HYDERABAD: It took a global pandemic to bring the world to its knees and get all of us to start counting our blessings for whatever little we have. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed my perspective about life. I have begun to adapt, and a new way of life has emerged — from learning new technology, fighting cabin fever and becoming a minimalist. For me, personally, lockdown sped up my evolution process. It made me grow up faster.
Living alone, away from family in Bengaluru and working-from-home in Hyderabad, I learnt how to deal with anxiety better. I started practicing Sudarshan Kriya. This not only helped me gain clarity, but also kept me calm and helped maintain my energy levels. The lockdown also presented a golden opportunity to polish my housekeeping skills and do things I had been meaning to do, but kept postponing. There is not a speck of dust left in my house, and no single family recipe that I have left untried! Finally, I started learning something new since I could no longer hide behind, “I don’t have the time” excuse. Courtesy lockdown, I finally picked up a guitar.
Most importantly, since it will take several years to recover from the economic fallout of the crisis, I now realise how deeply this is going to impact each one of us. I have started to change my lifestyle that had previously revolved around obsessive consumerism. I was pleasantly surprised to see how little we need to go on to lead a comfortable daily life.
I started to explore other extensions of my profession which I was complacent to do before, and this is helping me earn more, despite a pay cut.
Lockdown has taught me how to manage anxiety, time, finance, relationships, people and my household. I hope this prevails even after the pandemic goes away, and we keep our learnings close to our hearts.
— Manasa Jairam,Radio jockey
(As told to Tamanna S Mehdi)