Varun Chandran, a techie from Thiruvananthapuram, now has more time at his disposal since switching to work form home due to the lockdown. The business analyst has also been on a 28-day quarantine after returning from Germany for an on-site assignment. So when the Facebook group Technopark Photography Club organised a free 'Facebook live' workshop on basic DSLR photography with the help of online publication Technopark Today, Varun, who was earlier into wildlife photography, was happy to join in. "I was looking for some fresh perspectives on photography since it's been a while since I wielded my camera," he says.
With staying at home becoming the new norm, techies are finding interesting avenues, such as online challenges, to keep themselves engaged and entertained. "With many staying indoors, Instagram is being bombarded by photos revolving around home life. So we introduced a #techieslockdowndays contest on Instagram wherein participants can send creative photos of work-from-home. Well, there's a prize for the photo that garners the most number of likes, to announced when the lockdown is lifted," says Renjith Ramachandran on Technopark Today. The contest is open to techies across the State and even outside. "We are also organising online content writing workshops since many are getting to the culture of working remotely," he adds.
The work-from-home photo contest appears to be a hit, with thousands of entries showcasing a range of pictorial anecdotes pouring in from across the State. For instance, an entry by Athira Santhosh, a techie from Kochi, shows her cutting okra while also engaged in a video call. "As our domestic help does not come in now, I sometimes have to juggle my household work as well. I'm sure the picture resonates with many working professionals given the current situation," she says.
For Resmi Geetha who works in Bengaluru, the lockdown has helped her spend more time with her four-year-old son, Madhav S R, and she sent in a photo of mom and son for the contest. "Personally, that's the best part of working from home, although I have to confess I have a lot on my plate," says Resmi, a native of Parassala on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. For others like Arya Neeraj, who's into home decor, the contest has provided a platform to "experiment with office spaces". "I like conceptualising and setting up aesthethic work spaces and often post such photos on my personal Instagram page. This time, they came in handy for the contest," she says.
For shortfilmmakers among techies, it's a good time to get more "reach" as online traffic has gone up during the lockdown. Sajeevkhan A R recently released on the YouTube channel TechnoparkToday his short film, Voice of Silence, that he had shot before the lockdown came into effect. "It's about the lives of the hearing-impaired community," he points out.
Filmmaker Ratheesh C B, partly inspired by the short film Family that brought together some superstars, including Amitabh Bachchan, from filmdom and went viral, roped in his colleagues for his comedy short Challenged Accepted, with an alternative title Co-veed, based on the idea of working from home. "In fact, all of them shot their footage while staying at home," explains Ratheesh.
Prathidhwani, a welfare organisation of IT employees, opened a "platform" called 'Techies Life in COVID-19' that invited "trolls, videos, opinions, concerns, photos and more" to help the community stay connected and share their experiences. "Select entries are then published on our Facebook pages Prathidhwani Kochi and Prathidhwani Trivandrum," says Vineeth Chandran, secretary of Prathidhwani.
Keeping the health concerns of employees while forced to stay at home, Prathidhwani's Sports Forum has called for various online challenges such as push-ups and squats. Throwing the world of engagement wider to the family members of techies' as well is Prathidhwani Evening Notes - A Musical Extravaganza wherein participants can share music videos of their own such as karaoke songs, instrumental music, group singing or even acapellas, says Vineeth.
