March was the last time- I could go out for customer visit. Never thought that we will see a day when the world just stops . ok- the activities still went on but lot changed. some for better, some for worse. Before the great Pandemic- the covid19 hit-it was a normal sales person's life. Every quarter full of excitement- numbers to close. that portion still remains, but the associated crazy travel is all stopped. It used to be 5AM get up. sometimes earlier-- if I have to take an early morning flight. If outside India- then it will be 'red' eye flights.But if you love travelling, you will always love historically 2nd oldest profession.If in 'station'- it was not devoid of travel- it will be zooming across the beautiful city of Bengaluru in car (if you can call average speed of 20 km/hr-- zooming.. so to say!!)- visiting customers, talking and talking. The talking part has not gone away. Then the routine of Birsa and Amrita- fully integrated with mine. They also will get up early- get prep and go for school by 7am. The normal routine, the same rigmarole.
What changed...Massive changes in outlook. Learning to count blessing- when you hear footsteps of death at every corner. The silent wailing of tired feet of countless migrants--- you do feel lucky. Then when you realize that the whole world is in great spin- then you stop taking yourself more seriously than required. So the new normal is being more emphatic, more tolerant and more helping towards- your fellow beings.
The new normal is still getting out of bed by 5 am... first hour getting myself oriented for the day, sometimes the calls will start early to accommodate ANZ & Japan region. The colleagues will gush- how early it may be in India. Some days these calls will go on till 11am. with in between- break to do some household chores. bringing milk, making tea for all. They can get up after 1 hour than me- but I am blessed to have equally regimented son- who loves to stick to his routine of Karate, making bed, then getting ready . He starts the day with AOPS maths, the khan academy and Piano. He sneaks in some amount of TV by the time his class starts. From 8- Amrita's calsses starts. and Birsa's by 1130. Then the fun starts. my calls comes down. whichever is there- it faces the internet bandwidth issue. sometimes it is funny situation. Bedroom taken over by Biology teacher and cells , molecules and Genetic studies goes down the throat of mesmerized students. The dining room is full of chattering pre-teen kids speaking all at same time online. the sales guy is relegated to non network area and based on mobile network and lots of hello, hellos in booming 200 Db voice the transactions are done. Hopefully both the customer and sales person -- shouting at each other over their laptops are not taken as signs of mental breakdowns. Neighbors do see such signs and i can distinctly hear their silent tsk-tsk.
In between somehow the teacher finishes the cooking and me the clean up of house. The quick lunch for both of them. sometimes i have to take it after far East countries close the issues. Silent time for me is- 4 to 6 pm. when i can catch on normal admin stuff. Mid of the week- 730pm to 930pm- we will have corporate head qtrs calls. This is fairly new stuff for me- since last October after my new Asia leader role. Speaking times will be typical 15 minutes, but prior preparation will be more than 2 hours everytime. There is no complaints but just wonder what could have been so different. This was the year- I was expecting so much movement and whole world just stopped. All action moved online... that was a bummer. But again- would I have been able to teach so much to my son or spend so much time with him?Yes missing parents, missing meeting friends, missing some awesome time together possibilities. But maybe- it is new Normal. There will be change again. Better times ahead-- when we will move away from microsoft teams and more physical meet ups. more intimate times. But till then let this be recorded.
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