Lockdown: A Mother Working From Home
By Archana Kumari, Visakhapatnam, India
The “work from home” has been treated like a cushion while seated on sofa in the COVID-19 pandemic. I am certain, those with younger kids, especially working mothers, have tasted it in a bitter sweet way.
I, too, was a part of this new trend for almost five months. Until we could understand this pandemic and adjust our lives accordingly, our eyes were simultaneously gauged into new mails, reports, work plans, webinars, zoom meetings, etc.
After working more than six years in the development sector, I had taken a break. Naina (my daughter) was two years old when I resumed my career in January 2019. I moved to Ranchi from Visakhapatnam, and was living at my parents’ home. Though it was tough, my husband and I thought that while Naina was growing, I could work with their support, escaping a long career gap.
Then, there was fear everywhere due to the nationwide lockdown announced in India on the 24th of March 2020. My parents are diabetic, and therefore taking extra precautions was a must to avoid COVID infection. It was like we four (my parents, me, and my daughter) were stuck at home, and it was same for everyone.
After couple of days of the lockdown, office work started picking up. My little one was only three and a half years old; it was next to impossible to open a laptop in front of her. She is very fond of touching keyboards. I was not sure how I would work. My job was to look after documentation and MIS. The other burden was taking care of the household chores, as our house help stopped coming.
I was losing my calm and was irritated with all the mails and deadlines.
Whatever time I could spend on my laptop was more like shouting at Naina, “Do not touch this”.
And I knew that way was not going to work.
One day, papa suggested working in a store room that is always stuffed with unwanted furniture. The only shortfall: there was no fan connection in the balcony, as the summer season started approaching. But it was OK. I told myself, “Something is better than nothing.”
After I was done with the daily house work, my father took Naina into another room and meanwhile I moved to my new work station at around 11:00 am. My mother locked the door from the outside, so that my daughter could not see me. She sleeps in the afternoon for one or two hours, and that was my quick lunch break. For the unavoidable bio breaks, I had to call mom. She would open the door, and both my parents would guard all the possibilities of Naina seeing me. The swift sneaking out from my work station to the toilet and going back made me feel like I was walking like a thief.
My day ended probably by 6:00 pm. For some lengthy work, I had to wake up early in the morning so that I can give an extra two hours to my work.
I must say that for me, the office is the only place to work; home can never be, for those with younger kids; it distracts you. At times while working, if Naina screamed or cried, I immediately dialed my mom, asking, “What happened? I heard her crying.”
Days passed on like this. Due to COVID, Naina was not able to see her father. Our shinning eyes brimmed with tears in video calls. He could not travel to us for fear of getting infected. We decided that I would quit my job, and I moved back to Visakhapatnam in September 2020.