Work from Home to Zoom weddings — here’s what changed for you in 2020

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Work from Home to Zoom weddings — here’s what changed for you in 2020
  • From initial reports of COVID-19 shutting down the Chinese city of Wuhan to it being declared a global pandemic, here’s how lives changed for us in 2020.
  • 2020 introduced us to work from home and the endless sessions of Zoom calls.
  • The uncertainty of the year even left the Oxford dictionary without a word of the year.
In the beginning of 2020, many of us were busy making New Year resolutions – we’ll travel more and work less, have a big fat Indian wedding, finally hit the gym… the list goes on. Little did we know, a virus would upend our lives and how.

The uncertainty of the year even left the Oxford dictionary without a word of the year as it described 2020 as “a year which cannot neatly be accommodated in one single word”.

From initial reports of COVID-19 shutting down the Chinese city of Wuhan to it being declared a global pandemic, here’s how lives changed for us in 2020.



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From ‘Oops I forgot my keys’ to ‘Damn I forgot my mask’

From ‘Oops I forgot my keys’ to ‘Damn I forgot my mask’
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In what almost looks like a dystopian world, the COVID-19 pandemic made masks a true necessity. In the beginning of the pandemic, hand sanitizers and masks flew off the shelves of stores, and even today stepping out without a mask is not something one should be doing.

This has also led to trends in masks – fashion designers announcing a special mask collection, some gold fanatics splurging to make masks out of the yellow metal and the most recent, masks but with your face printed on it.

Work from home – the new normal

Work from home – the new normal
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In March 2020, as the graveness of the pandemic began to really hit world leaders, countries around the world began shutting down borders and ordered nationwide lockdowns restricting people to their homes. And that also meant the beginning of the new normal – work from home. From what we thought would be a few months of enjoying work from home has turned into corporates all across the world including the likes of Google, Microsoft, announcing WFH until at-least mid-2021.

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The rise of Zoom calls

The rise of Zoom calls
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The WFH culture also meant the rise of online meetings – so much so that you would be counted in the lucky few in the world if you haven’t received an invite for an e-webinar. Zoom calls shot up, corporates took up Zoom packages as all meetings went online and the company ‘Zoom’ is today valued at a whopping $109 billion.

Band, baaja, baarat... but online

Band, baaja, baarat... but online
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If you had been waiting for your big, fat Indian wedding, 2020 brought you the ‘Zoom wedding’ or the online wedding phenomenon. After postponing wedding plans for many months, couples in India finally gave in to host 50-people weddings and instead broadcasted their weddings online for friends and family.

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Workout at home – the rise of online fitness routines

Workout at home – the rise of online fitness routines
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From the fitness freaks to the ones who wanted to shed the lockdown weight, 2020 also saw the rise of online fitness regimes. E-commerce companies saw a boom in the sale of home fitness equipment while startups like Cure.fit went online to offer fitness classes to people from home. Even the likes of Apple have now surrendered to the fitness trend with digital subscriptions across its products.

Schools go digital

Schools go digital
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One of the biggest changes around us was the complete shift to online education. As schools and colleges shut down in the beginning of March, all of them made the transition to online. For hundreds of teachers across the country, the lockdown didn’t just mean they were stuck inside their homes, it also meant they had to suddenly learn all about ‘Zoom classes’ and online learning. Teachers, who have been used to the blackboard and chalk all their lives, now had to create excel sheets and learn to ‘share screen’.

While this led to the growth of India’s edtech startups, it also led to hilarious confusions between teachers and students where the only words heard were “mute yourself!”

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Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar… everything to chill!

Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar… everything to chill!
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As theatres closed doors, it also led to the boom of new shows and films being released on OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar and others! From Season 4 of The Crown to the Indian hit show Scam 1992, Indians used this time to chill and catch up on their favourite shows this year, all in comfort of their homes.

The new trend – Home chefs

The new trend – Home chefs
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With the lockdown, as househelps, cooks also were restricted to their homes, people donned their chef hats and learnt new recipes online. And of course, plating their dishes perfectly to ensure it fits right into their Instagram. From cooking videos becoming the most popular search on YouTube, to how to make paneer being one of the most searched on Google and viral trends like Dalgona coffee taking off and how. The one thing that was a blessing in disguise for many in 2020 – is that they finally learnt how to cook.

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