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#NewNormal: Tired of household chores? Delhi-NCR folks put robotic cleaners on the job
From vacuum cleaners to robotic cleaners, anything that can reduce the housework is welcome in times of the pandemic, say residents of Delhi-NCR battling the new wave of Covid and the crisis that comes along with it.
Robotic cleaners are the new it thing when it comes to cleaning. With most city folks giving paid leaves to their house helps, to support them during the lockdown, and managing work from home and work at home alongside, the queries for these robotic cleaners are seeing a rise on various online platforms. And Delhi-NCR residents say that these robotic cleaners are a boon especially for households that have young children or pets.
With work from home having become a norm, getting a robot to do the cleaning became a necessity for Meena Kapoor, a Delhi-based freelance writer. She explains, “It’s quite a lot of floor area, so I would end up cleaning two rooms every few days (in absence of my house help). For some time I could tolerate it, but not on a regular basis. Then my house help also developed a severe spinal problem, which made me start research on robot vacuums. I have lots of friends abroad who have robots, and was aware that these things exist. A couple of my friends here have also bought them recently. I asked them about their experiences with robotic cleaners, and then decided to buy one for myself online. Now having experienced it, I feel things work better than humans as a robot will gather more dust than a jhadu would.”
Seema Sandhu, a Gurugram-based radiologist, who didn’t have a house help for almost 10 months last year, initially bought a vacuum cleaner and has of late invested in a robotic cleaner. She recalls, “In September we got home two dogs, and my workload increased like anything. The hand held vacuum takes a lot of time. So we decided to buy the robot cleaner. One has to map the place for the robot, and it takes some time to get a hang of it. It needs to be charged as well, and sometimes gets stuck. But if you use both the vacuum cleaner and robot, then it’s just perfect!”
For those battling Covid, robotic cleaners have been a boon in disguise. Take for instance Ruchi Vidhani, a Gurugram-based business manager who recently bought one such machine. “I was down with Covid and nobody could enter my room to clean it. And I was obviously not in the state to clean it myself due to exhaustion. That’s when this robot came in handy and did the job for me. It’s such a worthwhile buy, and kept me stress free about the cleaning concerns while I recovered from the illness,” she says.
Some like Surbhi M Tangri, a handicraft dealer, saw this challenge coming and bought a robotic cleaner right when the pandemic intensified. “I haven’t kept any domestic help since the pandemic hit last year since both my parents have comorbidities. I gave my house help a paid leave, and learnt to manage things on my own. But when the lockdown was lifted last year, I rushed to buy a dishwasher and a robot cleaner. These gadgets have been a blessing and totally worth the money. In fact, now I’m trying to convince my neighbours and friends to buy such cleaners till the new Covid wave settles down,” she says.
And there are some who have made up their mind to buy these machines pretty soon. Paarul Chand, an author is now looking for available options to buy a robotic cleaner. “I’m not sure which one? But I have to buy for sure! We have live in house help, but when everyone is home during such lockdowns, it’s extra work for them to do cater to each family member’s demands and also do the cleaning. Also, when everyone’s home, the house gets dirty faster than usual. So I’m keen to buy a robot cleaner that mops as well, as that would be an extremely big help,” says the Gurugrammer.
Author tweets @Nainaarora8
