Jispa had an assignment in English on Elon Musk and his 120
hour work week. Ya. It’s a bit of a tough thing to keep a 120 hour work week
going. I work five days a week and I think I can manage 60 hours. I come to
work by around 815 after dropping Jispa and then I get back home after 9. I
think I am overdoing this but, right now there is a magnitude of issues hitting
and it would take at least 2 – 3 years to sort some of the issues.
2 – 3 years. Yes. One of the things that I have learnt over
a period of time is that work in large organizations take time. I have seen
this company since 18 years. The calls taken 18 years ago come to haunt us
afterwards. It takes that long to unravel the mess caused. With large heads
sitting everywhere, it’s a time consuming effort to unravel the whole thing.
You also need to hire right, put the wheels in motion and then you start seeing
the efforts. Patience.
But thing is about work life balance. Work life balance. I
don’t know about it. When I go home I try not to work. On weekends, I try and
largely succeed to stay off my laptop and work. I figure that I spend so much
time in office that I don’t need more time to give it. I was speaking to
Jasmine and I was explaining the sexy work that I was doing in office and how I
was pushing a young kid to do it. Even on weekends. My belief that at 43, I
wish I had a chance to push myself at 23. Life would have been different. Hence
that’s why I have figured that it best to push the kids at work. I now have
little or no regret to see them working on weekends or late at night.
Someone asked me if I was a workaholic. I don’t know. The definition
is “a person who compulsively works
excessively hard and long hours.” I think
the key word is compulsively. I work hard and long hours but I don’t do it
compulsively. I am happy to not work. Right now we have to achieve much and do
much and that’s why I work as hard as I do. It definitely not for the simple joy
of working that I do it. I would much rather not work so hard. I would rather
go home, watch a movie, run around, swim, and play badminton… whatever.
Coming to which. At the start of the month I had the good
fortune of going to Israel on a work trip. It’s a lovely country and the people
have shown what a resolute bunch of people with no shared national identity but
a shared religion and a sense of a shared history of persecution can do. Jews
around the world have come and set up their land and lived together creating a
thriving country from nothing more than a desert. As every Israeli will tell you,
they sleep with their one eye open. They are hated by their neighbors who would
like to finish them off in an instance. It’s a global melting pot. Especially
thanks to Jerusalem, which is the holy place for Jews, Christians and Muslims,
all together in one crazy tight part of the city.
This character of making the most from less and the cut
throat competition coming in from immigrants all over the world, make Israel a
culture you can only learn from. They always want to make the most from the least.
Their products are top class thanks to their legendary investments in
technology and the fact that they don’t have enough people or resources forces
them to design products that are simple to implement and self-serving. It’s
difficult to explain in terms of tech but the simplest example of this is in
irrigation. They are country who invented drip irrigation. A perfect example of
irrigation technique that uses less water and people for the maximum impact.
I went running there, every morning. I travel very badly
when I am without family. I sleep late, I laze in bed and just generally I am a
grumpy guy. So I decided that with my new found passion for running, I should pack
my running shoes and kit and go running there every day. We were staying next
to the beach promenade and that would definitely be an added reason to go
running every day. So I did go running religiously. It was great run. Beach
side, water points along the way. Lots of open gyms. Everyone running there. It
was awesome. I saw a lot of locals playing beach volleyball on the nets laid out
for the people. It was the perfect recipe for disaster.
In the evening after a lovely swim in the Mediterranean Sea
(bucket list tick) while passing the beach, I couldn’t help but notice some
locals goofing around. We started playing with them. They were playing
volleyball but like football volley ball. The kid came out in me and the bucket list
number 2 kicked in. We joined in and a few stunts later, I fell in pain. I have
been taking care of my right knee for so many years. It keeps getting
dislocated and I keep putting it back. This time around, while attempting, god
know what, my right knee gave in. Oh freak. It didn’t dislocate but it did
twist enough to give me problems. It went for the rest of the trip.
When I was back in office, I was gently trying to kick some
kid in office when my knee buckled in again and I feel to the floor. It was
time to go to the orthopedic surgeon. An x-ray and an MRI later, the verdict is
out. I have severe ACL tear. In both knees. Which means surgery, one by one in
both knees. Okay. That is fun. It also means being out of action for almost a
year from most sports. Oh shit. In way I was / am really disappointed. I was
doing great. I had restarted running and I was doing 6 to 8 kms at one stretch
without too much effort. I could have gone on and on for long. But as Jispa was
counselling me “don’t regret it. You did go out in style.” Ya. I sure did. Now
what. Well surgery will follow. They supposedly take my tendon and stretch it
to become a ligament or something. It’s a minimal invasive surgery. Also there
is the matter of a meniscus tear in the right knee that requires shaving off.
Sigh.
I have always looked at the bright side of things and while
at it, I thing this knee thing was a blessing in disguise. I had so far refused
to see the orthopedic. It turn out that if I don’t get this fixed now, I might
have needed knee replacement at 55. That would have been pretty painful I guess.
At 55!
On another note. We have been enjoying our new home quite
well. We seem to be lazing around at home most holidays. Stepping out for a quick
meal nearby and watching Netflix. It’s a neat big house that I might have
dreamed off, all my life. Neat and tight. The big TV in the hall also seems
perfect, as we lounge around and watch Netflix and Amazon Prime. And the best
part – we have kabaddi season starting soon.
Kabaddi is the thing that we family bond over. Especially
when we understand the sport from close quarters and get some inside dope.
Fitness has come to kabaddi and we now are seeing the benefits of this in the
players as they get better. It has been a lucky break for me in my life. Things
that come to you just because you are open to new experiences and learnings.
