The ideas of power with in the domestic space became more apparent since the ‘lockdown’ locks people into a space which cannot be escaped. This need to ‘escape’ not only makes the idea of home beyond the house much more apparent, but also forces the inhabitants to negotiate spaces as both domestic and work have been brought together. One can ask oneself the spaces women in the house used to inhabit in the house when the men weren’t home, and in the absence of children during school hours in a joint family. In my house, the women of the house used to come together during most of the day and would separate when both the men were home, but during the lockdown the 2 rooms in the 2BHK work as separate households in one house, while the women meet only in the kitchen. Since the condition of the house is tight, the young adults in the house avoid entering the bedroom and clear zones have been demarcated, which cannot be intervened unless one has a justifiable reason to do so. The boundaries do soften among young adults and women in the house, but the claim to a particular place/space has become stronger.
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