Signs this lockdown is changing you.

It’s happening. As much as we want to deny it, a new normal is slowly defining and engraining itself into our lives. We’re all aching for what our lives used to be, but going ahead and living this one anyway. Not like there’s a choice.

1. You are more in touch with your family / friends / colleagues than ever before. Not only are you in touch with them, you don’t really ‘call’ people anymore. It’s video call or nothing. And for once, it doesn’t matter how you look on that video call… Makeup? What’s that?
2. You only access 1/5th of your wardrobe now – that untidy corner with all the baggy t-shirts and torn shorts and pyjamas. There are days when I force myself to dress up just a little. And then proceed to do pocha in my Vero Moda slacks. And then I wonder if I can send a pic to the brand and ask them to do a #RealWomenOfVeroModa campaign. A instead asks me to shut up and concentrate on finishing our chores.
3. Magic Mop is your new best friend. You also spend more time reviewing and recommending this mop to your friends than you do a MAC lipstick.
4. You’re suddenly very aware of how many utensils you use in a day. And actually clean the kitchen counter once you’re done.
5. Your daily achievements now include making a chapati that was actually round and phooloed.
6. You also finally realise just how much oil / ghee / sugar was going into some of the things you absolutely loved. In some cases this helps in quitting those unhealthy things. Or in other cases (specially if you happen to be a certain Punjabi boi), you shrug your shoulders and devour it anyway 😛
7. WFH no longer means that one easy day off where you get to laze around in bed, not necessarily very efficiently. Instead it suddenly means not having any clearly defined start and end times, where everything merges into one constant draining flow of never-ending work. I mean, you can’t exactly miss a Client’s call and say you were out at a loud restaurant and didn’t hear them, can you?
8. The quality of your jokes has fallen to a standard never before imagined. But everyone still laughs at them.
9. You realise that even though you’re spending a lot more time with your SO / family (if you’re lucky enough to be home with them during this time) you’re spending significantly less quality time with them. Schedule some family time. Or a date night. Without Netflix. Your relationship needs it.
10. You also realise that if you can get through this lockdown with your SO with your relationship intact, well, you can probably get through most things with them. If you’ve gotten used to seeing each other in torn clothes, dripping in sweat after cooking / cleaning the house and snapping at each other in crankiness, and still manage to feel some amount of love for each other, well, hold onto that relationship, okay?