An IT professional in India during The Great Lockdown
From sa-blogs.com
Mr.Ranjeet Kumar
IT professional based in Bengaluru city, India
Quarantined in his native village
Blogger’s introduction:
I am so glad Mr. Ranjeet Sir shared his unique and riveting tale with me! As an IT professional based in the large city of Bengaluru, India, he had a unique experience transitioning to his native village in Nalanda, Bihar. In the following interview, we discuss his story as well as his thoughts and opinions on how the pandemic affected the lives of people like him in India.
I had a great time chatting with him and getting his perspective. What struck me most was the state of the economically challenged people. While I started this interview trying to get an insight into changes in daily lives and routines, I came away with a much deeper understanding of the disparity of our experiences. Truly, people in different parts of the world are facing the same storm but are certainly not in the same boat
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Shreyas Annagiri (SA): Hello Mr.Ranjeet Kumar, please give us an insight into your profession and location
Ranjeet Kumar (RK): I am a software developer based in Bengaluru, India. I am spending my days in lockdown in my native village, in Bihar, India
SA: How did your workplace transition to the new requirement of remote work?
RK: For the most part, my transition to working from home has been smooth, as in IT we already have the infrastructure set up for remote work. Most companies don’t require employees to be online at specific times as long as we complete our work for the day, though they recommend we keep to an 8–9-hour workday.
SA: What was your first reaction when you heard of the virus? Were you excited to get time at home, or were you scared/worried?
RK: When news of the virus first struck it was actually quite scary. Other parts of the world were getting seriously affected, so India planned a lockdown much earlier to anticipate the spread. Even with the lockdown, however, the numbers are still rapidly increasing due to India’s dense population. Currently, we have close to 86 or 87,000 cases nationwide, with the lockdown having been put into place for about 2 months.
SA: How does the lockdown work in India?
RK: Frankly, the lockdown rules are very strict. You are supposed to stay at home, and you can only leave the house in the early mornings to retrieve essential supplies. However, in my village and I am sure in many similar village settings, awareness among people is a big challenge, and people do not necessarily stay at home all day. You can see people on the streets at all times during the day however, it is lesser compared to normal times. My guess is that in the cities there will be more awareness and people will be abiding the rules properly. Due to a lack of proper education, people here don’t understand how dangerous the situation in a pandemic can be.
SA: What was the reaction of the people around you when you first heard of the virus and its spread?
RK: Again, educated sections of people understand the seriousness while rural populations do not understand the severity of the virus. They think that it is a passing crisis and that everything will go back to normal in a matter of weeks. They still are not following social distancing. Multiple people go outside at once and very few people are maintaining good hygiene by cleaning up after coming back home.
SA: Are there any groups that have formed to aid the situation and bring awareness about the virus?
RK: No, there is nothing of the sort happening in the village where I am staying. The aid provided is mostly to meet basic material requirements. There are angel groups and charity organizations handing out food and other supplies for daily wage workers, but not much effort is directed to increase awareness.
SA: In the United States, when we heard about the virus and there was talk of possible stay at home orders, people seemed to stock up on supplies. Did you or some people you know do this in India as well?
RK: Yes. The first lockdown was when most of the stocking up occurred. Right now we are in the third lockdown, and within a couple of days, we will be in the 4th extension of the lockdown order. People started hoarding some essential items, making several trips to the grocery store, while everything was out of stock online. The government has however made sure that some medical, grocery and essential item shops remain open during the lockdown, but with very strict rules. There are time periods in the morning and evenings where people are allowed to get supplies, but these are only a few hours each.
SA: How are the health care services and facilities where you live?
RK: When people in remote, rural places like this get sick, they are not able to connect with health services effectively. Most private practice physicians have not responded very well to the pandemic situation. There is hardly any coordination between the physicians. Many have closed their private practices due to fear.
In case of emergency situations, We still do have access to government-run hospitals but in a country with such a huge population, wait times are very long and there is no guarantee on the quality of health care or the facility. They are mostly ill-maintained and not well equipped to handle all situations. The government gave an order for private practitioners to open their facilities but few adhered and few others let the request just slide. Again, cities and urban areas might have a different experience.
Read the Full interview: https://sa-blogs.com/2020/05/24/an-indian-it-professional-during-the-great-lockdown/
