A change, but for better or for worse?

BENGALURU : The impact of this pandemic on life and living is bound to stay for a long time to come – in fact, I feel it may have changed our lives forever, the way we work, the way we live!I am just out of a stint, the description of which has become common parlance these days – it’s called ‘Work From Home’, or simply ‘WFH”. It exposed me to the twist and turns that our lives are taking due to the pandemic.

I must confess I am not a fan of this WFH. It torpedoes the concept of equitable and just means to work, even among colleagues, who otherwise worked under the same roof as you. Some just can’t WFH due to the nature of their job. But I think this concept is here to stay, because of the pandemic, and even after it is gone.It bodes well for the conduct of business. The time to commute to and from the workplace goes into productive hours, while saving on transportation costs and allowances. A lot of real estate is saved upon too. From the business point of view, it does make sense. Therefore, it is one change that may be here to stay long post the pandemic… and with that, its inherent problems.

Most disturbing is that it diminishes the boundaries between work and home, the private and the professional. The work-related stress and pressures shift homewards. Worse, these are spilt on near and dear ones, who in ‘normal’ times waited for you to return from work. Now, more and more people at home are around each other, getting at each other, each a bundle of deadlines-induced pressures, ready to explode on the nearest person, always someone near and dear to you.

I learnt of a few ‘WFHers’ who have started to drink while working away from the glare of colleagues, trying to deal with such problems. Wine stores vouch they are seeing more consumers in the daytime than before the pandemic-related WFH set in. There is no ‘Drink-and-work’ check, is there?Counsellors are coming across more number of family disputes as WFH’s popularity spreads.

But then there are others who can’t WFH, because it just makes no sense. Imagine a cardiac surgeon taking to WFH, or the policeman, or the soldier. Consider your domestic help choosing to WFH, or the street vendor choosing to sit at home, expecting you to go to his doorsteps to buy the produce when stepping out is not without a fair degree of fear of catching the infection.

Speaking of street vendors, I think they have made the most out of the impact of the pandemic, working it to their advantage. They are stepping out for work. Instead of sitting by the roadsides, waiting for consumers to arrive, many of them have taken to megaphones and recorded call-outs to announce their wares. They sell almost at your doorsteps, and you know what time they are coming, making it all that more convenient for the customers. There are noticeably more of them coming into residential areas. They have become aggressive at marketing, in many cases giving tough competition to even online retailers.

Seeing them, you realise that all that change is not bad. This probably is a good one for a section of sellers who at one time were facing extinction with the onslaught of online sales. They have truly turned the pandemic to their advantage, catering to the needs of their customers.WFH may be a convenience in the face of the pandemic. But care needs to be taken to ensure it is not at the cost of the individual and the family, the basic units of society.