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Covid 19 Life Style: Myths and Reality
By Olivia Sarkar

Life during Corona Pandemic has changed for Sure but How Much Shall we Retain is the Question

How has been the life during Corona pandemic? Lockdowns due to Covid 19 and living inside the confines of homes have definitely changed the lives and the routine. New normal of day to day lives are being defined every other day.

The basics of defining a life i.e eating habits, socialising, health care, work and the perception towards life, all have been redefined. Or is it so?

The situations posed by Covid19 have indeed been stringent but how has it effected the life? Has it? Or has it not? Or the change is just the temporary?

The survey of around 40 people breaks certain myths and perception of Covid19 lifestyles while revealing out fresh outcomes.

Eating habits during Corona

Food, they say, is what defines you. There has been lot of emphasis on eating right in order to fight Corona virus.

Every one was home, so cooking and spending quality family time together came naturally. People preferred home-cooked food. Or so we thought.

The perception went wrong, to quite an extent. A random survey was conducted on 40 people in a question and answer form through a Whats-App chat.

While almost everyone agreed that eating habits during lockdown period changed but that was only till the strict lockdown norms. 9 out of 11 people interviewed with the question to choose between home cooked and outside food preferred outside food.

Eating habits had a drastic and unbelievable change- earlier most of the young professionals who relied completely on outside food; getting back home late and ordering online was a great comfort, children who detested home cooked meal, for them online food delivery system was a handy tool, the lockdowns changed all this. People were cooking and also posting online what they ate at home. Was this change- the trend of home-cooked food, which the lockdown brought in permanent?

Not actually. “initially it was all right. There was much time and no choice either. But No longer.” Said many.

So, those of us who thought online food delivery would take a hit and Corona time should be credited for changing eating habits, the picture was not perfect.

Out of 40 people who switched over to home cooked food 30 expressed preferences for outside food over home cooked. Priyanka, a 3rd year graduate student in Delhi says, “yes, I am ordering food online as it is so boring to have home cooked meal every day and night and cravings can’t be control for outside food. We are so much used to have outside foods; our taste buds completely rely on junk foods”.

As a parent Rupali Sarkar, who herself wants to prefer home cooked food can’t convince her children, “It is tough to stop kids these days from outside food as they don’t listen. We can’t force them as they just refuse to eat anything. Making restaurant style new dishes regularly is not possible either”.

Restaurants which had shut down due to lockdown are back to doing a roaring business once again through take away food services. Although dine-ins are still not very popular take away food has picked up fast.

Mr Gupta (name withheld) of Aggarwal Food Corner, a restaurant in Dilshad Garden, Delhi, confirmed, “Yes, food is being ordered from my place on daily basis. Loss is being recovered faster. We have reached a mark of almost 60 per cent of the sale what we had before the pandemic, majorly through take away”.

Not only the youngsters and children but the adults restricted themselves to home cooked meals only till the online delivery services were stalled. There is so much reliability on outside food that it was tough for many to avoid online food options. These people feel that pandemic is all here to stay for a longer time, their lifestyle can’t remain effected for a longer time.

Socialising during Covid 19

The other life style parameter is the socialising. How people alternated the hanging-outs or socialising during lockdown period.

Life was like a cage during lockdowns, felt almost everyone. What were the options? Internet was the biggest refuge for many. Every social activity was happening through the internet-social media or web-entertainment options. “Activities on facebook, instagram, whatsapp etc increased many fold. There was no choice of going out, internet became the biggest alternative to kill time” said Utkarsha Sharma, an aspiring C.A.

So, was it just a perception that people enjoyed quality time with family?  “Majority of the time many families were just busy some way or the other on social media or Netflix”, said an interviewer.

Home remedies for Corona care

How people have been keeping themselves healthy? Home-made concoction we believe? Yes. Almost everyone said they have been taking home-made concoction to build up their immunity to ward off corona virus.

But only eight out of 11 said they would only stick to home remedies till there is any remedy or a medicine for Covid 19. Tanisha, a student, stated, “why to put efforts and rely on home remedies if I can go out and purchase medicine from medicine centre”.

Work from home during Corona

Due to Covid 19 everything shifted from offline to online. Work, schools, seminars conferences etc. and one thing which people are unanimous about is going back to physical life.

While online classes have many issues besides connectivity problems, one major problem is of concentration span.

8 out of 11 have no interest in online studies, while the  rest feel once corona is over online should be retained as an alternative when due to some reasons students are not able to attend schools. According to Poonam, a media instructor YWCA, Delhi, “Online classes have lot of disturbances and this should only be a temporary solution”.

But interestingly, work from home is the choice preferred by many. Out of 40, almost every-one feel Covid19 has introduced the system of work from home which should be retained as it not only saves time and resources but also makes life easier.

According to Swati, a post-graduation student of Delhi, “there should be a mix of offline plus online stuffs going on side by side for people’s convenience as it can help people in various ways like working with studies, handling children while working etc”.

What is the take home point? Covid19 has given many options to choose in post corona lives. People want a mix of offline and online lives to make it more convenient. While health is important but medicine is a preferred choice over home remedies. So far schooling is concerned, offline has no alternative. And food? It remains a personal choice.

(The views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, beliefs and view point of the owners of asiannewsmakers.com)

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