What steps did Zymrat, as a Indian young start up, take during the 2nd wave of COVID-19?

As the anticipation of the 2nd wave of COVID-19 hitting us harder than before grew stronger, there were some imminent changes at hand. Being a compact team, while it was necessary to stick together we needed to safeguard everyone’s health and wellbeing too. The smarter approach was to restructure. With no disturbance being caused to the workflow, we began to work from home for a couple of days. This also helped us in assessing if the efficiency and availability was being compromised. But our team did a fairly good job. We eased in and gradually moved to a completely work-from-home model. We fixed a time to see each other every day, discuss the day’s errands and set out.

Amidst this transition, our team members and their family members got affected with COVID-19. A parent residing in a distant city and suffering from coronavirus can take a toll on anyone’s mental peace. Vyshnav, our video designer, along with both his parents tested positive. How they battled the recovery of this ailment as a family is something to grab a lesson from. So what we did here is - we talked. We checked upon each other every day and kept a tab on their recovery. We enquired if there was any way to extend a helping hand. And this is how we knew we had each other’s back.

COVID-19 has had a massive impact on businesses too. Sadly we were not behind in line. Our supply chain bore the brunt of it. As a result of which, the most high-in-demand products were not stocked up. Setbacks are bound to happen because the virus has not been really kind to anyone lately. But with the kind of customer enquiries pouring in, one thing that is keeping us afloat with satisfaction is the kind of faith we see that they are placing in us. It fills us with pride and tells us that somewhere we are doing something right. 

One interesting activity that has housed the Zymrat environment is our weekly huddle. This is new! It takes place every Friday evening. There is a topic, which is made known sometime in the afternoon. The agenda is to get to know each other more. Believe you us, this huddle has revealed so many intriguing facts about our team members. Some facts that we will be using forever to tease them. We go from sharing spooky stories to discussing goals and aspirations that we hold close to our hearts. It is our version of camaraderie. This way we intend to push away the gloominess around.

But this wasn’t enough, because COVID-19 is as much of a community crisis as it is personal. So we committed ourselves to helping those in need. Being a young start up, we wanted to do everything in our capacity and thus decided to pledge 2% of our sales from April and May to COVID-19 relief funds. Some may question the impact of what 2% must be amounting to, but we strongly believe that every drop counts. Leveraging the reach that we have created for ourselves digitally, we also amplify verified foundations which deserve donation. As a team we, very eagerly, attempt to pump up our audience to not let the new normal get to them. Through simple bodyweight workouts and meditation exercises, we are continuously encouraging people to keep it going. Our constant endeavour is to create and circulate content that upkeeps the momentum in the body by regular exercises, even if the gyms are shut. Some cleared space, a water bottle and determination - that’s all we ask for.

We decided to up the game one step further as we hosted a ‘movement and compassion’ for an organisation. Beating the morning blues, this session was conducted at 7:30 AM with one of the certified and expert coaches, Shubhag Rao. With some basic movements using bodyweight, followed by breathing exercises and meditation, we put forth the belief that every movement we give to our body is the right step towards leading an active life. 

Sometimes when we look at the kind of efforts we make in pushing people towards staying up and running, these words of Pilot Chuck Yeager jingle in our heads, “You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can’t, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don’t give up.”

Well, we, we refuse to give up!


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