Let’s find her ‘MAGIC WAND’
It’s 9 a.m…. the ‘magic time’ when Cindrella turns into a princess…
Kids have reached their school and husband is on the way to office. After three chaotic hours of morning, finally she is all by herself — princess of her own kingdom. Maid is working, doing household chores for her as she comfortably finds her place on a cozy couch in front of the television. This is her uninterrupted time when she can scroll through her social media posts and simply relax, while housekeeping is on the ‘pilot’ mode. She has enough time and freedom to meet up with her friends or go for shopping or spa appointments, which are a therapy for her — indulging in self love. She is the ‘undefeated queen of the modern era’.
It’s 4 p.m…. the school bus with her kids arrives…
And with it, her kingdom becomes a humble home as the magic ends. But she is happy and satisfied with her secret royal life. With no effort she comes back in her ‘mother’ and later ‘wife’ mode, knowingly that after few hours she is again going to go to another world… Alas, little did she know that her ‘magic wand’ will get stolen one day. Yes, it is the onset of the year 2020, when COVID-19 virus spread its wings.
The house got hijacked by the virus terror. Within no time life toppled. The world came to be run by technology as everything switched to ‘online’ mode. Offices and schools came home like grocery marts and shopping malls. Gadgets ruled the world now. But a new multi-functional robot giving much more performance in physical, mental and emotional aspects remained unnoticed. And that was this housewife who lost her ‘magic wand’ to the pandemic.
With loads of responsibilities being thrown at, her work time stretched from three to seventeen long hours that kept her ever-exhausted. She learnt to juggle between different roles as that of— a housemaid, cleaner, cook, nanny, teacher, office assistant, bell boy, to mention a few. She was now on her toes all the time, being available to everyone…but just never to herself. The glow on her face soon faded, ‘manicured’ hands got rough due to washing of utensils, her ever-aching body yearned for massage.
Popping multi-vitamins, she kept going on, fulfilling responsibilities on the home front, for the love of her kids, for the duty of being a wife. But the most challenging role came gradually — of being a therapist to her home quarantined kids, and a punching bag to her ever stressed partner dealing with bigger stresses of the world.
In the midst of the crazy life, she lost herself…
- Her home was no more her cozy space
- ‘Solitude’ was the thing of the past
- She yearned for ‘noise cancellation’
- She dreamt of ‘jeannie’ to help her in her never-ending chores
One fine day, she broke down. The ‘therapist’ to her kids now needed a therapist for herself… But strongly, she put herself together and got back to her journey of life — of working over-time, of being ‘available’, of fulfilling responsibilities of her overburdened shoulders.
Past two years have flooded the internet with articles on how various professionals have been hit by the pandemic. But hardly anyone realised the emotional ‘trauma’ this housewife has gone through. Despite no acknowledgement from anyone and with no improvement in the scenario of the outside world, she is still working relentlessly to make the life of her loved ones comfortable, giving up on her own comforts and desires.
We cannot change the socio-health fabric of the present world, but there is something we can do on an individual level to help the cindrella find her magic wand again.-
- Reduce her workload by each member of the house taking up their own responsibilities
- Empathise with her
- Shower extra love to express our gratitude
- By not throwing stresses on her
- Give her time for herself
Just by doing our little bit, and being more considerate, we can get the ‘home-maker’ back, who has been rendered ‘homeless’ due to the pandemic.