Lalit Agarwal (Regency Wood Panel)

Lockdown experience of Mr Lalit Agarwal, MD, Regency Wood Panel Pvt Ltd. Regency Range of Plywood is one of major brand Popular in Western India in general and Maharashtra in particular.

Eventually, our Office is opening up from tomorrow, we overjoyed disregarding the fact that this partial freedom is attached with so many strings.

The detention life gave me an opportunity to understand myself better and it changed a lot of my perceptions. In the hustle and bustle of life, I always yearned for a little time to spend in peace and doing those things which are dear to my heart. Books, music, movies, webinars, Netflix, writing, learning through YouTube, I resorted to everything and indubitably, I relished all those, knowing that it is once in a lifetime opportunity. I surprised, with unexpected calls, to many of my friends, relatives or business acquaints with whom I was not in touch for a long time. Introducing of Meditation and Yoga in my daily chores made me realise that, how much I have overlooked the gifts which our ancestors bequeathed us.

I am an introvert who consider the solitude to be a pleasant and rewarding experience, and visiting any relatives, shopping or attending parties or functions, I admit, is mostly not out of choice but out of compulsions. But, over a period, I was satiated with this solitude and realisation came that there is no substitute for human presence. It changed my perception totally and made me crave for my quotidian life containing all my physical interactions with my business associates, exchanges of pleasantries, outings and parties.

As we are gearing up for starting normal life, myriad of questions are striking in my mind. With Mumbai’s COVID population surpassing Wuhan, our vulnerability is now manyfold more than pre lockdown period. Although the situation is at its worst, I am witnessing more people on the street without their masks, as if the situation is coming back to normalcy.

The government is giving relaxation because it is totally exhausted and with the realisation that, without a vaccine, it is beyond human capacity to eradicate this pandemic. Seemingly, we are being led to ‘Herd Immunity’ surreptitiously.

Unlike other businesses, the scope of “Work from Home” is almost nil in our type of business. With 10% staff guidelines, fear psychosis of COVID and restriction of transportation, it is a daunting task to restore the business messed up so badly.
But, I have a firm believe in the resiliency of our employees, consistency of our buyers and unflinching support of our suppliers and, all these reinforce my belief that this bad patch will disappear with a wink of the eye.

(As stated in Facebook on the last day of lockdown)