Uniform Calling

Dressing up was and never will be my forte. Changing clothes was one of the least interesting things on my mind even when I used to go to school. I used to keep playing in the school uniform hours after reaching home. After getting a lot of flak from mom would I start changing into other clothes.

But as luck would have it, when I started working, wearing uniform and ensuring that you have a good grooming all through the day was of paramount importance. So short hair, daily shaving, ironed clothes and polished shoes was a daily affair and no points for guessing, I used to hate changing clothes so many times in the day. After almost 15 years of working with multiple hotels and brands, it had slowly become part of my life. Whenever I used to take a short vacation, sleeping long, no shaving and lazing around the house in pajamas and Tshirts was high on agenda.

Dawn of 2020 had brought in a pandemic which no one on earth could have predicted. While Covid-19 had affected every single soul on the face of earth , certain industries have been hit extremely hard.Travel and Tourism is one such industry with large scale layoff, furloughs and pay cuts. By Mid March 2020, it was clear that saving lives needed some extreme measures and India declared a 21 day National Lockdown.With international and domestic flights shut it made no sense to keep the hotel running. We had to shut operations temporarily from 1st April 2020.

The first few days were very frantic for me to get our hotel employees access to their data and allowing them remote access to complete month end processes. In lockdown, getting up late, no shaving , no dressing up and loitering in the house whole day with binge watching over OTT platforms was the order of the day. I was enjoying this unexpected break and was almost certain that India would be free of the virus as we had done the Lockdown when cases reported were very less. As days passed, it was getting murkier and Lockdown 2 and Lockdown 3 followed.

The news of many of my Global Team Members in Hilton Group being furloughed was coming in and eventhough our Hotel owners announced full support to all the team members, days were getting darker and sitting idle at home was getting increasingly difficult. I used to login daily and support my hotel team members for any access related tasks and updating the systems remotely to keep the vulnerabilities down.

I did head out to the hotel at least once a week to do a general health check of the servers and other systems.Hotel car used to come and pick me up and the sight of the hotel without guests was unbearable. To save costs we had shut off the AC, lights and had only 10-15 staff onsite to take care of our beloved hotel.While returning back in the hotel car, the sight of empty streets and the tallest hotel in south india overlooking the majestic Ulsoor lake with windows lit in heart shape was giving hope of better tomorrow but I was leaving depressed with an uncertain future.

Towards the end of lockdown 3 we were almost certain to open over the next few days as Karnataka was handling the cases better and there was a glimmer of hope on the horizon.Lockdown 4 was announced with certain relaxations and some of the team members started reporting to work.While our Hotel Owners supported through the tough times, the hotel managers decided for a voluntary 50% cut in our pays for next 3 months. It was a tough decision, but it was a good decision in the larger interest considering what the travel and tourism industry was going through.

I was going to work almost everyday since lockdown 3 and walking through dark , lonely, gloomy corridors and into departments with no team members to wave to or interact with. This was unknowingly hurting me emotionally.Casual clothes, long hair, untrimmed beard was all acceptable in such circumstances. Finally on 30th May 2020 , Government of India declared that Hotels could open on 8th June 2020 and the next one week was spent in preparing for a re-opening of our hotel. 

As the day dawned , I was super excited and had almost spent a sleepless night. When I reached the hotel and asked for my uniform to the familiar Laundry Agent, he smiled through the mask while he handed over my uniform which wasn't worn for more than 2 months now.It was ironed crisply and that day I took a few more minutes adjusting the tie, polishing the shoes and standing opposite to the mirror wearing the name badge and the Conrad Pin. The sense of pride was overwhelming and when I reached the IT Office, I looked at my desk and stood for 2 minutes praying to God for the well being of all.

I decided to take a walk in the hotel lobby and our Engineering team had lit up the Grand Chandelier in the lobby in all its glory.It had hung there silently for last 2 months with nobody adoring its beauty. The lobby centerpiece was specially designed by our Housekeeping team with a message of hope. The green shoots were being watered through a test tube symbolizing the extremely tough times we had gone through and how hopeful we were at resurrecting our future.While the guests are slow in arriving since International flight operations are yet to start, the hotel is open and team members are ready to welcome them with open hearts and wide smiling faces beneath the mask.

Its been a week since we reopened and each day the joy of going back to work and getting into the Conrad Uniform has been ever so satisfying. While Army Men, Police, Paramedics and all those who have to wear a uniform while performing their functions will have similar stories of passion, I had never thought that the same sense of pride would delve in me while dressing up into my designated attire.

Covid has changed lives in many ways and this may be a very small thing to describe just like the innumerable short stories made everyday