We keep hearing about business disruptors. Now we have upon us COVID-19 and I call it the biggest disruptor ever. We all know how it has changed life and is continuing to change the world we live in, in many ways. For me too, there has been an immense amount of change in the last few weeks of the lockdown. 

What if we were to replace the word “disruption” and instead use “transformation”? Isn’t that a nicer word? So let me see how the current lockdown – our new reality – has transformed me and my routine.

I am an early riser and am up around 5am. One hour of exercise, another hour of very special time for morning tea with my husband and two hours of active time set the tone for the day before I settle down for routine office work. Spending a relaxed hour on morning tea together has been a habit for both of us for nearly forty years now and is precious family time. We see no reason why we can’t continue with it during the lockdown. The next two hours are our “active” time, which means we do household work. Usually he tends to the plants and garden, cleans the cars and helps with dusting and other sundry work. He is also the handyman for repairs and maintenance. I take care of the kitchen, cleaning, laundry, ironing etc. Of course the boundaries blur sometimes. Usually he saunters into my territory rather than the other way round.

I am enjoying this all new routine for a couple of reasons. First it has re-introduced me to my own house. Now as I clean it myself, I know every nook and corner of it. I am now familiar with every piece of furniture, every fold of the curtains and every item that lies somewhere in a drawer or shelf; including some long forgotten bric-a-brac. Secondly, cleaning up also involves labour and so I am rediscovering my capacity to cope with this kind of physical activity. And I am glad to see my agility is not so bad after all. Some back pain once in a while is alright.

I also re-discover my somewhat rusty culinary skills. You don’t burn too many calories peeling, chopping, stirring or rolling dough and mainly for this reason, I have not been an enthusiastic cook. Nowadays I am actually enjoying putting meals together and my husband is not complaining about the meals I put on the table. How wonderful is that! All this makes me feel more confident of myself as I know that I can cope very well in the kitchen. That I can fend for myself and that too happily, is a pleasant experience. Not once have I felt overwhelmed; there has not been a moment of drudgery. It’s been joyful.

I believe we all are decent packages of skills and capabilities. We may excel in some areas and be average in some others. We may enjoy doing certain things and find other chores tedious. To say, “this is beyond me” is not nice. The hitherto untapped potential is there; we only need to unlock it. And that can happen only if we remain positive and choose to be cheerful during these disruptive times. Sorry, transformative times.