Lessons from India || Do we even need doorknobs? Where does family end?

CW: COVID-19, DV

Here’s my Avva giving quarantine advice more than seven years ago:

As I’m guessing many of you are also doing right now, I’ve been noticing how many things I need to touch just to move around. And I’ve been thinking about how much the physical design of our environment can play a role in transmission, and about if there are different ways that we can do things long term.

I’m also reflecting a lot on what I was lucky enough to learn back in the days when we could move about freely. For instance, the need for increased isolation reminded me of this village we visited once in Maharashtra, which is famous for having no doors. 

Obviously this is more possible in a place where the climate is warm year round, but it’s also interesting to think that the doors that protect us are also part of the problem with transmitting disease through doorknobs.

This crisis is already requiring that we rethink how we live, and when thinking about the future, I’m finding it useful to consider customs that have already existed for a long time instead of reinventing the wheel. Not to romanticize, but here are just a few lessons I’ve gotten from India:

• Rethinking entry ways: Maybe automatic sensors will become more common, but how I’m curious if alternative door designs will become more prevalent, like having mechanisms that are lower down and let you open doors by foot if you choose, ones that don’t need a doorknob but instead just need a key and a push, doors that swing both ways, etc. I’m curious if there are ways to redesign entryways that make them both more accessible and safer when it comes to disease transmission, fires, and other hazards. 
• Rethinking stores: While there has been a rapid growth in malls and supermarkets in recent years, I remember that quite a few smaller stores in India used to be set up so that all of the goods are behind a counter, and you ask the shopkeeper for what you need. This reduces traffic within the enclosed space of a store. With the increase of curbside pick-up, we seem to be evolving in that direction here as well. 
• Rethinking greetings: There are already tons of ways to greet each other besides shaking hands, and we already seem to be shifting towards greetings that don’t require making physical contact.
• Rethinking hand-washing: In the U.S., if I want to wash my hands, I would most likely need to walk in and out of a door, with all of the potential contact that entails; since hand-washing is such a big part of controlling this disease, we need to reduce the number of contact points to wash hands. In India, cleanliness and washing is strictly enforced and visible; for instance, you need to wash hands before eating, entering temples, etc.  There are outdoor spigots (again, easier in warmer climates). There are also easily accessible sinks that don’t require touching doors in restaurants; many houses also have a separate sink that’s easily accessible in the dining area. 
• Rethinking other hygiene: Probably the most basic here is leaving shoes at the door. However, there are also things like eating hot, cooked food to kill the virus or pouring water from bottles and cups instead of putting them to your lips. In addition, although there are some superstitions and customs that can be problematic, it seems like some developed for really good reasons, like not handing money or other objects directly to other people. It’s also more common to see copper cups than in the U.S.; research is showing that the viruses don’t last as long on copper.
• Rethinking family: Finally, the most important lesson isn’t about technology or design or our relationship with the physical world around us; it’s about seeing each other as family. In India, everyone is your sibling, your “Anna” or “Akka.” Older folks are your “Avva” and “Tata.” You’re also more likely to be living with and encountering people of all ages all at once, making it easier to empathize with them (although I’m curious how that will impact rates of transmission to older folks compared with countries where they’re more isolated. I’m also curious about the impacts of loneliness vs. the virus).

There’s a lot we’re still learning and things are changing on an hourly basis. Right now, the recommendation is to stay home.

So if you have the option, please find a way to stay in, for the people who can’t, for the Avvas and Tatas around the world.

 

There are also those for whom staying home is unbearable and dangerous:

“For any victims and survivors who need support, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7, every day. Call 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-799-7233 for TTY, or if you’re unable to speak safely, you can log onto thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 22522.”

There are lots of great organizations working on this, but here’s one in NYC if you’d like to support them.