[amolathalye]

I propose to start this thread to begin a discussion about the immense challenges we all have faced or continue to face due to the Covid pandemic.

The challenges are manifold other than the obvious health / life threat. Some lost their livelihood , many were forced to change jobs , acquire new skills , start new business. Some folks thrived due to their job profile or business acumen. The impact was so sever that it’s said that now in future the of reference of this time would be labeled as pre- Covid Era and post- Covid Era.
I begin this thread by discussing my own case. We run a small company having expertise in Video conference and Webcast service. We used to provide high end H.323 Protocol Videoconference device rental service in large impact live events at offices / hotels. As the pandemic was hit all the event industry came to a complete halt and is till not doing even ten percent of what it was doing earlier.
Our other service of live internet Webcast / streaming soon picked up extremely well as the virtual event was the best suited option in the lockdown. So to summarize in brief we suffered in one vertical but thrived at the other and managed to survive the impact of pandemic.
I appeal all fellow Team BHP members to share their experience and also to discuss how they plan to fight back.

Moderators please move / merge the thread to suitable category. Thank You.

[Dry Ice]

Thanks for sharing. This other thread comes to my mind immediately - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...king-home.html (Lost my business to Covid | One year of 'not' working from home)

Would urge people to go through it (if not done so already, some incredible stories in there).

[GTO]

Luckily - and I say prayers of gratitude everyday - we have been more or less okay. Some parts of the business grew, other parts declined (e.g. one of my commercial properties was emptied by the lessee as his business crashed). But overall, we've emerged stronger from this pandemic.

Me & my brother have always been financially conservative, more so when it comes to big expenses and avoiding the trap of loans (love the no-EMI life).

Covid has created a lot of suffering in the world, especially with the unprivileged. Daily labourers, Uber / Ola drivers etc. took a big hit. We must do whatever little we can to help society (we like to donate for food).

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by amolathalye

- The impact was so severe that reference of this time would be labeled pre- Covid Era and post- Covid.
- we suffered in one vertical but thrived at the other and managed to survive the impact of pandemic.

Thank You for sharing Amol. The pandemic was to serve as a great teacher to

1. help people constantly evaluate risks, and have measures to mitigate these
2. be more large hearted and help the badly hit
3. make people realise the importance of being healthy
4. be responsible individuals

While many have emerged stronger, wiser, and prudent, many are out to "recover" their losses.

Originally Posted by GTO

- overall, we've emerged stronger from this pandemic.
- have always been financially conservative, and avoiding the trap of loans (love the no-EMI life).
- We must do whatever little we can to help society

Completely agree with all the points above, GTO.

My experiences post Mar-2020 are as follows:

1. worked to better my health and build immunity by way of diet and exercise eg. 2 meals a day, IF, and at least 45 mins of exercise at least 5 days a week. Results are astounding
2. faced severe never heard of issues in all equipment at home all at the same time - ACs, refrigerator, notebooks, cars,scooter - sorted all of them out one by one using a logical approach. Took me three months but got out of all of them (these problems weren't pandemic related but still wanted to put this here)
3. Like the game of snakes and ladders, a large snake swallowed me from the penultimate top row to bring me to the middle of the table w.r.t the kind of job I was doing. It did feel awkward but I'm just stooping now, developing new skills, hoping to conquer again
4. unleashed a flurry of threads on team-bhp
5. did many inter and intra state drives in a relative's Tata Nano - this experience helped me break my apprehensions around long drives

I gained immensely from being battered on many fronts to emerge a more patient individual plus realised that the only way one can get tougher is to never give up!

[MSC]

First things first.
My profession - Doctor in a Government hospital in a PHC in high hills.

Effect of COVID on my job?
I dont think I need to specify anything. If there is anyone Department which is working overtime since March 2020 and is literally on verge of a burn out, due to persistent waves after waves and complete lack of COVID appropriate behaviour by majority of people.
Exact effect has not been much regarding the salary and other expenses. Being in government setup gives you a sort of luxury of unrestricted and uncut salary throughout the almost two years of pandemic.

