultant changes in the regulatory framework especially when I used to audit Investments. I have seen some interesting documentaries on Discovery Plus, National Geographic, History channel.

Mentoring and Resume writing is something that I support few individuals with. I have been supporting few individuals in their quest for growth - be it their jobs, careers, vocations. I have supported couple of people in getting their EPF related challenges resolved including complete hand holding in getting access to funds for one particular person who was financially illiterate and was in acute need of funds due to non payment of salary by his employer.

Road trips, in the last 10 years has been a major part of our travels and that took a complete pause in the last 10 months. Having said, my Honda city's odometer aged by 3500+ kms. Our first drive outside city limits happened two-weeks ago when we drove to Lonavala to make images of Amur Falcon, a migratory bird. Else all the rolling has been (mostly all after July/August) between Chembur and Malad, Borivli, Jogeshwari, Powai, Bandra, Thane, Vashi, Nerul, Ghatkopar, Sion, Wadala, Matunga, Parel, Colaba - saying hello to friends & family (of course maintaining social distancing norms and meeting in open spaces as far as possible) (if we have stepped into somebody's home, it is with their complete awareness and adhering to all the good practices suggested during pandemic - hands sanitised, masks on, etc.). We are yet to eat out and recollect having cutting chai only twice in the last 10 months. Just taking precaution, even at the cost of abundant caution! Eating at home helped us from preventing junk entering our digestive system. And with a bit of exercising and disciplined eating habits, my body weight came under 100kgs after a long time.

Vendors - fruits, vegetables, medicines - have been very supportive and rarely we had to step out to fetch these goodies. All came to the doorstep. For past couple of months we regularly step out to replenish the veggies, rest continues at doorstep. A monthly visit to DMart ensures all our household requirements are bought collectively, also helps in some financial savings as we usually land up with 25 - 30% discount on over all bill.

Most of the birthdays of families and friends got celebrated during lockdown - many over Zoom. Some of my peers reached their golden milestones. I did it in 2019. Online meeting tools helped many a friends and family network - though we could not meet in person physically, but we still "met in person" over a screen! Summer season, Rainy season, Paryushan, Navrati, Dasera, Diwali, Tax returns got filed, Christmas, New year, Winter - all came and went past....... We embraced new ways of celebrating. IPL happened, IKEA inaugurated their largest store in Mumbai, board meetings happened, share holder meetings happened, society meetings happened, weddings took place. The new normal is here to stay. It has its own plusses and few minus'. Focus on the plusses and keep embracing change. As that's the best to manage change!

Many got impacted by Covid19 and many recovered. Some did not. Some of us lost our loved ones. We could not even meet the family members to grieve together. Prayer meetings happened online.

The pandemic has made us realise that we all can live life differently.....on a sustainable manner. Yes, some physical and more mental changes have to be adopted - some willingly, some grudgingly. It has made us realise many aspects of our own lives, which we could not notice it earlier as we were too busy with our routine. Just WFH gave each of us 2 - 3, maybe 4 spare hours each day (no travel, no getting ready - in the same manner that we used to earlier, no visits to restaurants, parties, theatres, malls). We could spend more quality time with family members. We could see them first hand how they work at home, how they behave, what else do they experience during the day. what challenges are faced, how many times the door bell rings, the price of veggies & fruits - especially the home makers, parent, pets that most of us leave behind when we step out every morning for office and see them only on return. Lot of things keep happening during the day, that we were oblivious of - whether we agree or not! We did not waste any gupshup time (to some extent is essential too!). Efficiency may have got impacted to some extent, especially depending on the job role - dependency on people, processes, systems, waiting for inputs from others, vendor staff availability, access to records.......technology did give its own challenges, network speed got compromised, all are not fortunate to have an ergonomic / appropriate work space at home - chair, table, internet connection, air conditioning, separate noise-free space (imagine your Monday morning team meeting accompanied by 4 pressure cooker whistles or the barking pet (remember - they are not dogs, they are pets) of your neighbour or husband, wife, child - all 3 online simultaneously on a single internet connection) etc. And many are more tuned to work better and efficient with direct interaction with team members. All do not enjoy speaking over phones, or chatting over chat mode of apps / online meeting tools.

