We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until....

18^th March 2020

I take a walk in my office. I could literally count the number of people present using my fingers. For the past few days, less and less people have been showing up. The ones that are, either live alone and are craving for human interaction or are in denial of the current situation. A few of them who notice me ask why I was coming to the office. I reply with a smile, ‘As long as even one of you guys are here, I will be here.’

The next day, my boss calls me in the morning and asks me to work from home starting that day.

~~

I guess a lot of our lives changed during March of 2020, in a matter of hours. Although it was inevitable and forthcoming, yet the result of it took all of us by surprise. All of us, even the ones who wouldn’t have looked at the news in years, started following what was happening in the world. Suddenly everyone became an analyst, looking for numbers and of course, some of us even started with our own predictive analysis.

Out of all the craziness that had encircled the world, one thing was common among all human beings – we were all trying to cope. Coping with the fact that instead of seeing each other face-to-face, it was just the voice we will hear over calls, coping with the fact that some were stuck alone away from their families and most of all, coping with the fact that we were not allowed to breathe openly anymore.

All the changes that the pandemic brought with us, the most fascinating was to see how corporates moved from an office set-up to a complete work from home set-up overnight. With all the discussions going around this till date, the following quote from Arthur Golden in his book – Memoirs of a Geisha – aptly describes that point in time when it all changed –

We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course

The more you read it, the more you are impressed by it. Because this is the exact thing that happened with all of us. There we were on our way with a vision in our minds, a few tasks on our list for the next few days and then – SPLASH! – we find ourselves sitting at home in front of our laptops with a new set of tasks, old ones deferred, trying to make sure that we survive this.

Although this happens to all of us at some point in time in our personal lives, it just seemed appropriate to think about our professional life since it had the most tangible effect.

Over the past 1 year, I have attended quite a few webinars talking about how this situation has acted as a change agent and had us adopting new ways, tech and ideals. In all those forums, I had only one question in my mind, why did it come as such a surprise for all of us? Why was it that we use the word ‘struggle’ or ‘fight’ when we are talk about adjusting to that situation? We were all familiar with the term ‘work from home’ or ‘conference calls’ or ‘zoom meetings’ – and yet we were not comfortable with it at all. Were all the discussions that we ever indulged in before this hour of ‘there will be a time when we will be working from home – no physical office required’ just tall tales?

Even though we have been on a roller coaster ride since the last 15 months, we have been trying to adjust and there is no doubt that we all have come out victorious in one way or the other.

Yet, it is funny to think how we all prepare for the next phase in our lives, upgrade ourselves, upskill ourselves and yet, it is always by force of fate that we change our ways. It is very rare that we embark upon a new way by our own will. There is always an external stimulus, be it physical or emotional that makes us take the first step.

Between all of this, when I think about what Golden said, I can’t help but wonder - Why was it that we had to splash into the pandemic to find a new course?

Until next Timeth,

GeekChic