Effect of COVID on personal life?
Immense.
From past two years, not a single holiday except the usual government holidays and Sundays. The only "off" I got was in form of a 14 day and 28 days period of quarantine when COVID brought me down twice. It was a milder form first time, but second time it came with all its fury and took 7 days in ICU, 15 days in hospital plus another week for convalesense.
Being a single doctor at my PHC means absolute lack of holidays without any break. There have been multiple marriages missed, multiple birthdays of my own kid missed. You can console yourself but everyone knows how difficult it is to console your better half.

During lockdowns it gives a haunting feeling when the entire town is hidden inside but you are driving on vast empty roads on way to hospital. ( A blessing in disguise for the driver in you ).

The sort of mental stress and agony the health system of the country has faced in past two years, is simply unexplainable in words. It can only be experienced and I hope noone, ABSOLUTELY NOONE faces this scenario ever again. The feeling of helplessness felt with a patient breathing his lasts, where you just can't do anything except moving on to the next patient in ICU who is in an almost similar stage, can simply not be described in words. I had been deputed to a Government Medical College Hospital once. In my first shift, in the first half an hour, I had declare 7 patients dead. And that was only the first half hour. I dont even remember how many death certificates I had issued in my 10 day stint. Human mind is made to handle stress to a limit. After that, the brain simply refuses to feel anything at all. It goes completely numb to surroundings. The agony is nothing but unexplainable. You are alive physically but inside you are broken to the core.
Apologies if I sounded gross and sadistic.
Hope this pandemic ends soon and finally I can go on a undisturbed, long and a well deserved break.

[Sarath_]

I like the format used above so I will copy some of it

Profession: Surgeon in a govt hospital Delhi

Note: I worked in a non-Covid hospital and so my experience over the pandemic is far different from those involved in the pandemic management

Effect of COVID on my job?
In short Good. As a surgeon you experience the pandemic quite differently from those in the medical fields and vastly different from those involved in covid care.
Initially the effect was a stark reduction of patients but since we had a huge backlog of surgeries our scalpel wielding hand was happy. There were restrictions on operating going so far as to close the operating theater but we were adamant that we would operate no matter the issue sometimes even with no Covid RTPCR reports to the anguish of so many supporting staff. Had to fight go get each case operated and we did, since we are young and tenacious. Overall since the nearby big hospitals like AIIMS etc were designated COVID hospitals we were getting their referred patients and we were more than happy to take them.
The difficulties: Everything was not as rosy. The staff was unsupportive and boycott would be the right word. We had to wear PPE kits and operate even though we didn't want to, the air conditioning was turned off and with 4 layers between you and the outside world, heat exhaustion took place. We had to rotate 4 surgeons for every surgery and plan for fainting spells. Sometimes some of us would routinely come on our off days to fill in the fainted ones. This was particularly irritating as this was by design to get us out of the operating room and stop all surgeries. However we acclimatized to it completely and the staff were spellbound that we were actually planning around our fainting episodes since we realized how much each of us could endure.

As for COVID itself, since we never encountered it among a majority of our patients and were convinced that we were non-symptomatically affected and we could continue our jobs. That was not true, just our assumption as we later realized.

There were no leaves which was only mildly frustrating but since almost everyone I know loves to come to work save an occasion it was not an issue.

Effect of COVID on personal life?
Since my wife is also a doctor and a surgeon at that, she too went on with her work just the same. At home we would spend more quality time together, learn to cook (full disclosure I learnt only how to cut and clean), binge watch many shows together. Later on we realized that we were already in a bubble arrangement with everyone in the hospital, as in if you worked with them then there was no greater risk to hang out with the same grorup after work. Such post work hangs maybe kept a lot of us sane, especially the single ones. We would routinely get together and replenish ourselves for the coming storm that is the next day.
There was nothing much to do outside as everything was shut down anyway. Work kept us busy and the small social circle was all we had till the end of the pandemic.
Overall it was a good experience again, spending some quality time with the spouse and learning an art or two together.