If your life allows you to stay away from metro cities and go & live in the mountains or other serene places, please opt for it. Staycations has been the new word coined. Also those who have access to other properties in such locations, have opted to shift their home. Remember by doing so, you can easily gain 5 - 7 more years to your life. Which investment will give you that return? Metro cities come with their set of challenges - pollution, traffic, higher cost of living, associated stress being some of them. Ofcourse they come with their advantages too - close to airport / railway station, close to medical assistance, close to loved ones - so opt for it only if you can make it feasible for a long term. Remember that you may not have access to Dominos, Zomato, Uber! But you will have pollution free air to breathe, clear sky to look at, beautiful sun rises and sun sets to experience and above all peace of mind. So if you have made your moolah, then move everything online, equip yourself to a good laptop, an excellent internet connection, a kindle loaded with books, reasonable culinary skills and above all a positive attitude - and head out of the metro!

Yes, we all learn more clearly what we NEED and what we WANT. Many a wasteful spends got identified. We could do without newspapers and magazines and opted for online versions. We could do with homely food. Many got opportunity to groom their culinary skills. Many latent talents got discovered. Online yoga became interesting. Working in pyjamas and shorts was feasible. Students got confined to four walls while attending online classes and some learnt how to optimise the ALT + TAB button very efficiently! Online banking and online shopping made it so convenient without taking the leg off the couch! Amazon and Flipkart set new sales records. So many new bank accounts and demat accounts got opened. I will be keen to know how many remain functional once we are out of lockdown! The stock market which took a nose dive in March 2020 (on announcement of lockdown) made a V curve and has been rising inching towards 50,000 levels - an unprecedented rise.

The vaccine may be here but the virus is still here. Let's continue to build a sustainable immunity levels - individually and collectively. Herd immunity is what is going to preserve us.

The new normal is taking different shapes. Stay alert. Stay agile. Be active and take care of your vitamins, especially as most of have spent elongated time under covered environment, so exposure to sun has been restricted. Leg movement has been restricted, so blood circulation may have got challenged. We have sat for long, thereby compromising our postures, our spine angles, our overall blood circulation. So step out, go for a stroll, do your yoga and other stretching exercises such that you do not have any muscle memory loss. If you are using services of any gym, spa ensure they too are ensuring your safety by adhering to strict hygiene norms.

Since we are all mostly working from home, our office wear, shoes, belts, neck ties, business suits may have spent more time parked inside closets. Give them some fresh air, keep them clean, wipe them of any fungus, polish them such that they are wearable when you step out for your physical meetings. I am aware of many who have not stepped out of their homes for past 8 - 10 months.

So step out with care, with adequate protection, with more than reasonable levels of awareness, avoid crowded spaces, eat at places that respect & maintain hygiene, while using public washrooms ensure the place is adequately sanitised (especially for a lady). carry a sanitisation spray along, carry your personal hand sanitiser, wash hands with water & soap, keep wearing masks (specially when not alone). The housekeeping staff of respective places - offices, malls, theatres, temples, shops are working hard to keep the space neat & clean from a hygiene point of view. The trains and busses are crowded as the population levels are so high. So even if some people decide to venture out, they still are few lakhs!

I too agree that wearing masks beyond a certain time frame leads to suffocation, irritation, non comfortable - but that's one layer that can surely protect you. So when you are alone, lower the mask. Remember that officials are out on the watch keeping an eye on your mask usage - they are quick to penalise you Rs 200 if they find you not wearing one or wearing but not covering your mouth and nose. I do not agree that they should penalise a person seated inside a car with AC on and keeping the mask below the nose or on the chin - but that's how it is currently. Even they walk into offices & factories and are penalising people when they are found without their masks on. I wonder if it is convenient to wear a mask and work on machines inside a factory. Keep the Arogya Setu App on + your smart phone's bluetooth and check at some periodicity about your safe zone status, be aware of statistics especially if you are visiting any sensitive areas.

Stay safe | Take care | Have a beautiful Sunday evening.