Perks for the peckish
“None of us here have ever experienced Monday blues, which may be hard to believe,” says Murali Satagopan, marketing manager, Freshworks. “Food plays a significant role, and many of us schedule our meetings on Wednesdays in such a way that we don’t miss the biryani euphoria. And even though food is made available round the clock, the 5 pm snack is a special time at Freshworks,” he says.
A coffee counter at Freshworks Chennai
Praveen Ramesh, who works in the marketing team, says that the fun they had around snacks is something he misses while working from home. “We had created a ‘Snacks Connoisseur Group’ — a team of five of us — and we would alert each other on what snacks were available at various floors of the office. I am crazy about chocolate biscuits: the minute the group secretly alerts me, I would rush to that floor and pick up a few packs,” he chuckles. Similarly, there were alerts for lemon or orange flavoured drinks. “At home, I have stocked up these biscuits and snacks, but I miss the fun of hunting for it in office,” says Praveen.
Murali, who is also a stand up comedian, says he misses playing cricket or football in the well-equipped AC stadium and playing Foosball during coffee breaks.
“Few offices give such a wide choice of cuisines: for lunch we could choose from five different menus. At Freshworks, Choix Bowl and TwoGood were a big hit, and it also encouraged mindful eating and less wastage. Given a chance, we would love to work from office, even though WFH has its advantages,” says Praveen.
An art exhibition at Andhra University’s Fine Arts Department
Art in isolation
“A thumbs-up emoji sent over WhatsApp can never equate a pat of appreciation on the back of a student who has poured their soul into a painting,” says artist V Ramesh, who teaches at Andhra University’s Fine Arts Department in Visakhapatnam. “I love being at home and enjoy the silences of my space, but there is a different energy in the hullabaloo at the college. I miss the flow of ideas and energy.”
The architecture of the Fine Arts department challenges the conventional image of a classroom with a blackboard and desk setting. Instead, the department has three large halls where students from both Bachelors and Masters go about doing their work. “It is a collaborative environment inside the large, open space. Students from all the courses — painting, sculpting, art history, and graphics — work together in these halls. It is a nice feeling to walk around and see their creativity take form. At home, it is just you and your thoughts, but at college, there are several minds looking at the same painting and everyone perceives it differently. These discussions add to one’s perspective. That doesn’t happen over video calls,” he adds.
The feeling resonates with Jyotsna Madapaka, Ramesh’s student pursuing a degree in printmaking. “It is inspiring to see the creative process of others. Students feed off each other’s ideas and create something new. We learn to experiment with themes and mediums; there is not much exposure when you work in isolation” she says. Though isolation is not new to artists who stay home and paint for days, she says the lockdown has a different impact. “Back in college, we went on creative trips to market areas or fishing harbours that helped us ideate. Now, only the window offers a view of the outer world.”
Manning the pitch
“Can you call after 10 minutes?” was the response from S Vasthirayutham when we reached him, asking about work, or the lack of it, during the pandemic. Efficient groundsman that he is, Vasthirayutham, 55, was performing his daily chores: watering and mowing the grass, and levelling the pitches at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium, better known as Chepauk stadium. As pitch curator, this has been his routine since 1982, when Sri Lanka toured India and played the first and only test match in what was then Madras.
The last time Vasthirayutham readied the pitch was in March when players MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and Harbhajan Singh arrived at Chepauk for the practice session ahead of the 13th edition of the IPL (Indian Premier League), originally slated for March 29. “Dhoni is very close to me. He would turn to me if he needs certain changes in the pitch during the practice sessions. He has always been kind and welcoming. No wonder they call him ‘thala’,” he says.
The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) suspended operations at Chepauk stadium following the COVID-19 pandemic. The association, according to Vasthirayutham, asked senior groundsmen to look after everyday maintenance of pitches, outfields and coaching grounds. Until further instructions, his only task is to ensure the turf grass remains fertile in this blistering weather. “We have to be careful, especially with the roots. If they go dry, then it would take at least three months to plough and revamp the entire ground,” he says, “You can afford to water the field once in three days. But you cannot go beyond 10 days as dust settles on the grass.”
For a job that usually requires at least 10 people in normal circumstances, Vasthirayutham has been single-handedly managing the A ground, aka the international stadium, whilst two colleagues are in charge of “B and coaching grounds”.
The one aspect of work he misses the most is...the lack of work. “We would be busy throughout the year,” he says, “But even the players have been out of practice for the last four months.”
Backstage blues
R Muddanna, 60, has been a stage lighting technician for 45 years. He is among the most experienced ones in Karnataka, and has been with Ranga Shankara Theatre in Bengaluru since 2005. As the technical director, he would usually arrive for work at 9.30 am to learn the lighting requirements for the evening’s performance from the theatre group. The experienced ones demand a painstakingly particular setup, and newbies seek his guidance.
Mudanna and his team of two support staff are usually equipped for both challenges. But now, to not work at all, to miss the dramatically lit stage, to not see 300-odd spectators clapping, has been tough.
After 15 years and 6,000-plus shows, the theatre space, like many others across the world, had to be closed indefinitely.
“It’s as if life itself has come to a standstill,” he says.
The lights define his life. So, he hasn’t stayed away from them for too long. Yearly once, Ranga Shankara closes for the servicing of its equipment. This year, there is excess time to do this. So, amidst dismantling and reassembling equipment, he is teaching the theatre’s support staff the history and technology of lighting.
“Muddanna’s an encyclopedia of Ranga Shankara,” says Gayathri Krishnan, who helps run the theatre’s daily operations. “For example, we are curating recordings of the best performances for our digital screening. And he knows which performance happened when.”
It might be a while before Mudanna gets to see a packed audience in front of the stage he has lit. But for now, he manages to keep the show going at Ranga Shankara.
Ranga Shankara’s founder Arundhati Nag says, “I miss being an audience.” She is a veteran actor, the managing trustee and artistic advisor of the nonprofit Sanket Trust, which runs the theatre. But applauding a good performance with hundreds of people is what she misses the most in her workplace.
With inputs from Chitradeepa Anantharam, Aishwarya Upadhye, Srivatsan S and Praveen Sudevan.
