Coronavirus lockdown: Is it your house or Bigg Boss ka ghar?

The lockdown has made many believe that they are living in a house that’s set up for Bigg Boss contestants every year.

Cooped up in your house without the luxury of any house help or driver, due to lockdown? How can you say no to the household chores , right from cleaning the house to washing utensils and clothes, when all family members are expected to pitch in! These times have drastically changed the dynamics of almost every family, and that’s the reason why most are feeling that their house has turned into Bigg Boss ka ghar — the house of the popular reality TV show.

Everyone in the family is expected to help in household chores, during lockdown, in the absence of house helps. (PHOTO: iSTOCK (For representational purpose only))

Picture this, family members are contestants, who are having dramatic stand-off and arguments over household chores while locked in, and to top it, they are also being given tasks to fulfil. Wonder how? Remember the 5pm call for thaali (utensil banging) and taali bajana (clapping), for the corona warriors?

For some people who are locked in, their burst of excess energy is taking a hilarious turn! “Yeh lock down bandh kara do, nahi toh Savdhaan India (real-life crime story show) ke bahut episodes ban jaayenge, with husband and wife in lead characters,” says Charanpreet Singh, a resident of Delhi’s Defence Colony.

READ | Sidharth Shukla on coronavirus lockdown: ‘In Bigg Boss 13, we were locked up with strangers but now it’s with loved ones’

The frustration of not being able to go out and having to do all the work in the house has even lead to division of tasks between life partners. Urmika Sahai , a resident of Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, Sector C, says, “Our life has become so similar to that of contestants in the Bigg Boss house. We don’t feel like getting up in the morning, and the house help doesn’t come so there’s further no one to disturb by ringing the doorbell. Mood change karne ke liye I start the day by playing peppy songs to wake up my husband. Also, we have been living on a limited ration, and without a luxury budget! Ab toh bahar ka khaana aana bhi band ho gaya hai... And we have divided the house tasks. While I do the cooking and brooming, my husband does the mopping and washing of the utensils. That’s another thing that my husband keeps postponing his tasks, and I have to remind him.”

Soumya Shrivastava, a resident of Gaur City 2, Noida is facing a similar experience. She says, “My hubby and I keep switching roles from ripping each other apart like actors Dolly Bindra and Manoj Tiwari (former contestants of Bigg Boss), to being hopelessly romantic like Shehnaaz Gill and Sidharth Shukla (contestants of the recently concluded Bigg Boss 13). We get along pretty well as far as the cooking and cleaning are concerned because we have assigned our responsibilities, and neither of us interferes in the other department.”

READ | Big Brother Germany contestants are still unaware of coronavirus pandemic, will be told in special live show

Ask about the tasks and Neha Bindal, a resident of Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave cracks up, “We feel we did our assigned tasks like thokoing tali and thali quite well!”

So, has anyone found a way to survive in such a house without ending up in unnecessary fights that call for Salman Khan’s ire? Meharr Dhatt, a resident of Nirvana Country in Gurugram, says, “Over all, through this lock down our family has proved that we can actually tolerate each other. We will see this thing through together, as we are together... We are taking it as a summer break that has arrived early, except that we are holidaying in prison style! Just that the wine is a saviour.”