After having a shower you are supposed to wipe the floor.
Now this was something my dad used to tell me and make us do. He said you guys
should have been in UK. There he said it was very clear - people were expected to wipe after they
shower. Wipe after a shower was when I was growing up quite a menial thing to
do and we did not like it. Who would take a cloth and wipe it. Till one day we
got a mop. These mops were the nice ones that came with a rubber blade. Now wiping became an easy thing
to do. Then on I started getting ballistic on the dam thing. everytime I had a
bath I would really look forward to the wiping thing. I still do the same
thing. I take great pleasure in wiping the bathroom really clean after a bath. I
start from the corners and keep wiping till almost every part of the floor is
dry. That’s the same thing I do even
when the servant is on leave. I love mopping the floor. It’s an amazing thing
to do. And I love the fact that the tiles are neat squares. So I can go from
one line to another… cleaning in straight lines and not missing a spot. And
then I take great pride in ensuring either a dry bathroom or a clean floor.
This is the same thing when I have to wash vessels, or wipe
them or even make a sandwich. I keep telling Jispa that even when you make a
sandwich you have to take great pride in making it. So I like making a really neat
sandwich which is decorated. Plating a sandwich is an amazing fun thing to do.
Having meaning in life is so bloody important. I think I am
crazy that I try and find meaning in everything I do. I think if I don’t find
meaning then I would be reduced to a vegetable. I find joy in doing things that
have meaning and purpose. If there isn’t any then I try and invent something
with meaning or invent meaning in something I do. Meaning is very important to
me. So when I swam I saw meaning in it, ditto for badminton or cricket or
running or yoga or stretching. Everything can have meaning. This dam blog has
much more meaning than almost anything else I do. Reading has meaning for me as
well. Hence I have found it very difficult to read fiction, it just loses a lot
of meaning. So even a badly written non-fiction in many ways has more meaning
for me.
Which comes to my current job. I have had a chekered job
history with many job changes but somehow I have stayed at this place for now an
unbroken stint of eleven years and a total of 14 years. When I look back at all
my years – I have always done well when I have found meaning. Even in silly
jobs I have found some meaning. Sometimes the meaning is the way to add value
to what you do and raising the bar unnecessarily. Like when I was in wealth management. I had a
very cushy job and I was paid well. It was a great time. That time I raised the
bar on handling events and gave a lot of stress to my team. After many years I apologized
to them and felt bad that I was tough on them, but it still was the right thing
to do. You have a shitty job at worst and at best a job that doesn’t challenge
you enough… and if you simply just go
through the motions then how will you move ahead. If you don’t push the
boundaries in whatever you do then you will not add value to yourself or to
your profile.
In all this the question is when to draw the line. Sometimes
pushing the bar on so many things can kill you. People do not realize what you
are doing. There are things you have to just let go of and things that you have
to focus on. The problem is when you get to work with people who don’t share the
same passion and excitement and the will to push the bar the same way as you
do. Then what do you do? Do you let go or do you push people till they break or
they mend. These are difficult questions to ask and difficult to implement.
Just because I like
wiping the bathroom clean and like a squeaky floor, does it mean that Jasmine
and Jispa do it as well? Oh boy….
