Write a 7 points on the topic " What we learned doing Lockdown."
Answers
1) As a society, we are usually ignorant about the realities of others but that changed to some extent during the pandemic. During the lockdown, it was easy to identify and call out our privilege because providing a visibly stark contrast were the people who were forced to walk home in the scorching heat due to lack of food and money. We absolved ourselves of responsibility (and guilt) by being grateful for our privileges (loudly and often on social media) but we did not do anything to change our mentality. While the public outrage at the time forced the government to help the migrant labourers get home by providing transport and shelter, their needs and lives have once again been pushed into oblivion.
2). Social distancing took a whole new meaning during this pandemic which was exacerbated post the lockdown. The ugly head of casteism reared its head once more in the post-closure era where people from lower castes were ruthlessly discriminated against because they are perceived as ‘unclean’ by the upper castes. Once the cities opened up, social contact once again drew the invisible boundaries defined by caste. The term ‘social distancing’ encouraged the people from upper castes to socially and physically distance away from the supposedly unclean people. Even the term itself—social distancing—and the language used during the lockdown, shows that we are far from being free of our prejudices.
3). The world is healing. We are the virus”
The country saw historically low levels of pollution during lockdown with the industries, transport, etc. at a standstill. Several parts of UP, Bihar and West Bengal got a breathtaking view of the himalayas from their backyard. Wild animals began to venture into cities and dolphins returned to the Mumbai docks. We marvelled at the beauty of nature during the lockdown, but did we do anything to preserve it?
4). “I did not know my wife did so much work at home along with her office. Helping her now makes me feel very happy”, claimed several loud husbands during the lockdown. The problematic view of domestic work being the woman’s domain of responsibility played out even as we stayed home where the men ‘helped out’ their wives in the chores of the house they both share. Shared responsibility it seems, was just a fleeting moment of ‘benevolence’ for men and does not seem to have permeated sufficiently to the post-lockdown society as a way of living.
5). The spread of the virus and the subsequent lockdown forced us to reduce our contact with the outside world. In this trying time, people had new-found respect for their domestic workers. Their importance and hard-work was being recognized as people were forced to take over the household responsibilities. However, the respect and appreciation it seems, was a hollow gesture.
6). Another sector of workers who were applauded during the lockdown but were treated inhumanely in reality were the essential workforce. Not only were doctors, vegetable sellers, cleaners, policemen and other essential workers abused, thrown out of their homes and discriminated against, but the protection and additional benefits provided to them remained only honorary. While they were hailed as heroes, little was done from any side in terms of behaviour or material benefits. Teachers, who took the pain of learning and educating through virtual classrooms, for many of whom the transition to technology was a mammoth task, were instead bullied and harassed by students and parents alike.
7). Mental health of family members has always been a topic best left ignored, not always out of malice but simply to take the easier way out. We talk about actions and behaviours and gossip, but feelings and boundaries are not something families are good at discussing. This pandemic forced a lot of people back home after years of living away from their families and while for some this was a good thing, for others it was much harder.