“The children leave for school in the morning with clear orders – don’t be busy when we return (which translates into – be ready to open the door with a bright smile and don’t keep us waiting)” A humorous article on the flip side of telecommuting.
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Author: Zaheda Khan
I agree with Rama Menon (Telecommuting Gaining Popularity – September 09, 2009). I too can proudly say that I am a today’s woman who is juggling both her career as well as the home front, without “leaving a carbon footprint on the earth!”
However, there is a flip side to telecommuting. The children leave for school in the morning with clear orders – don’t be busy in the bathroom when we return (which translates into – be ready to open the door with a bright smile and don’t keep us waiting), and make something hot and spicy for us to eat (which means leftovers from the breakfast, which incidentally also finds its way into the lunch box, will not do). Just when you switch on your system, husband casually remarks: “How about a hot cuppa together before I leave?” Forgetting that he is not leaving home for a 14 years’ vanvas, but would be returning home before you can wind up your work, you dash towards the kitchen, without accepting your file-for-the-day sent by your in-the-office teammate. You are thick into your day’s work, when a friend calls, wanting to know, although hesitatingly, if you are busy. You could be shaken out of your routine also by the shrieking call of the doorbell. When you open the door, your next-door neighbour, in all her innocence, would want to know if you were sleeping. You rush with your assignment(s), toss up a few veggies in one cooker and dal in another, clear the recycle bin, attend calls, bear with Internet problems, throw away the burnt dal and de-freeze the day-before-yesterday’s curry, reply mails, finish up your backlog, stroke your newly acquired pet kitten, and manage to complete your work, both official and some of the personal, (all without giving yourself even a single glance) when the children and the husband return and wonder how come you are not yet done with your silly work. No dessert, in spite of being at home, they exclaim! Mercifully, the wonderments and the exclamations die down. You are served hot tea with something to gorge upon. They know you need the energy to prepare dinner, help with homework, finish off the project work, and do the laundry. You let go of a dinner invitation at your second cousin’s husband’s sister’s brother-in-law’s place and start rolling chapattis. Trying to put the children to sleep, you toss out first. While they continue with their chatting and the husband waiting, your unconscious mind gets busy planning for the next day.
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