A bump on my F1 track

Now-a-days life moves on like a Formula One car, maybe faster. I was not surprised when one of my college mates sent me a WhatsApp which beautifully described the kind of life I was leading until a few days back, which goes something like ‘Alarm rings, WhatsApp pings’. Before I could thank God for giving me one more day to live, few pings on WhatsApp, series of office e-mails from colleagues in countries who start working much earlier than we do in India and a few uncalled-for personal e-mails welcomed me. So, the tone for my day was set by them, not me.

Weekdays - A quick shower, a quicker bite (many times on the way), min. one hour drive to office on my ‘University on Wheels’, series of Live Meetings with various colleagues from a few countries, a quick lunch with local colleagues, some decisions made, close to two hours of drive back home, few ‘Viber’ calls - to parents, family, friends on the way back and time pass thru’ FM radio or at times movie / YouTube in a very slow traffic, used to make my normal day. This routine was altered mainly with at least one fortnightly trip out of Mumbai or an occasional internal / external meeting at a place different from my office.

Weekends - Equal or at times more involving than weekdays, since the continuing momentum of office was supplemented with household chores. Fortunately a dip in the pool and a dinner out had always been a saving grace.

For over the last one year, I had got quite habituated to this kind of F1 lifestyle or I should say that I had reached a comfort zone to lead life at this hectic a pace. I never realized that I had started taking many things for granted. Things like expecting continuous support from my wife, who was leading a life more hectic than I was. Being a lady, she always walks on a fine line, meticulously balancing her teaching profession and her home maker’s role. Lately for a change, when she went out of Mumbai to attend a training, I got so easily disturbed due to disruption in my usual routine, that I posted my frustration on my facebook page.

And then came a bump on my F1 track. Barely a couple of days before the last weekend, my wife complained of body ache and mild fever, which when pursued for detailed diagnosis, turned out to be Hepatitis A. The first reaction from both of us was a great difficulty in accepting that such a thing could happen to us. From her point-of-view the major concern was bad effect on her health followed by disruption in normal routine at home as well as her long absence from her school. For me, it was of course a concern for her health and almost equally great concern for disruption in my office schedule. In parallel, our son’s half yearly exams were running. In the next couple of days I realized the true gravity of this concern for disruption in my routine.

I had to take a decision, brood over it or take action. Fortunately my ‘University on Wheels’ routine came in good stead. I decided to inform my office in no uncertain terms that I will be on leave for three days, since fortunately for both of us, four holidays followed. Our neighbours guided us to the right doctor, who could bring the situation under control quite fast. After a couple of stressful and extremely busy days, things started to come under control. Quick decision making of requesting my parents to almost immediately come to our rescue, more emotionally than physically, helped us.

During these days, I somehow got time to reflect on the way I’m leading my life. I realized that although I cannot change much, more so not overnight (experts say it takes min. 21 days to form a habit), I can decide to do a few things differently. I have now started giving rest to my ‘Wi-Fi’ and ‘Mobile data’ while I sleep. And I thank God for giving me one more beautiful day to live, pray for my wife’s speedy recovery, before allowing my WhatsApp to ping me!