February 2010

The last month has been frantic to say the least. And I had managed to make it through the most hectic and frantic month of my work life.

It all started with my annual master health check. They said it was a good idea to get it done once you hit the big 3'oh'. Well, I did hit it pretty hard and fast last November, so I thought of doing something different for a change and took them on their advice. Presented myself at the doctor's at the unearthly hour of & in the morning and proceeded to spend the better part of the day there being poked, bled and x-rayed, not to mention going through the mandatory peeing-into-a-box routine. At the end of which the doctor declared that nothing was wrong with me except for my lifestyle because of which I was overweight. Duh! What did he think I was, dumb and overweight? If I knew I would be hearing stuff that I already knew, I wouldn't have blown the thousand bucks which I ended up blowing. I was still steaming out of my ears and foaming at my mouth as I returned to the car and started on my way back. Thankfully I calmed down as soon as I got out of the gates there because I knew I would end up wrapped around a tree if I drove in that mood and would, in all probability, end up in the emergency ward of the same place I was trying to get away from. It also slowly dawned on me that getting to know that nothing was wrong with me (apart from the weighty issues I already am aware of) was the whole point of getting the check done. By the time I was home, I was only thinking about losing 13 kilos. Fast.

It's been more than a decade since I stepped into a badminton court and so when a friend told me of this place he was going to, I was excited. What better way of shedding excess weight than a good workout on a badminton court every morning? I made arrangements to join him every morning and the first day, I was there. Racquet in hand and looking spiffy in my new sneakers, I was ready to shuttle those love handles to oblivion. That was the beginning of the month, mind, and by this time I was supposed to have regained a bit of my touch around the court. Alas! That first day turned out to be my last day on the court, all courtesy my ankle. I had started out well, managed to become breathless in the first 15 mins on court and managed to come down rather heavily and awkwardly on my left ankle in the next 15 mins. Imagine 90 kilos coming down on one ankle, that too the wrong way. After that I spent the next 15 mins limping and hobbling around before calling it a day and getting back home, getting ready and going to work. It wasn't until the next day morning that the full extent of my problem hit me. The ankle was swollen up to the size of a tennis ball, I couldn't put any weight on it and my limping around the house on a tennis ball freaked out my folks. So off I went to the doctor once again. Second time in a week.

At the doctor's, looking at an x-ray of my ankle

Doc - "Thankfully, there is no fracture. But seeing how bad it has swollen, I suggest you take a lot of bed rest. Try to keep your leg horizontal as much as possible."

Me - "But doctor, I..."

Doc - "I know, you have to go to office and all that. It's all right. Make sure you find a small stool or something to rest your leg on while in office."

Me - "No, that's not the thing. I am travelling tomorrow and will be gone, probably till the end of the month."

The doc didn't say anything after that but he did give me a look which said, "I told you what you are supposed to do. You want to travel. Be my guest, break a leg!" And off I went, armed with a week's dose of tablets and an ice pack, along with my clothes, neck-ties and laptop. Over the next ten days (not counting the weekend in between during which I was not working) I religiously popped the pills, regularly wrapped the ice pack around the ankle and almost always kept the leg up and horizontal (except when I was standing in front of the clients in the training hall and while having my food). The size of the swelling started going down, the limp found itself out of work and the pain wasn't apparent unless I masochistically poked around my ankle to find it. Not bad at all.

If all this were not enough to deal with, there was this small, tiny matter of my first wedding anniversary. This was on the weekend that was bookended by my travel to different clients in different cities. Any other weekend, I would have spent the weekend lazing and dozing around, recharging batteries (That's what I told everyone. I actually just like lazing around). Not this time though. So back I came from one travel, drove the wife out to a resort we had long wanted to go, spent a serene couple of days relaxing and getting surprised by the staff at the place before driving back home to real life, work pressure and general mundaneness. Not to mention more travelling.

Off I went again, packed bags and all, to another place to once again stand and deliver. And stand up and deliver they made me do because I realised that the client's expectations were different from what I was informed about and for what I had prepared. This trip, which I thought would be the most straightforward of all my journeys in the month, just turned out to be the worst. I ended up staying up late in the nights preparing for all the new stuff that I would be handling the next day. This went on for the whole trip. I feel the need here to give a pat on my own back because I think I did an admirable job, given the circumstances. Just as I started thinking that I had it under control and was very much looking forward to finishing it and getting back home, the wife informs me that she will be flying out the same time I would be flying in. She's part of her company's recruitment activities and she's got interviews lined up for the weekend. So much for getting back home because I was spending too much time away!

Now, here I am, just back home and just off the phone with the wife. In all of this month, this is the most time I have had to sit and gather my thoughts. I am just lying back and ruminating now and waiting for the nwife to come back so that we can start March afresh.