Also note that the biggest reason for our mental peace was that we didn't have any kids or elderly people with us which would have made us live in constant fear of infecting them. We focused purely on our work and never budged.

---

Overall it was a bittersweet experience and felt like living on an island with a storm raging on the opposite shore while you dip your feet in calm waters choosing to either embrace the serenity of the present or live in fear of the oncoming storm.

[subraiyr]

I will bring in 2 perspectives. I work in a consulting job focussing on customer experience in the global market. My missus runs her own business focussing on the financial services industry in the domestic market.

Me: After an initial couple of months, I packed up all my consulting clothes put them up in a big box, and shoved it up the loft. I haven't bought down the box yet. My air miles have come to 0, my hotel points have stopped. My mobile bill is in the minimum range. Essentially, Covid stopped me from traveling and put me working from home. In my organization, business slowed down for a few months, but then every client wanted to climb the digital wagon and floodgates opened. My team expanded by 150% in a matter of 6 months. And we still don't travel.

My Wife: She used to run her business from a coworking space with a number of people working directly and some on contract. After the first few months, her team shrank to 2 people - she and the non-working director !!! Thanks to hot desks, she was able to pull out quickly and with rented equipment, it was returned quickly. The only expense was for certain services (annual) and her auditor. 1 year later - business is pouring and the number of employees has gone up beyond pre covid times. A prudent setup helped her exit quickly and reenter much faster

On the personal front not much change except very few things. Not meeting your colleagues, not meeting your friends regularly was a toughie. Both of us being highly gregarious this did impact us, but we worked hard to overcome this. Now we have acclimatized to the virtual/digital interactions. The other big one was the lack of vacation. Being in a high-intensity job, we used to take breaks every quarter, 3 to 5 days of vacation time. Now 2 years on we did our first vacation in December end and landed Covid +ve in January. The other big thing that has been impacted is the miles in our car. At the end of the 7th year of our vehicle ownership, we had crossed 93k on the odo. In the last couple of years, we managed a meager 2k increase.

Overall, it has been bittersweet, and I am thankful for higher powers that have helped us ride out the wave effectively

[NavtejS]

1. The pandemic had a toll on the hospitality sector and it was huge. Many hotel employees were left without a job and only 10-15% of them were able to retain one. Some had to wait for 1 year to start work again and that too was a compromise to their experience.

2. Fortunately I was able to retain my job but the cost cutting measures resulted in longer hours and incentives were not paid out to the employees.

The Company was achieving never seen profits but would still not have paid the incentives until the next 2 years .

3. I lost out on my appraisal for 2 years in a row. I was expecting a promotion due to my performance in 2019 but thanks to covid that never happened.

4. Never got to stay home during lockdown as we were declared ESSENTIAL SERVICES and were required to work. The only thing good was i able to ride my Pulsar 135 to work amidst empty Chandigarh roads with no traffic whatsoever.

5. But it made me realise what I was missing. The great resignation is real as people are realising there is more to life than work life. Changed industry altogether.


Hoping for the best for every Bhpian!!

[scorpian]

Well i handle logistics in my company and we did feel the major hit of covid.
I think many companies used it as a tool not to give increments to their employees.
In-spite of working even in lock-down,our increments were kept on hold and we lost out on it majorly.
Frankly all of us the staff i am referring to feel that we have gone back two years as far compensation is concerned.

[Strider24]

Covid has had indirect impact on my career, mine is an exceptional case though & probably cant be generalized in any way.

