Visakhapatnam: Sindhis bond over food, chores and loads of fun

Visakhapatnam: There is no dearth of get-together within families as Sindhis in Visakhapatnam decided to stay indoors ever since the nationwide lockdown came into force. 

Those who made Visakhapatnam their home decades ago shared with The Hans India that this is the first time that they have not stepped out of their homes for days together.

But, staying indoors does not deprive them of any fun either as they know pretty well how to engage themselves in an amusing manner.

As women in the family take charge of the cooking fresh food, men team up to share the household chores. Of course, it was not an easy task, initially, for the women to make their counterparts to complete the daily tasks. "But over a period of time, it was not a difficult exercise either. After the initial fights and a big 'no', they finally fell in line. Today, they are more proactive in sharing our work and we continue to bond over the chores," shares Naina, a Sindhi settled in Visakhapatnam.

Sindhi men, who share work, feel that there is more discipline in place as they do share work voluntarily. "Since maids stopped coming, we wash our own plates after having food. Earlier, we were not aware of the amount of work women did at home. Now, we understand their pain much better," says Harish, an entrepreneur.

A 67-year-old Sindhi woman, Sheela Lalchand recalls that the community's New Year fell on the next day the lockdown was announced.

"This New Year, hamara ghar bangaya mandir (our house turned into a temple) as we decided to celebrate Cheti Chand (New Year for Sindhis) at home. Connecting with video call with our children, we performed 'puja', bhajans and offered 'aarthi' at the same time in our respective houses instead of Sindhu Bhavan, our community hall. Though this is the first time we indulged in such in-house celebrations, we had fun this way too as none of our rituals got interrupted," she elaborates.

Terming the lockdown period as a nice family time, Harshita, an entrepreneur, says that she considers herself fortunate to be part of a joint family. "After doing the household work followed by cooking, we settle for games such as housie and board games post lunch. We ensure to maintain social distancing but we have loads of fun too at home as this is the best time to watch wedding videos and birthday parties," says Harshita, who celebrated her husband Vishnu's birthday on the terrace.