Author: Anonymous
Co-working has been a modus-operandus for many companies to cut costs of rentals for commercial space, especially after the pandemic - and engage employees from various organizations in sharing office rooms, towards fostering a culturally diverse work environment so work-efficiency may be improved. Coming to office must be exciting and rewarding, with opportunities to socialize over meals, car-pool or converse in share-taxis etc. Co-working offers dialogue across businesses to build networks and practice confidentiality. It also offers play-time and a respect for public space - saving on essentials like dedicated security crew, receptionist personnel and cafeteria staff.
Borrowing from the concept of Co-working in the professional setting, and a resistance by employees to leave the comforts of virtually working - can co-living offer a value addition to personalize the essence of cultural diversity? Is co-inhabiting a recent trend to make the after hours of virtual work exciting and social with regards to the people we choose to engage with after work hours? A few more critical questions that need addressing include:
Delving deeper, communities that are inclusive require conflict management strategists and counselors or human resource professionals to handle disagreements. Even at the personal front, confiding in someone trustworthy regarding struggles at the workplace or a shared living space is utmost important. How then would a society ensure a safe habitat for residing with one's personal comforts?
This article on providing an inclusive stay for many LGBTQ+ folks to have a convenient lifestyle and be themselves comes with a list of costs and benefits. The issues are several and include:
…And I’d like the readers to expand on what they’d find challenging in finding an accommodation of such sorts in the Queer Classifieds community. Also feel free to write to BeUnic regarding your views on the same. The benefits need not be listed as we readers aspire for such ideal settlements that attempt to promise what we envision as far as possible.
Furthermore, for those who would never want to live-in with their partner(s), how would we negotiate personal space in a commune on shared-basis? Would we be having empty dining areas with the cricket match being screened without the essence of togetherness - while people are binge-watching eyes glued to their phones? In coercive communes like old-age homes, technology is under check to foster a sense of family in the inhabitants. How would a free and diverse society then forgo technological comforts to celebrate watching a film huddled up in an amphitheatre? Would this sustain through time? Such questions often form the basis of ideating a sense of belonging in a foster-family that we choose to sign-up for in our near-futures.
The co-life modality of housing colonies must have inclusive and diversity-friendly policies, and cover health-insurance benefits. In-house clinic, queer-friendly markets on-campus and on-site education facilities that I'd look forward to. I'd also choose those communes that proactively host inclusion workshops and diversity trainings for residents and staff. The maintenance crew should not be isolated in any socio-economic way from the culture of DE&I at such residential sites. Even employing a member from the LGBTQ+ spectrum as a support staff could be excluding even if it may not seem so at first. Care must be taken on the continuity of equal dialogue amidst building healthy co-dependent relations between the underprivileged and the more-fortunate. Only then can such an inclusive and diverse space of shared living impact the world and stand a chance to be modeled elsewhere.
The author would like to thank Simmi Nanda for seeding the thought towards drafting this piece.
