Random forays | Those uneasy rendezvous after lockdown

The prolonged lockdown had till now obviated the possibility of meeting friends and socialising. But with the gradual lowering of guard, old friends and family members are getting together once more, often with quaint results.

The pandemic has shown us many faces, and many facets of life. People have discovered and rediscovered aspects of their persona that they hardly knew existed.

When friends meet up after a long separation, they tend to keep their masks on for about 10 minutes. (HT PHOTO)

The prolonged lockdown had till now obviated the possibility of meeting friends and socialising. But with the gradual lowering of guard, old friends and family members are getting together once more, often with quaint results.

The most noticeable change in some personalities that the lockdown months have brought about is the newly acquired couldn’t-care-less attitude about their looks. Many friends have emerged greyer, and perhaps wiser, from the extended period of being home bound. They have actually stopped denting and painting their exteriors, so to say! Perhaps the philosophical nature of life in present times, where the true meaning of it has come closer home, has precluded the need to brush up one’s façade. Proprietors of beauty salons are probably not too happy about this trend, but they will anyway have a large number of takers, such being the variegated nature of society.

Some others have actually found it difficult to meet real people, believe it or not, having spent 15 months or more ‘zooming’ before a screen. Special courses have actually been launched in the United States of America, for instance, on how people should begin to socialise again, and what social skills they would need to equip themselves with. In India, we seem to not need such courses, by and large, especially since we have been meeting the maids and Zomato/Swiggy chaps et al, almost throughout this phase.

A viral whatsapp video actually had as its main character a man who would not accept people in real life beyond a point, and he would try to search for a non-existent mute button, to shut them up! That is a gross exaggeration of course, but millions who have found it difficult to re-adapt themselves to the real world. Children especially have needed weaning off from too much screen time. Carrying out real time conversations has never been their forte,and will never be, unless their virtual world fades a bit into the background.

And we Indians have a love hate relationship with masks. We wear them because we’re supposed to but we drop them at the drop of a hat. When friends meet up after a long separation, they tend to keep their masks on for about 10 minutes. Then their tea or coffee or beer arrives. And that’s that. No masks are to be seen after that. Hugs and cuddles also become an integral part of the proceedings, once general levels of wariness go for a toss.

Masked conversations are actually just not fulfilling enough. People often cannot hear muffled words with clarity. The smile or scowl are blatantly missing too. Non-verbal communication is said to be a major part of all forms of direct communication but masks hijack most of our facial expressions.

Several spouses have become more liberal during this period, when it comes to “allowing” their better or worse halves to hob-nob with others. By being closeted together for over a year they have had enough of each other, several times over!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, of course, and being cooped up together in lockdown has bred anything but fondness, in most cases! Be that as it may, many couples have learned to respect each other’s space, quite literally.

Human beings are, after all, social beings. Our mental health improves when we confabulate with others. Whenever the virus numbers go up again, and I truly hope that they do not, I am sure that prudence will prevail over daredevilry and most masks will be up again. But for now, old pals and gals are gathering for coffee after coffee, akin to pre-pandemic times.

Working from home has led to the emergence of a new breed of artists, chefs, musicians, writers, photographers and the like. Not all of them are supremely talented, shall we say, and some of them may be quite insufferable, but at least the general levels of creativity have gone up.

One never knows, the world might actually have become a better place, while we were locked down!

vivek.atray@gmail.com