The hardest things I've done is...join the rat race !
When I was in college I couldn’t wait to become an adult. I used to ogle starry eyed at the working adults all dressed up and going to work while I was headed to college. I envied how busy they always looked, how important their work seemed to be, how they drank umpteen cups of coffee, how they worked around the clock and how hard they partied after work. It was something out of a movie and I wanted to be part of that star cast. Really, really badly!
Well, life is attentive and it always listens to you. So when I graduated I got into the big bad world of corporates. Sure enough the heels, the jackets, the workload, the all nighters, the endless coffee all were granted to me. And lo and behold I was living my dream, feeling like part of the star cast in a glitzy movie which was all about…. Stress!!!
Yes, that was the bit I had not factored in. I had failed to read between the lines or the room and failed to pick up on the fact that heels gave you shoe bite, the jacket, in Indian weather, made you feel hot, the coffee gave you dry skin and the all nighters..what it did to my sleep cycle was a sordid tale but the bigger story was the havoc it played with my digestive system!!
So, while I lived my dream I got dark circles and dry skin. In order to fix those, I had to get myself to spas and salons for special treatments. That cost money, so I had to work even harder to earn the money to pay for the treatments. But as I worked harder the skin got drier, the circles got darker and…wait for it.. the treatments got more expensive!
Living my dream also had the side effect of leaving me with very little time outside work. I got smart and decided to live closer to work. Cutting out the dreaded “Mumbai commute” and freeing up time to actually live a little. However, again, there was a twist in the tale..moving closer meant I ended up paying astronomical rents. Which meant I had to earn more and had to work longer, sleeping more in the office than at home!
Friends were restricted to work mates. The watering hole was the water cooler. Our chit chats were mostly about evil bosses and bad clients. And when vacations came around, there was nobody to hang out with. My attempts at making friends outside work was an act of desperation to live a little. I did succeed in creating a massive social circle, but these friendships played out in pubs with loud music where conversation was not possible. So I ended up having friends whom you could see but not hear!!
It would be natural to think that given how hard I was working I must have been raking in the moolah. But here again is the plot twist I didn’t see coming. So yes, I did make the money but did I enjoy the money.. Hell no! other people enjoyed my money. My landlord enjoyed my money, everytime he hiked the rent I got myself a new job which paid more and kept me at the office longer. My driver enjoyed the money, everytime he asked for overtime, I had to work overtime. My maid enjoyed my money, everytime she cribbed about needing a new washing machine, I slogged more to earn the bonus to afford it.
Finally, after living my dream for years happily stressed. I decided to dream a different dream, one which had green trees, time to myself, time to hang out with good friends, time to spend with family, time to read, time to netflix, time to cook, time to take walks in the neighbourhood, time to sleep….time to live a complete life!!!