The Zoom desk-side lifestyle era

We all remember where we were when Lockdown first happened. I had been on a stint of work travel between the UAE, the UK and South Africa. As it turned out, I was in South Africa when the president declared a state of emergency and then instituted one of the more stringent lockdowns in the world. Pretty soon it became apparent that this was no temporary measure, this was here to stay. We all started working with fervour on our “new normal” Calls set up on a virtual basis, MS Teams, Zoom, Google Meet and the constant staring at other humans in a 2 dimensional view.

I recall being glued to my laptop. The news briefings were creating a morbid fascination for me, as we got word of the amount of tragedy and loss in countries like Italy, Spain, the US and UK. Then the fear mongering and a clear amongst our leaders. The conspiracies around on who was to blame. Then when we all turned our attention to work, we found that the working day was extending. We were spending upwards of 10–12 hours desk bound. Meetings were called with no warning, agendas not set and the feeling of panic and worry about the state of the world economy started to reverberate globally.

However, there were the stories of solidarity, hobby finding, family bonding, charity, hope and a new dawn seemed to also be playing a part. Fun and anticipation were renewed for so many.