Gurgaon’s working parents in a fix as schools shut after storm alert

The storm and rain projected to hit Gurgaon and other parts of NCR over the first half of this week prompted the Haryana Education Department to close all schools in the state on Monday and Tuesday. With the schools closed, while the kids found themselves enjoying an unexpected extended weekend, their parents’ schedules went haywire. In families across Gurgaon, where both parents are working, they had to alter their schedules by taking off from work, working from home, and even asking friends to babysit their kids to ensure that the children are not left home alone.

Ratika Singhal, an HR professional living in Sushhant Lok, says, “My husband is not in India these days and I would have been at work too, but when the schools were announced closed, I realised my five-year-old would be home on both the days. There was no way I could leave her alone, so I asked for leave at work and stayed back home.”

#GurgaonStorm: Parents work from home to watch kids on their chhutti

Many couples took turns to take off from work so that they could be at home with the kids. Shally Kapoor, an MG Road resident who works with a consultancy firm, says, “I have two girls aged six and seven. With the kids home for two days, I had to take an off on Monday while my husband took an off on Tuesday so that the girls are not alone at home. It threw our schedule off, but there was no other option. Thankfully, both mine and my husband’s offices were understanding and accommodating.”

Others who could not be at home all day made sure that they left early and coordinated the timings with their spouse. Chidghan Khandekar, who works with Deloitte, tells us, “My office issued an advisory that we should be careful while commuting and avoid travelling in the second half of Tuesday. I left for home early on Tuesday so that I could be home with my daughter, who is eight. On Monday, my wife had to free up her schedule to be with her.”


Several offices in the city allowed employees to work from home due to the storm warnings, which worked as a boon for working parents as they found this opportunity perfect to work and stay at home with their kids. “It might not have been as stormy as predicted, but there was definitely a storm at my house! My daughter is 14, so she was in charge of her brother for Monday. But you know siblings and their fights. I was getting calls every half an hour. Fortunately, my office allowed employees to work from home on Tuesday, so I stayed back,” says Richa, who works at Russell Reynolds Associates.

There were parents for whom taking an off altogether or working from home wasn’t an option. But even they altered their schedules to make sure their kids were not unsupervised. Manu Kalra, who works at Ernst and Young, says, “I left for work a couple of hours late on Monday and my wife came back home from work early. This made sure that the kids were not alone at home for more than three-four hours. Since both of us could not have taken off at such a short notice, this is how we managed.”


Others requested friends and family to babysit their kids while they were away at work even as most parents took off from work early on both the days. Lalita Sharma, a Sector 53 resident, shares, “Both my neighbours work and neither of them could take leave on Monday, so they requested if I could look after their seven-year-old son for a few hours till one of them returned home after lunch. My son is friends with the kid, so both of them had fun together. For the kids, it’s just an extended weekend, but for the parents, it’s a lot of planning and headache.”