Work From Village

Many white-collar workers are ditching crowded and costly cities to work from the comfort of their villages and hometowns in the wake of the pandemic

- NAANDIKA TRIPATHI

A few weeks ago, a BBC news channel journalist who was interviewing an expert on a video call was interrupted by the latter’s young daughter on live television. The video caught the eyes of more than eight million people on social media, and was shared by Scott Bryan, co-host of the Must Watch podcast, on his Twitter account. Parents around the globe are tackling the challenges of managing work with little ‘co-workers’ at home during the pandemic. Some of them, like Jayasankar Reddy Singam of Bengaluru, are taking work from home a step further by trying to balance childcare and work by moving away from the bustle of the city to a quieter life in the village.

Singam, a software developer with Mindtree in Bengaluru, relocated to Baisukuppam in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, after being away for more than 10 years. Back in 2008 when he migrated to the city to pursue higher education, he was the first graduate from the hamlet that only has a population of about 400 people. Many others followed in his footsteps later.

Life seems to have come full circle as he has now returned to the home he grew up in, along with his wife and three-year-old son. “My parents are really happy to have us around. They used to dream about it and we’re glad to be back. Initially I faced some hurdles while adapting to work conditions here, but now everything is smooth, except for my son continuing to tease me on his bicycle while I work,” he says.