Khanna family is my next-door neighbor, a family of six, husband-wife, two kids, and parents. Mr Khanna, a renowned businessman and busy in money-minting. His Father, Sr. Khanna, retired personnel and his wife prized assets of his son but did not contribute to household management. Mr Khanna’s wife, Sarla was totally responsible for household management.
Sarla tried to be a perfectionist with the help of maids helping her in household chores…she had no time for herself.
Often, she used to complain about it and I used to give her some self-improvement tips to make other family members responsible towards their daily stuff, so that she could fetch some Me time for herself…nothing worked. Reason, her husband still believed in male dominance and thought that it is easy for the woman of the house to manage home front.
In the wake of #Covid19, sudden lockdown was imposed and everyone was stranded at home. The worst effected was the ladies of the house whose roles got multiplied because maids were not allowed in societies. Sarla was already under immense pressure of work and the absence of maids and men at home doubled and trebled her responsibilities.
I was having a gala time with my family, the lockdown proved to be a blessing in disguise for us because it gave us time to gel together.
After a fortnight, I connected with Sarla over video call. In Corona era, we had to strictly maintain social-distancing and the whole world was indebted to the person who launched video-calls.
I found a twinkle in her eyes, rarely had I seen Sarla, full of life and vigour.
“Wow, the twinkling face conveys that Sarla is having fun-time with Mr Khanna in lockdown…enjoy –enjoy darling,” I teased her and she winked at me in positivity.
She texted me the reason of her happiness because she could not share over the call.
The sudden lockdown did bring wrath to many families but it proved a boon for Sarla Khanna.
When Mr Khanna stayed at home in lockdown, he realized the load of Sarla that she was bearing silently and it was real tough for her in the absence of maids. At night, she used to toss on bed due to severe backache.
Gradually, he started helping Sarla in managing household job, surprising her by offering bed tea and coming forward to smear Moov ointment on her back. His small act of kindness was a real joy for Sarla and she was able to see the soft corner of Khanna.
The boys of Sarla, aged 12 and 14, came out of their shell after watching their Papa in new avatar, and started to do their chores all by themselves, such as making their beds, cleaning their wardrobes and study table, and helping Sarla to run clothes in washing machine and spreading on the cloth-line.
The parents started helping Sarla in cutting vegetables, clearing tables, running their clothes in washing machine and off and on, Mom-in-law was spotted in kitchen making favourite cuisines for her son and grandkids.
Mr Khanna took the responsibility of ironing clothes of kids and parents, even asked for Sarla’s clothes but she denied because she was not confident of his ironing skills.
Sarla was surprised and obliged to note gradual change of her family members and it brought them closer. Now, she got time for herself because she was weaned from many responsibilities that bogged her down and the Khanna’s was totally changed for the good.
Now, I could hear the chattering of the six members over evening tea and they could be seen triumphing in indoor games in balconies.
The lockdown2020 melted the boundaries of differences between them and they turned into a close knit happy family.
Watching them turning for each other in lockdown relieved me because being Sarla close neighbour, I had always wished happiness for her.
In incessant Lockdown1, 2, 3, & 4, their love and concern for each other unlocked and it will continue to overflow forever.
I shared the happiness of Sarla with my hubby and he pinched me saying, “You are the sincere spreader of #ShareChoresMultiplyLove, you blinded Varma’s and now, Khanna’s couldn’t be spared.”
Ariel’s campaign to bring family members closer by #ShareChoresMultiplyLove have helped many families to unite together, just like my neighbour, Khanna’s.
‘I will #ShareTheLoad and help in household chores in association with Ariel India and BlogAdda‘
The Ariel’s earlier campaign of #ShareTheLoad and #ShareTheLaundry, helped the Men, the boys, and the in-laws to get over the discreet feeling that the laundry job and the household job are in a share of daughters, sisters, mothers, and daughters-in-law. It is the job of the whole family to come together and share the responsibilities, and the Ariel campaign has helped a lot of families in urban and rural India.
3 replies on “The Differences Melted in Lockdown2020 #ShareTheLoad”
Lockdown has shown many the need of helping out at home. I am sure there must be many families as Khanna’s who have hardly shown their presence in household chores pre-lockdown. We can say this as a silver lining of covid19.
Hmmm
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