Mumbaikars … what have we learnt?

Dear fellow Mumbaikars,

I ask you because we are the ONE city in all of INDIA with the maximum COVID 19 positive cases.

The lockdown started on 25th March 2020,
we have spent more than 2 weeks / 14 days in this situation so far.

So, what have we learnt … so far …

1. Mumbai can have a blue sky after all!
2. There are dolphins (& whales?) in our sea
3. Juhu beach can look like Miami when the people don’t mess it up.
4. That we are handicapped without our domestic help
5. Everyone and anyone in Mumbai will find a way to help another when the need arises
6. Barbers, Electricians, Plumbers, Mechanics and the Laundry guy should also come under ‘essential services’
7. Our police force is one of the best and no amount of salutes and respect and gratitude can suffice for their devotion to duty
8. We take our doctors and paramedical staff for granted, waaaay too much.
9. We are all very callous about our health. Universally.
10. We are excellent liars and amazing at ducking the law
11. Yet we can all be organized and co-ordinated, but only when we want – that is when there’s a stick on our backside
12. We can play gully cricket anywhere, even when we are not supposed to
13. We may not realise it – but ‘others’ around us also have a ‘home’ that they have to look after and families to feed that we often ignore
14. We finally learnt to count the number of grocery stores in our area, that we had perhaps forgotten owing to e-commerce
15. Work From Home dream came true, which can be a boon for some and bane for some
16. A ‘Home’ is a piece of complex machinery that needs a lot of clockwork and is not the department on one person only
17. You have to bathe! Everyday!
18. There is no traffic in Mumbai – WE are the traffic
19. Company policies and BCP and HR decisions … have more flexibility than some people who do yoga
20. We learnt of our vices and how tough some of them can be
21. Got a real-time calculation of how much we spend on eating outside
22. Truly appreciated the value of the cutting chai at the workplace
23. There are TOO many people in Mumbai – at any given point of time
24. Technology is a tool we still haven’t learned the value of
25. But realise the full value of having a joint family
26. Also, the value of a good internet connection at home
27. (Added) We can do the silliest of things, find a longer less efficient method to simple tasks and proudly call it ‘jugaad‘ – especially when we do it intentionally to not follow the law or we were lazy enough to do the right thing in the first place.
28. (Added) Making memes is an actual job!
29. (Added) Working via video calls means you can repeat the same shirt every alternate day and still look fresh