Locked, Unlocked

In the world of today, the title itself is quite indicative about the subject of this post.

Gentle Disclaimer: Before I proceed, I know the world is going through a massive turmoil. And this is just a simple post, about a simple woman and how a not so simple virus impacted her simple daily life when the world was forced into Lockdown. A cathartic experience to pen this down and to talk about the lessons and learnings it Unlocked for me.

So, the “Unlockdown” phase has started in the country. And with that my crashed laptop is back, unlocked with a new hard disk drive. I can write again. (I absolutely abhor writing on a small mobile device.)

A quick look at how things went:-

• Celebrating landmark 1^st birthday of Little Ms. A – ✔✔
• Celebrating (visiting) brother’s landmark birthday – ✔✔
• Celebrating 6^th b'day (+farewell to buddies) of Bigger Ms. A  – ✔✔
• All set to move to another city (and school for the elder one) – ✔✔
• Lockdown announced – ✔✔
• Existing plans of the family - ✖✖, all of a sudden

First up, the two little women and their mommy had to get used to the Daddy being around the house -- Was this for real… 24x7, All days of Every week??!!

The man, himself, would initially move around with a dazed look, as colleagues got substituted by three women of different sizes and serious discussions on video calls got interspersed with whoops and giggles and clattering of toys and banging of pots and pans. 🤣

[Psst…. He’s still not adjusted to WFH, though he now relishes the giggles that accompany his breaks]

Let’s move on to the 10 Lessons that were Unlocked for me even as I remain Locked up.

#1: Human proposes, Virus disposes

My grandmother’s favourite idiom kept replaying in my mind, as I went about my newfound chores – “Man proposes, God disposes”. Just that it got replaced by the heading I have written above.

I had totally envisioned what the next few weeks were to be like, with Bigger Ms. A starting a new school in a new city, we setting up a new house… blah blah blah.

What I was doing instead was scrambling for groceries + trying to cope with housework + handling the toddler + managing the questions of a kid who’s suddenly stuck at home + keeping the two girls entertained and engaged +

(long sentence alert) all the while getting amused at the wonder on the face of the ever-traveling husband, who experienced more of this house and the kids in this lockdown, than he ever has in the past few years that we have been here (snigger, snigger) +++…… 😉

#2: All that glitters is not Gold, but definitely your golden hard work

I re-learnt the art of sweeping and mopping, early in the morning, before the two girls awoke.

And what did I realize – that the house has never sparkled so much in the past!!

Validation came from a childhood friend (that’s what friends are for), from a far-off continent, on a video call, who commented on the spotless white floors that she could spot (pun intended) behind me. Never had I imagined my heart would sing with joy at such commendation… !!! 😜

#3: When your back is to the wall, you have to do it all – even what you have always disliked

Of course I am allowed to dislike certain chores

Back in my youth (and that’s seeming quite a long time ago), I used to rock the dance floor. Now I rock the bathroom floor. 

The lockdown ensured that I get to do my “beloved” task of cleaning the bathroom on a regular basis, under the hawk-like surveillance of the ultra-finicky Bigger Ms. A. 

Recognition came from the satisfied smile on her face and more so when I saw her trying to emulate me. 😇

#4: No one is born a great Cook, one learns by Doing

I have always defined myself as a reluctant cook who produces edible stuff. It’s a different story altogether that Bigger Ms. A considers me as one of her favourite cooks.

Lockdown graduated me to someone who is a necessary cook (albeit sometimes reluctant) who can produce pretty fancy stuff, too. And hey, even manage all the four burners of the hob at one go… Applause!!

And may I also add with pride, Baking became a piece of cake – so much so that a whole post should be dedicated to it.

On a serious note, mistakes helped me to gradually shed my fear of experimenting with seemingly tough recipes and embrace cooking. 😃

#5: Variety is the spice of life

Continuing the above point, this of course includes my fancy chapatis.

It must be so boring for my mom to dish out perfectly round, same-sized, super soft chapatis every day.

Her worthy (not) daughter can produce chapatis in various shapes and sizes (Reasoning: If kids can have multi-shaped pasta, why not chapatis).

Also, my chapatis can sometimes pass off as khakra, sometimes as papad, sometimes as chapatis and sometimes a combo of all. Isn’t variety more fun? 😜

#6: Record Setter

I have started bettering my personal records.

Previous bathing time of 5 mins 20 seconds is now further reduced to 3 minutes 02 seconds. It’s often accompanied by a rap song that goes like “Mumma.. Knock knock.. (louder) Mumma.. Knock knock.. (Shrieking) Mumma Mumma.. Waaaaaaah”.

I can also go a (personal) record 7 hours at a stretch without sitting down even for a few seconds. Yippeee..

The body weight and shape remain stubborn though, preferring bulging over budging. 😏

#7: Slow and steady wins the race

Earlier I had an obnoxious record of devouring books by the hour. Now… pause… at least one sentence… pause… is completed… pause… in a day!!! Applause again…

On some days, the book even has to be satisfied just by displaying its enticing cover to me. 😭

#8: A New (Multi-tasking) Sport

Again, back in my youth (read it in a tone of lament), my favourite spot/ sport used to be perching on a comfortable seating, reading books, accompanied by some warm beverage.

I have had to adopt a new favourite spot/ sport – the anterior of the kitchen sink, trying to sparkle as many vessels as possible (we had so many!!), often accompanied by the warm beverage on the kitchen platform, as a test of multi-tasking…

…and quite often balancing a toddler weaving her path through my legs and a multi-question asking inquisitive child.

Bigger Ms. A along with her Daddy even composed a song with actions in my honour – please note, it did nothing to assuage my temper. 😒

#9: Back to School

And while on multi-tasking, it’s no mean task to juggle household chores with a child’s new medium of learning (read: virtual), that too when she’s just starting “big” school.

Helping her understand the importance of assignments and helping her execute them gave me the Back to School feeling (the one feeling about school that I could do without at this moment, with limited resources available). 😵

#10: When it rains, look for the rainbow

Ending the post with another favourite quote from my grandmother.

Well, it has been raining some days and we have actually seen rainbows, too.

The silver lining in this new world is the abundant family time we are getting. The kids and I absolutely love and cherish having Daddy around. We did stuff that we never had but surely could have done pre-virus, too.

For instance, encouraged by a cousin, we had a balcony picnic and needless to say, the kids were thrilled.

Video calls with friends helped us re-connect regularly. And we definitely could have done this earlier, too. Well, as the saying goes, better late than never. 💖

Q.E.D:

I have learnt a lot about my capabilities and the art of tackling certain adverse situations.         

So I keep my chin up (will help with the developing double chin) and wait for this crisis to tide over.