Everyone’s routine has been thrown out the window with the lockdown in Goa. But the most stressed are the mothers of the house. It has doubled their workload in the past few days. But the men too are doing their bit.
Pooja Vinod Trindade from Caranzalem says,
“In my household, my husband Neville is of huge
help! We do most chores together. In fact, I think
he does more. Also cause I spend most of my
time looking after Iv, our daughter. Neville works
from home too, so for us it hasn’t been that big a
difference as compared to before. Of course, we
miss the outdoors but this is the need of the hour
and we have made our peace with that and are
staying indoors. We are cleaning and cooking now
(we’ve relieved our maid and cook) and it is fun.“
Nikita lnamdar from Porvorim explains her
current situation, “Work is there because of no
help from outside due to the curfew but it is not
very difficult as from day one we have divided
work equally among three of us. Small small things
for my six year old and remaining equally divided
between my husband and I. For example if one
cooks then other does the dishes and little one
dries them up.”
Fenesy Nazareth from Moira says, “I’ve been
through a kind of a lockdown when my twins were
born till they were a year old, this feels just like
that situation. The only difference, I was literally
busy diapering, burping back then and now busy
with just making something interesting to eat all
the time or to attend to activities and meltdowns.
I was lucky back then and now as the hubby helps
always, but yes we have our share of arguments
too in this current situation because he is not used
to staying at home and I too cannot stay home for
too long either. That can be a trigger for arguments
too in the midst of managing home, kids and also
calculate which groceries will last how long and
which food should be good to keep the family
happy in these not so cheerful days.”
“Work load has definitely doubled but looking
at the situation everyone is living on the edge.
Someone or the other gets irritated and especially
kids get cranky. Keeping them busy is the biggest
challenge. Men are surely helping in whichever
way they could since my help is on leave as
well we take chances in cleaning the house and
thankfully the schools have been kind enough to
send some activities and worksheets for the kids
to do at home. I hope this passes soon and God
bless everyone,” says Nikita Malhotra from Corlim,
Old Goa.
Photographer Shweta Verma from Caranzalem
says, “We all are used to help in India. This is just
a good time for families to come together and
do the chores. Our office work can be done from
home. So, it’s impossible to manage everything
on my own. My husband and I share the load. My
10 year old daughter is helping as well. It is very
important to keep ourselves calm especially when
the other partner is cranky. That’s how we are
balancing it. Also, we are not seeing it but kids are
definitely insecured from inside. By keeping our
little one productively busy and talking to her, we
are keeping her less cranky too.”
“I am in fact enjoying the break, taking it easy,
getting my daughter to help out with household
work. Husband has always been very helpful so
between three of us we have shared the work so
it’s no load on any one of us,” says Kavita from
Panjim.
“Due to lockdown the maids, gardeners and
all house help is also at their homes. So now,
the house work literally is left upto the family
members. Watering the garden, cooking also for
your pets is an everyday job literally with no one to
depend on. Since we are confined to our homes
it’s not tough to cope with the sudden workload
especially for those who are working via emails. It’s
not impossible. So daily chores is possible since no
one is moving out. We do not realise how much of
time we spend on outings – eg to the mall or even
to the supermarket or socialising etc. Now we can
actually do a lot within the 24 hours,” says Tanya
Carvalho Fernandes from Siolim.
