Better Lifestyle Is the Answer to Live with COVID19 Not Weekend Shutdown
Every Friday, friends and colleagues used to wish ‘Happy weekend’. It is almost like a ritual for several years now including during Pandemics Lockdown. But last Friday the wish was unusual ‘Happy Weekend in Shut Down’. Well when the weekend began, the question came to mind does India or most of our cities like Bhubaneswar really enjoying weekend, forget in these phase of COVID19 but on normal days, the answer was baring few metropolitan cities rest its just an outing to local markets or parks or jumping into a restaurant than having a life of self introspection or self isolation seems never in mind during weekends.
In India, the weekend isn’t valued the way it is in the West. Historically, British India introduced second Saturday as an off day. Rajiv Gandhi as Prime minister in the mid-80s, introduced the five-day week for administrative offices in central government, similar to the Western countries. Perhaps not so much to make Indians understand the value of leisure but to avoid use of petroleum products.
The West practises a five-day week irrespective of the amount of daylight it receives, in summer or winter. Even the business activities of these countries cities are streamlined accordingly. Several medical shops, ration shops and food joints with take away options remain open in week days or weekends, while most shopping malls, shops are closed by 7pm just like Bhubaneswar now experiencing during Lockdown. But west have very structured weekend plan that usually begins on Friday afternoon last until Monday morning when shops are usually remain open till 10 pm or late night beyond midnight. But again Friday extend timings are compensated to shopkeepers with less hours of business on Saturday, Sunday & Monday with opening and closing hours.
This kind of working hours give people more time with family and other social engagements and unlike in India, they do not need to bunk office hours to rush to pay personal bills, shopping, drop off or pick up kids or make a family visit.
Irrespective of whether winter or summer, Bhubaneswar gets about ten hours of daylight but many end up extending working hour from10 am to 5 pm to 8 pm, resulting cut in leisure time, more use of electricity fossil fuels and adding medical bills resulting due to lack of physical activity & food intake. So do shops, malls, informal hawkers opening early on the day into near around mid night. Over the years this actually shut the lifestyle of both business community as well as working class people and others.
However, in COVID19 Lockdown regime post 7pm everything shuts baring essentials services actually ensured be it rich or poor all found their much needed eureka moment Work Life Balance baring few leisure activites. Which means there is no reason why cities like Bhubaneswar cannot take advantage of COVID19 regime in making city work with flexible 40 hour working a week thats precisely 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure, recreation, sports and 8 hours of rest. Its a golden moment for Bhubaneswar to brake Lockdown with Better Lifestyle to Live with COVID19. Just like across the globe Cities are returning to normalcy leaving behind Lockdown. More importantly extending further Lockdown post 60 or 70 days Cities are not finding reasons why to extend rather focusing on recovery.
Perhaps its high time Govt. may think of opening city activities in stagger manner i.e. office hour may begin at 8am with close by 4pm. So do commercial business, shops etc may open by 9am close by 6pm barring essential services, restaurants may operate till 10pm or so with only take away options with one day in a week with night life till middle of the night. The benefit of working early will provide ample day light for formal worker class people as well as informal sector to enjoy with dear ones in fooding, spending time in parks, walking around streets etc.
With Calculative risk Bhubaneswar may easily move out itself from castle of Lockdown or Shutdown with better Lifestyle to deal with COVID19 by improving Personal as well as Community Hygiene, Social Distancing, Wearing Mask, Hand Wash, Mobility Options and more important Adjusting Life with 24hour Clock. As simply shutting down the city is no more a solution to deal with COVID19, rather a city must get open to public as soon as possible with cautions that Govt. may instruct and ensure its follow up because Cities are neither planned nor built for stray Animals, Bulls, Buffalo’s nor for Medicine Shops or Business Houses or Cars etc. Rather a great city is all about 3P People Place Planet.
Time has arrived to look at COVID19 beyond medical science. Sometime too much restriction may not sound good without restricting crowded places and activities throughout the week and suddenly weekend shutdown is not a solution from a state which is known as the master in Disaster Management. Which means extraordinary situations do require extraordinary action to move out of Lockdown, means better shutdown business both informal & formal, markets and automobile on the street with allow people to walk or pedal bicycle with curbs like social distancing, no spiting etc.
Finally those who run the city need to realise that working more than forty hours doesn’t mean efficiency will increase. Instead, if incentivise the weekend, then there would be much happiness in city instead of functioning like an automobile engine.