Prior to March 2020 I was working half day as allowed by my organization, utilizing major part of my day to do functional exercises ( for recovery from spine surgery) under daily supervision of my physiotherapist. I was expecting to recover within next 3-6 months and resume the office full day by July 2020. however when full lockdown came into effect, it completely stopped my therapy. I had to do whatever exercises I could do at my own. I also had to devote my time in my son's online class management and household chores for next 12-15 months as my wife is also working.
while all this was worthwhile as a family person, my recovery was delayed by several months and so was my plan to resume my job in full time was delayed by almost an year, so yes financial impact on my career was considerable.

[alphahere]

I had just accepted a new job offer in a western country just before covid hit. That was in 2019. By Jan 2020 we kept hearing that covid was sinking its fangs more and more across the world and we were not really certain what the outcome would be. By Feb 2020 there was a rumour that offices could be stopped give the pace with which the disease was spreading. By Mar 2020, it was officially declared a pandemic but we were still working at office until one fine day in the mid of Mar 2020, we received an email from HR stating that the company and its clients would shut down their offices and that we were not supposed to report in person from the next day onwards.

This came as a shock given that my job was still new and the thought of working remote indefinitely cast some doubt into my mind whether this would become a permanent dismissal at some point. But as it turns out 2 years later, no one had to be out of a job and we are still working remote. I personally haven't been to an office setting from Mar 2020 to this day and I have forgotten what working in an office feels like. But the job is getting done probably better than what we used to do while in office. Communication systems have vastly improved during the remote era and we really do not feel disconnected from the rest of the team. The company managed to make sizeable savings due reduced overhead costs which were in part passed down to the employees. Personal expenses were way less, pay was still the same which later increased the next year, managed to reach savings goals that were set for 5 years later.

Parallel to the above timeline, I was scheduled for an ortho surgery in about Mar 2020 due to an unbearable pain. The pain had started sometime when I started my new job. It was initially thought that it was muscular pain due to extended walks that I had to make due to the absence of a car while I was new to the country. But later it was discovered that it was an ortho problem for which they said there was no cure except surgery. And they may be right as conditions like mine have historically always required some sort of surgeries to resolve. And the surgery was scheduled for Mar 2020. That's when the pandemic hit and we were confined to our homes. Surgeries were cancelled indefinitely. But as it turns out because of the extended period of rest that I got through the rest of 2020, my problem resolved itself and by X'Mas 2020, it was practically back to my old self. By the time surgeries were reinstated sometime in 2021, they contacted me and I was happy to tell them 'No Thank You! I am pain free now.' So they asked me to come for a check up. And miracle of miracles, I am left with hardly 10% of the initially diagnosed condition. I may be one of the few souls really thankful for the conditions brought about by the pandemic. Bless our fellow beings who had to bear the other side of the pandemic..

[NovemberKing_91]

Hi,

My experience during these months have been quite mundane as compared to others here.
In the beginning, around March 20, as the country started moving towards lockdown, our company was one of the first ones to switch to WFH mode. Having worked in construction industry prior to the current job, it was very new and quite amazing. Lots of time available at hand to do different things around the house. I honed my cooking skills, opened up a new youtube channel about cooking, got a bit fatter. Wife, being a school teacher, she too had online classes, so quite nice all around.
Bought our first car in July 2021 and managed to drive about 7k kms yet.
Then, I got used to WFH mode completely and got quite comfortable. Now, I manage to work, cook, get a bit of sleep, work again and then, recently I enrolled for a company sponsored Mtech course too.
Now, I go to office once or twice a week, rest is still work from home, exercise at least 3 days a week, still fat though. Last week I was down with fever for a night, wife lost her smell and taste for a few days too, so probably, we met the virus up close too. All good now

[DrCar]

Good thread at a perfect time were I could share my experience.
Noted that few doctors have already shared there experiences. Kindly let me share my journey during lockdown. I have a complete opposite experience to share.

Occupation - Ophthalmologist.

I decided to start my own private clinic in Mumbai, after spending years studying and practicing elsewhere in a remote village in Gujarat.

