This photo from 2020 captures my year of the pandemic

This photograph from December 2020, captures in a snapshot what the pandemic, the lockdown and work from home (WFH) meant for me. It was that year our daughter, Kusha, came into our lives and made all the hardships, the pain and the loss of the pandemic magically disappear. Here’s she, 7-months old, strapped to me with a baby carrier and playing with the laptop keyboard while I am on yet another of those work-related video calls (It helped that we were not always required to keep the cameras on). My hair’s also home cut.

There’s silhouette of the jugaadu WFH rig that I put together (on Varsha‘s suggestion). A board glued atop a bar stool and a monitor and other accessories glued/screwed on that board.

For three years, I worked on this portable table, moving from room to room, across the house, depending on the change of season. When the weather was particularly pleasant, I even worked from the balcony. I kept on improvising the rig, adding features, making it more user friendly, until one day when I was no longer required to work from home. Then I dismantled it.

This photo is also a reminder of how lucky and privileged I was during the pandemic, of having the luxury of not having to step out of the house. Of not needing to risk myself and my family. Of a steady source of income. Of all needs taken care of at the touch of a button. Of having a lovely new addition to the family.