How have we been passing time along the ‘Stay at home’ days? (15)
Original Facebook link of this article:
Author:
Dr. Md. Jafar Ullah
Professor
Department of Agronomy
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Email: jafarullahsau@gmail.com
(15)
We are now on ‘Stay @ home’. This is to confirm the social distance. Our last office was on 28th of the last month (March). On the evening of the last official day, referring to the Pro-Vice Chancellor, the Dean of the Agriculture faculty Prof. Dr. Fazlul Karim forbade us to come to the office from the next day - our house will be our office, and since then we have been staying at home.
Well, we enjoyed the days of the first week - as if it was a ‘great vacation’ for us. But afterward, boring seized us – more or less. As we were away from our daily routine of going to the office, taking classes, visiting research fields, meeting with colleagues, and so and so - those were part of the normal life we were used to before.
Later, the government declared general holidays from 29th March to 4th of the next month (April), which was then extended up to 26th, and again up to May 05. That is, we have been staying at home for more than 40 days. All the classes are closed, students’ halls are shutdown, and even the campus is unofficially locked down.
An American psychologists has published an article saying that this ‘stay at home’ has posed five challenges to us to cope with it. Number one, we do not have freedom of movement, rather have been converted in to ‘still animals’. Number two, we have been deprived of being touched with nature. That is, as we remained bounded within our home, we are basically far away from enjoying natural beauties, having fresh air, .... Number three, we are detached from fulfilling our habits, which actually fulfills our sense of purpose and meaning of life. We cannot go to works and somewhat we have got stumbled. Number four, our accountability has got a new spectrum - either might be relaxed or more hardened to fulfill. Number five, we have to face interrupted communication. We can not see any persons, can not have gossips with friends,.... and this situation might cause psychological distress to us. However, the above mentioned impacts of the ‘stay @ home’ would not match to those of ours. Because our cultural and life leading manners are quite different from those of the Americans.
In the beginning I mentioned that we are passing the ‘stay @ home’ days with boring. To many of the Facebook Friends (FBF), it may be partial or even not boring at all - rather enjoying and refreshing. Probably for our students, it has been a chance to be with their parents and other family members for a longer time. For those who have been passing in villages and staying in a village home where many of their relatives. ‘Stay @ home’ is not so painful to them as they do not have to be confined in to his or her structured house, they have scopes to getting out and seeing all of their peoples living beside their house in the community, talk to them, going in the crop fields; enjoying the nature; the most one to have plenty of time with their parents, brothers, sisters and other own persons. But for the other professions, this is not the phenomenon. For the businessmen and contract employees or temporary service holders, it is a complete blockage to their earnings. For the permanent service holders, it has been either boring or disgusting as they are leading a prison-like lives. In the Facebook, we have been seeing many posts expressing such happenings; and desires to get rid of this situation.
Many of my young FBFs posted photos expressing their ‘stay @ home’ passing days with cooking, playing with their youngsters, getting well dressed and posting photos for their friends, posting photos of their own old memories. The most frequent photos we saw that our young boys have become skin-headed, this was obvious for many of them - as the salons are closed. It has been a bit happiness to those service holders who seldom could give enough time to their kids, passing time playing with them. For the students, it has been as a cause of having leisure - removing stressed life of ‘carrying heavier school bags’ than their ‘own body weight’.
The ‘stay @ home’ has been a ‘divinely gifts’ from the God for the house wives. In the whole life they stayed at home alone and become detached from their husbands for much of the week’s time. Husbands are also happy being able to help their better halves in the house hold activities such as cleaning floors, cleaning utensils, preparing the ‘cooking items’ along with all other works. Of course, some husbands have this habits of cooking which has been an extra help to the wives.
In one post I saw that our former Chairman of the UGC and former Vice-Chancellor of a public University, Prof. Dr. Md. Abdul Mannan is working in the kitchen preparing vegetables and spices for cooking in our ‘Bangali manner’, that is, sitting on a ‘piri’ or ‘mora’, wearing our national dress ‘lungi’. This actually charmed me, a great salute to Sir. In another post, I saw that one of my FBF who is a service holder, was cleaning floor using a broom. Well, these are the good chances to help the wives - I appreciate the husbands. Obviously, I am also in this group doing such household works - I admit this with pleasure.
Some of my FBFs have posted pictures of the foods they prepared themselves, some of them preparing kites for the kids, some kids were playing foot balls in the drawing room; and some of them playing ping pong in the drawing room using a plastic spoon as a ball, bigger spoons as paddles and tea table as ‘table tennis table’. Some young couples were playing ‘buyer and shop keeper’ game using their kitchen products decorated on the floor of the drawing room – wife saleswomen and the husband as a customer. Some elderly people were also having skin headed taking the help from one of their family members. Some FBFs posted pictures enjoying the nature outside standing at the balconies or porches.
Some celebrities were posting how the boring days could be overcome passing time in a creative manners such as preparing house hold items, reading books, watching films, .. Some of the FBFs taught how to prepare the life protecting items at home to save themselves from corona such as masks, face shields, sanitizers, hand washing liquids (hand washes)…. Some FBFs took a chance of selling their products using ‘on line software’ especially daily usable items which are required by the consumers as they do not have chance of getting out to buy those from the market, especially in the town areas. As many of the people are keeping inside idle, some persons have formed ‘groups’ in the Facebook so that they can pass the time in chatting with friends, discussing the current problems, gossiping, entertaining ......
In the holy Ramadan, the Muslims are praying at home avoiding going to the mosques. Some celebrities or state persons were seen preparing foods for the corona patients, distributing corona aids -even some celebrity doctors have left their prestigious profession going back to their own health profession. Wars in many countries have been ceased and the war victims are coming back to their own homes.
The poor men do not have chance to follow ‘Stay @ home’, they have to go out to collect foods for their family members. We saw them in Televisions making crowds in the places where food aids were being distributed. Some them were seen to be deprived of having foods even waiting in the queues for a long time - as those already finished. Then they had to run to other places to have another chance.
We watched many pictures in TVs and other social media of those of our national heroes serving nations through conforming social distance, distributing food aids, giving service in hospitals and other social services. We saw many persons helping the farmers in harvesting the ripe paddy as the labourer are in crisis. Many pictures have been posted with the farm products left on roads because of being unsold due to the lack of transportation or the customers.
Garment workers were seen to go home, again coming, again going and being puzzled with the ill-decisions of the garment owners. We also witnessed processions of the garment labourers claiming their Arrear salary.
This have pleasure to sacrifice this write up to those poor people.
(to be continued)
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