True Callings : Part I

Tumultuous. I think that best describes the last month and a half. There was the work. A whole lot of it. Then there was the touristy sightseeing. There was none of it. There was great weather. Snow and flurries. And then there was the exhaustion that came with it all.

Now I thought that I knew what exhaustion was all about. With sleepless nights completing assignments during my post graduation, long nights on the phone with my sales folks to submit proposals at the last minute, 550+ kms in a day on my bike during one of my many solo trips home (never going to stop talking about it), I thought I knew the very tipping point of exhaustion. But nothing prepared me for the absolutely overwhelming tidal wave of fatigue that hit me at the end of this work trip.

My local flight from Memphis was an hour late and we were noticeably grumpy but the sweet elderly airhostess brought out her funny side and had us laughing as we buckled up and waited for clearance to take off. I remember chuckling at one of her jokes and just closed my eyes for a second. The next thing I knew she was asking me what I would like to drink. Strange, I thought to myself, we haven’t even taken off and she has started offering drinks. Which is when I realized we weren’t waiting at the airport any more.

A quick glance at my watch made me realize that it was over 45 minutes since I closed my eyes and I had slept through the take off like a baby. No wait, scratch that. Babies are terrible when it comes to flights. My globe-trotting cousin once suggested that we should be allowed to carry cough syrup on flights so that we can hand it over to the parents of the wailing child sitting next to us. And I agree. Trust me it gets maddening. But I digress.

Back in India, I had work, work and more work (though my boss will vehemently disagree) and absolutely horrendous jet lag as an ever faithful companion. Nothing beats getting up at 3 in the morning and watching Japanese wrestling till the sun comes up. Nothing except sleep that is. Add to that the summer heat and Easter holidays in the middle of all this work and you can understand why it could have all gotten overwhelming. And yet in the middle of all this i somehow have stumbled upon what I think is my life’s true calling.