Most of my life has been about handling delicate balances. As a kid: Watching TV & Playing Games 😊 !! As a Teen: Studying for Boards / Competitive Exam & watching movies!! Professional: Running the rat race & Seeking work-life balance!! Post motherhood, this balance has reached an altogether different paradigm.
- Should I re-evaluate job roles to have higher flexibility? Are out-of-station projects still on?
- Is my baby’s weight appropriate? Why has the diet gone down? When are the teeth expected?
- When can I go for my next vacation? Which was the last book I read?
- Can I have any running related goals? Where is the time to practice?
All this and
much more continue playing complex permutation and combinations in my mind as I
go through the daily chores. Unconsciously, I have been a believer of the fact
that “With the right intent, Time expands to create space for accomplishing any
amount of work.”
After exhausting
my 6 month maternity leave (one of the few Government niceties which even
middle class can avail of J), I joined back at my Turnaround Consulting job. With the
bankruptcy laws passed, suddenly there was a deluge of projects. Thankfully a
major chunk of the same were based out of Mumbai. Staying outdoor for whole
week would have complicated the balance so I had to plan. I chose an ensemble
of projects that required day-travels for 1 – 2 times every week. Shuttling between Mumbai, Nagpur and Delhi;
I got my career’s fastest jet tier upgrade so far!
The tradition of
nuclear family has provided people of my generation our much-revered private
space. However, in the bargain, we have also ended up taking a large part of
child rearing on our uninformed shoulders. Heidi Murkoff with her What to
expect series, came to rescue! God bless her! :D Closer home, this was to be a two-person
team with me and my husband (DK) working on a relay team basis. Then it was
about rummaging through maid-day care combinations to arrive at the very best
fit within the available options. Despite initial constraints, our son warmed
up to his friends at day-care. Every
weekday morning, he is the most eager amongst the three of us to go to his
“office”.
I try to adhere
to a target of at least a book a month. With the child rearing, a whole new
genre had naturally been added to my repertoire. And then out of no-where came
the “Amazon Book Challenge” depositing over 20+ books across varied genre at my
door-step. Now there is something enchanting about fresh new pages which Kindle
has been unable to erase. Due to paucity of time, I wanted to make my reading
hours count rather than seek pleasure in mundane fiction. With a curiosity of
understanding the modern-day Baba–Sadhguru, I started with “Inner Engineering”.
The book lays out some of the very complex aspects of our life in very simple
terms. Over few months, I have developed strong interest in alternative diets,
beliefs, breathing etc. While this has
definitely opened a whole new genre for me; I am also considering complete
overhaul of my diet (evaluating vegan.. leaving details for another day),
re-evaluating my sleeping pattern and re-focusing on yoga.
Over the last
few years, our vacations have centered on either “Running” or “Family Functions”.
So, it came as no surprise that my Kid Brother (will always be a kid to me)
decided to marry just about six months after my delivery. With the event
scheduled in Shimla, there was this small matter of travelling Kanpur –
Chandigarh – Shimla – Chandigarh – Delhi – Lucknow – Kanpur in 48 hours. With
my son still less than 6 months and not introduced to solids, it was a
herculean operation management task. Inventory in stock without causing dry-outs,
storage without compromising quality, feeding pattern without involving prying
looks, as we rumbled through train, bus, flight, auto, and taxi in the North
Indian Winters. Once again, planning combined with some luck carried the day
and on a chilly & windy 8 deg C
Shimla night, my son attended his first baraat!
Home is where
the heart is. After a day’s hard work, one seeks the peaceful comforts of home.
Despite all the brickbats they are garnished with, Managing Committee (MC) in
Mumbai Buildings always have a lot on their plate in ensuring the above. With
the diversity of residents, the committee is a microcosm of the country and
that comes with its own idiosyncrasies. Somehow, DK cajoled me into standing
for the same. One thing led to other and I was chosen to work as the Society’s
Treasurer. With myriad issues, running a
society comes up with its own unique challenges, to name a few, broken access
road, structural repair, water outages, lift spill overs, etc. etc. etc. the
list goes on and on..!!
You don’t stop running
because you get old. You get old because you stop running – Christopher
McDougall
Well not
strictly so, but still running has been an essential part of my existence over the
last decade. Post pregnancy, I was diagnosed with grade 4 runners knee (with
36% weight gain during 9 months!) and was not even able to walk 2km without
pain. After multiple visits to physios and plethora of strength exercises, I
was back on the starting line of Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM), 7 months
after my son’s birth. And did an encore at Tata Mumbai Marathon (TMM) two
months later in Jan ‘18. Somewhere, I had made a promise to myself of running a
full Marathon before my son completed his first cycle round the sun. With some
focused intense practice over four weeks post TMM, and a huge support from DK
who missed all his training sessions for me, I fulfilled my promise at IDBI
Delhi Marathon in Feb end (two full months in advance of target). These runs gave
me belief that my body was now strong enough for getting back to longer runs.
After the surge
in Marathons, India is now catching up even faster on the Ultra-running scene.
For the perspective, from 2 runners in 2009, Comrades Marathon (arguably
world’s oldest and largest Ultra) had close to 200 Indians at the Durban
starting line in 2018. Back home, Sanjay Mangla and Team are carving out their
own niche in this space through Tuffman series of Ultra-runs from the heights
of Ladakh - to the hills of Shimla - to the beaches of Goa/Andaman - to the
deserts of Jaisalmar - to the forest of Coorg. To get my engine going, I had
chosen 50K at Shimla.
So six months
after that eventful previous visit, I once again found myself in Shimla.
With the run in mind, focus this time was on marveling at the sheer
gradient/drops of even the very normal roads within the town. For me, this
event had been preceded by some carefully crafted practice schedule ensuring
both me and DK have the requisite mix of high impact (read hills) and LSD (long
slow distance) mileage. Gradually, the 20s converted to 30s and moving up to
40s. By the time, I reached Mashobra-Shimla, I was somewhat confident of
finishing steadily. Distance was manageable though I had heavily underestimated
the drops n climbs (given my history of grade 4 runner’s knee). Bigger
challenge was whether my son will withstand staying away from both of us in a
relatively new location especially when we had to leave very early in the
morning while he was still asleep!
True to our fear, Race Organizers gave us
the frantic message from home at 30K mark forcing us to curtail our run and
rush back at 35K. DNF is a very difficult pill to digest but we decided to
stick to our rule – Either both (DK & KV) of us finish or neither does. After
moving some distance back in car, our concerns were assuaged by a call from my
sister-in-law that my son was calm now and we should complete our race. God
bless my sis-in-law, her mom and benevolent neighbor who managed the wailing
child for 6 hours! Well, we asked the driver to rush back and returned on the route.
On 23rd June, exactly 14
months after delivery; I ran the 50K on the steep Mashobra Hills in 7:12:41
earning my first ITRA points (3 to be precise).
Phew.. This year
has been an interesting roller coaster ride with multiple projects, multiple
flights and most important commitment in life! And lot of learning, two key ones:
A) Planning
(with attention to details) is a very powerful tool.
B) Having a plan
is critical, but adjusting to forced changes in plan is what makes the
difference.
So what’s next??
Keep Calm and Plan… One
Step at a Time!!!
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