When
Manju Nair
and
Suresh Radhakrishnan
traveled to India last month, following the death of her father, the couple never imagined how the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic would change their plans. “We expected to come back in late March. Our older son returned to the U.S. on March 15.”
But India and its 1.3 billion people are now locked down, except for essential services, to break the chain of transmission.
Manju
, an associate engineer in Engineering’s Power System Design Unit said it’s challenging to be so far away from their sons, friends and co-workers. She and
Suresh
, an HR Strategic Partner stay connected using text messages, WhatsApp video chats and Facebook.
Manju
even continued her Master’s course work in Leadership and Management.
“I’ve completed one of my courses at the University of La Verne during this time,”
Manju
said. “The 21-day lockdown in India is daunting but has brought comfort with our family being together during a difficult loss. The internet speed here has also been a surprise blessing,” according to
Manju
.
Suresh
echoes that he’s been in regular communication with his HR team and friends. Tweets from @mwdh2o and others, including GM
Kightlinger
(@8thGenCA), have also helped him stay up to date on Metropolitan news.
“I may be 9,000 miles away, but in many ways, I’m just as connected as if I were telecommuting from home,” says
Suresh
. The clincher was when
Meena Westford
(@h2oexecutive) asked me on Twitter whether my son in San Diego needed any help.” Now that’s H2Love!