I decided to purchase all equipments on a loan since I didn't have enough savings left with me. (Because we aren't paid much during studies or working in villages). Started clinic by December 2019. Decided to stop SIP and transferred all the money to pay back the loan in February 2020.

So now I was left with no savings and no ongoing investment as well. Practice was just picking up and I was breaking even by March 2020. Then came the lockdown. I had to shutdown everything because we weren't allowed to do elective surgeries then.
The ongoing expenses started eating up into my already low savings account money and there was a time when it went below a lakh. (Not joking here).

I decided to even sell my trusty Etios diesel then but due to lockdown effect many weren't interested in seeing the car. A moment came when I even decided to shutdown the clinic itself.

But, we pulled through and I started my work with renewed enthusiasm with proper financial management. Started another 2 small clinics at different locations within a span of two years. No loan was taken for the same.

Also, I have decided to help patients who have gone through worse phase in lockdown. Many of us suffered only financially, but few of them lost their loved ones who were the sole earning members of the family.

My Etios diesel is still there at home and have clocked more than 1.5 lakh kilometers by now.

Lessons learnt -
1. Stay debt free as far as possible.
2. No impulse purchase of vehicles or another stuff unless the old one is giving you trouble.
3. Start saving now instead of thinking 'Let me enjoy now, kal kisne dekha hai.'
4. Ups and downs are part of our life. Face it strongly. You will come out as a different person.
5. Help others. All the goodwill that you gain will bail you out in tough situations.

[ShreyG]

A wonderful thread showing various perspectives

Occupation - Consultant (particularly data science and analytics)

The 1st lockdown hit hard as the clients I served were retail fashion stores which were shut down completely. The firm I worked for put me on bench (with a reduced salary) which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I was able to upskill from regular business analytics to more AIML based solutions. Swift change of jobs and I was now working for a start up which gave immense freedom to explore and broaden my horizon.
During the 2nd lockdown, had a quite, private wedding (was absolutely perfect with no nosy relatives to please ). Me and the missus moved back to Bangalore (had moved to Chandigarh post the 1st wave). I then came across a wonderful opportunity within my college network and lo and behold, job change number 2 in as many years.
Have been completely WFH since March 2020 with one visit to the office to collect my laptop.
One boon COVID brought me was to engage in passion for driving since it became the de-facto mode of travel and the distance became irrelevant.
Another one was that for the first time since 2008, I stayed at home in excess of 2 weeks at a stretch enjoying sumptuous meals and celebrating the festivals together.
A major learning I take from this period is that time is limited and we should spend it as judiciously as possible. I shudder to think what will happen once the traffic in Bangalore is pre-COVID levels and once again we start spending 3 hours in commute. This period has shown the power and productivity capability of WFH for those who can. The hours saved from the commute can be put into fruitful things such as upskilling, family time and hobbies.

[ArTigor]

I was an academician in a reputed private university, as well as a freelancer for urban infrastructure projects. Life was blooming prior to March 2020 to such an extent that I was thinking of renting out an office space and appoint a team of 10 professionals for my projects. Infact had paid token amount for an office in last week of feb 2020. Then Covid hit, all mega urban infra and beautification projects came to a halt, and rightly so, as health was a greater priority. Many of my projects were indefinately halted or scrapped. I had to pay my technicians and draftsmen from my pocket. After first wave it was seen that real estate and urban infra market were briefly opening and I was going to bag some good projects, but then second wave hit, entire family was badly hit by covid, fortunately with gods grace we all survived. Eventually had to shut down freelance as post covid body was weak for 6-7 months. Due to covid the salary from university did not see any increament for the last 3 years. No increase in income and mounting expenses, made me look for new jobs. Changed job finally jumped from academics to projects during the third wave, fortunately landed in a good place. Leaving a secure and on time salary professor job was a gamble. The gamble paid of, as market has opened up.