"From an temporary assistant at an ENT’s clinic to being offered a job as a sanitizing staff supervisor in a multispeciality hospital, this sounds good, right? But it isn't really as good given the current COVID conditions. Everything just seems too risky to me", said Mohammed Ansari, a 28-year-old man who has a family consisting of his wife and two children . 

The pandemic has not just affected the professionals but also the small scale industries and clinics that have been ordered to stay shut until the curve eases. Mohammed was good at looking after the sick at the clinic, but as his ENT employer doctor and other doctors were asked to keep their clinics closed, Mohammed's boss laid him off. This put Mohammed in a spot as he had no other means of livelihood. 

When Mohammed talked to his friend they asked him to look for another job as soon as possible. Given Mohammed’s earlier work experience he was getting options as a frontline worker like a ward boy, ambulance driver or sanitization worker. 

Though these options were something Mohammed wouldn't want to go when COVID was so rampantly spread, these were the only ones which could save his family from going hungry. He applied to all the possible openings and got a call from a good hospital in Mumbai for the position of a sanitization supervisor in the COVID wards. The money was good--infact three times Mohammed’s previous salary--but was putting his life at risk worth it? He talked to his friend about the dilemma of moving from being jobless to a highly risky job. 

He had a tough decision to make because he was worried about being infected by the patients or while working for them. And then the new job was demanding too unlike his previous work profile where there were no emergencies and so the work hours were fixed. What if he couldn't take in the amount of stress and long exposure to the virus? He thought, "What if I die while doing the work and leave my family hungry ultimately?" To which his friend rationalized and explained, "Either way you will worry about your family--whether you are jobless or take up this job. So, it is better to think of the pros and cons of taking up this job and then make your decision. Also thinking about all the safety precautions that you can take in order to control your exposure will help you in decision-making."

For Mohammed the decision didn’t come easy. On one hand was the temptation to ignore this job offer and wait for other options and till then compromise on all his living standard from food to the room they used to live in (he may have to move to a jhuggi if he ran out of his savings); and on the other was to take up this job and worry each and every day but yet be able to sustain his family and give them a good livelihood. 

The stress of decision was weighing Mohammed down so much so that he wasn’t able to sleep for days; the news of Coronavirus kept playing in his ears, but then the crying of his hungry children pulled at this heart too; Mohammed felt like running away from all of this and not be forced to take a decision at all...he wanted to feel like it is some sort of a bad dream from which he will soon wake up and go back to his job at the ENT’s clinic..but unfortunately for him it was the reality of his life.

Finally after spending days contemplating, stressing, arguing about his options, Mohammed rationalized with himself that it is better to take up the job since the situation at the work would be in his control--he can wear mask and follow all safety protocols--rather than wait for another job, something that was beyond his control. 

Stories of the people from his village dying while trying to go back to their village were only too real and Mohammed didn’t want to be one of those migrants. 

(Pic credit: pch.vector/freepik)