happiness and food

Last Diwali I went to see my parents and stay with them for a couple of weeks. I hadn’t met them since 2019 so I decided to work from my hometown which is a small city tucked in the far east of Uttar Pradesh. I knew that for the three weeks I was going to be home, it would be a good balance of some Diwali break and a few days of work before and after the festival.

My parents were both teachers. Mum retired last year and Papa in 2019. They are now leading a routined and relaxed life after around 40 years of working life. Staff rooms were their cubicles and classrooms were their meeting rooms. For those people, who started working in the late 70s, the concept of working from home is new. Mum’s last two years of work was during the pandemic so she still had the experience of taking online classes over zoom and sending question papers on Whatsapp but it was different for Papa.

Since the pandemic, they have heard of working from home but it was still a concept until they got to experience it first hand when I was home.

Day zero was all about finding the right place to work. My obvious choice would have been the dining table but I knew I would disturb my parent’s TV time so it was not an option. Papa’s computer table had everything on it including a monitor, printer, two speakers, and tons of notebooks. Plus he would need the desk for himself so that too was ruled out. I found a spot in the drawing-room and got a writing table, cushions, and mattress to park myself. This setup of mine was comfortable and also quiet for my meetings and work conversations. So I was all ready for the next day.

Day one was exciting. My first meeting was to start at 10:30 am so I wasn’t rushing to get to login in which was like reaching the school or college on time for them. They asked me when does the bell ring for the day and what would be my lunchtime. I told them that it was about completing work and I can start and take a break as I need.

I was given a few things to eat in between along with tea and that made me feel important. In Bangalore, VT takes good care of our food and tea but there are times I send him a Whatsapp if I need something. With mum, she knew what I will eat or if it was time for tea which was nice.

By day four, I heard Papa talk to his friends over the phone about how I had occupied the drawing-room and converted it into my office. Let me remind you, I was on the floor with a writing table but it was still my working space. He went on to share about evening calls and how the corporate culture is sucking the life out of people. There was also a little chat about guests who weren’t welcomed since I was working all five days of the week. A little corner of my brain enjoyed the attention.

By day seven, I was told that my English is strange and I sing when I talk. I took a deep breath and defended myself. I explained that voice modulation is important and when talking to those who I need to explain, I may change my tone. It’s nothing to do with the part of India I live in. They still believed my spoken English was different now.

On most days, I would get a look that meant, ‘when will you stop working?’ I told them about ownership, accountability, coaching, and influencing which I know they understood. Mum would tell me how the lack of start and end time isn’t right and there has to be some structure. I don’t deny that but thinking of how much of that is possible, I am still confused.

Toward the end of my stay at home, Papa mentioned that he always thought working from home was fun. It was about just logging in to the laptop and then having all the time during the day for personal stuff. Watching me spend long hours was strange to them and they realized how hard it is for those in private jobs these days.

I was talking to one of my colleagues the other day and she mentioned that over the last two years, many peers have had life-changing events like getting married or having a baby, some left and many new joined the company. Amidst all this, we haven’t been able to see each other. hug them in hard times, wish them luck and truly be with the folks with who we spend so much time. That made me reflect on the truth in that comment. Since March 2020, we have all adapted to the new environment and we have also changed as individuals.

Working from home has indeed given us a lot of convenience and flexibility but it has also deprived people of having personal connections without having to set time or blocking calendars.