Priya

Beyond Virtual, Living with the Pandemic

We are a country composed of chai (tea) lovers. Chai is an indispensable part of every other citizen of this country. India is the second largest producer of tea in the world and, according to the Tea Board of India, 80% of the tea is consumed domestically. Before the pandemic took hold of the country, from college students to the office workers, everyone took solace in the chai tapris (also, known as tea stalls). Stepping out from your mundane activities, discussing socio-economic issues, personal lives, and other things outside the street with a cup of chai in your hand has been an Indian ritual. Tea vendors offers a variety of chai flavours namely, Masala, ginger, turmeric, tulsi, extra milk, green, sulaimani; you name it and they have it.

Left : Chai Tapris, Right : Home-made chai. This picture depicts a contrast between pre-pandemic and pandemic life and how it has affected students, employees and specially the chai tapris and the vendors.

Camera used: Google Pixel (left), iPhone XR (Right) App used for editing: MIX

However, as COVID-19 struck, spreading across the world and as the nation went under the lockdown; schools, colleges, offices, shops, everything started closing. As people were bound to quarantine, they got accustomed to the new setting of work from home, taking online classes and this impacted the splendid chai tapris (tea stalls) and unfortunately, many had to be closed as they ran out of finances to maintain the stalls. People started making their chai at home; from chai tapris (left image) to chai at home (right image) gained value.

According to a survey titled Culture Studies commissioned by the Workforce Institute at Kronos, showed that a toxic work culture in India is one of the top reasons for employee burnout, with long hours, lack of work-life balance and demanding workloads as contributing factors. Escaping to a tapri often become a safe space to discuss life inside and outside the office. As we witnessed a paradigm shift in this safe space, we also witnessed the impact it had on the employees, as work from home became mentally taxing with no physical interaction.

The disruption caused by the COVID-19 on chai breaks not only impacted the employees but also the tea vendors. During the initial lockdown phase, the country witnessed a mass exodus of migrant workers from the cities. Daily wageworkers who form the backbone of India’s informal sector, such as street vendors, labourers, domestic workers, and these chai vendors lost their livelihood and eventually had no other option but to return to their respective hometown. Many were forced to cover the long distance leading to their hometown through walking due to unavailability of public transport. Some made it, some did not, dying in the mid-way.

Unfortunately, there seems to be an enduring impact from the pandemic. People would not want to hang around tapris for as long as they used to in the fear of COVID-19. “Workspaces and Public spaces seem to be changing as living with this pandemic becomes the “new normal.” This gave us a picture of how there is an urgent need for the skill mapping of the migrant workforce and creating social security schemes to protect them under any socio-economic or health emergency.

While migrants, students and employees were suffering with their working conditions. By the time Google created a doodle titled “Stay Home, Save Lives: Help Stop the Coronavirus,” news about the increase in domestic violence cases in India had started coming in (Hindu 2020). Pandemic contributed to an upsurge in domestic violence cases across the world. On 6 April 2020, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a “ceasefire” to address the “horrifying global surge in domestic violence.” Domestic violence involves a pattern of psychological, physical, sexual, financial, and emotional abuse. Acts of assault, threats, humiliation, and intimidation are also considered acts of violence. The victims of domestic violence faced several physical and mental health difficulties such as risk of chronic disease, depression, sexual disorders, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and substance abuse.

According to the first report dated 3 April 2020, the NCW had received 257 complaints between 23 March 2020 and 1 April 2020, among which 69 were cases of domestic violence. This figure had increased dramatically from 30, between 2 and 8 March, indicating a twofold increase in the number of cases (Kumar et al 2020).

This picture depicts how women got subjected to domestic violence during the pandemic. 

Camera used: iPhone XR Filter: Sepia

The increase in domestic violence drew attention to our lack of facilities provided to women to report cases in a situation of sustained restriction of mobility. According to sociologist Marianne Hester, “domestic violence goes up whenever families spend more time together, such as the Christmas and summer vacations.”

While there was a Whatsapp number made available to women by NCW (National Commission for Women), getting access to mobile phones was a challenge for some women. According to report published by Oxfam India, the Whatsapp number launched by the NCW had a limited reach as only 38% of women in India own phones and fewer have an internet connection, making this platform inaccessible to majority of women in the country.

It is essential to address the issue of domestic violence and throw a light on invisibilisation of violations faced by women belonging from different social locations and experience. For instance, the WEFT (Women Entrepreneurs for Transformation) Foundation, a non-profit body launched an initiative called “Red Dot” under which citizens can identify a domestic violence victim by seeing a red dot on her palm and inform NGOs or authorities (NDTV 2020). Due to COVID-19, the school dropout rate also increased among girls, creating further gender disparity, hence these girls were also victimised by the domestic violence. Therefore, it become equally essential to address that violence is not connected to marriage or due to the lack of it. Anyone can fall prey to it.

While for some home was the most secured place during the times of COVID-19, for some it was a place of toxicity and abuse. The pandemic has snatched a lot from us, hugs, our loved ones, physical interaction, jobs and much more. There is an uncomfortable feeling in living with this new normal, and the enduring effects of the pandemic.