Hi all!
I hope/pray/ am sure all of you are staying indoors and taking all the precautions against Corona virus we all know by now. (Read some precautions here). I am also assuming all of you (okay most of you, hmm…may be few of you) are making the most of your work-from home (WFH) set-up. Some of you may be shedding tears of joy while getting to work from home (or at the prospect of it). Is life looking like one beautiful dream? Maybe you don’t want to publicly acknowledge it for the fear of being judged but I know the initial excitement. That too when you know it’s temporary. Having the freedom to work from anywhere but your boring office desk which you have decorated with your favourite flowers, a customised tea cup with your picture pasted tight and a pen in sight, Lord Ganesha’s idol, family photo, a motivational quote, the to-do list and all things sundry). As long as you have access to your laptop and Wifi, you can ditch sitting on a chair and choose to work sitting on a table, under the table, on the kitchen platform or the bathroom counter, on your bed, the stairs and even the terrace. You can give up sitting altogether and work while standing or lie down to experience some nirvana. You can even skate or fly. The creativity is all yours to explore. The choices are galore and there’s no one to judge.
While no one can save you from the looming deadlines but you will find some solace in being away from the pruning eyes of your boss, manager and colleagues. You will no longer be judged by the number of hours you spend glued to your desktop, the number of loo breaks you take, the amount of personal phone calls you attend to and the messages you type as long as the work flows unhampered. You will no longer be on the radar of the secret surveillance of the office boy, who silently marks the number of times you get up from your desk. And how to forget the ‘chaiwallah bhaiya’ who not only keep a count of the number of tea cups you consumed but also with whom.
And those of you who work in swanky offices with high-end tea-coffee machines and vending machines and are frowning now at the mention of ‘chaiwallah bhaiya’, yes, I am that old school where ‘chai’ from a machine holds no sway over the ‘chai’ made in a pan and served with some gossip. Well that’s a point for other post, I digress.
Working from home while biting your favourite biscuit from the container and singing to ward off boredom, there’s a lot you can do differently while cherishing this new-found freedom. From ironed shirts and pants, you can switch to crumbled pyjamas, and voila, the world will not end. You have the luxury to brush and bathe only when you wish to or may be not at all, subject to your hygiene level. No more bus, train, metro or cab timings, no fuss over maid’s early morning appearance for breakfast and packed lunch. You can take a web-break whenever the work allows. All you have to worry about is work, rest all is manageable. Suddenly, you will find your head is cleared of so much random stuff that happens in office only to be swapped by the stuff that happens at home. Well, that’s another story but.
The WFH set-up is a world in itself. You are in your own bubble. You may be fooled to believe you are a free bird who can fly the nest whenever it wishes but soon the clutches of work and haywire timings will reveal themselves to you, though gradually. As of now, enjoy your WFH honeymoon before the reality sinks in.
