Tension, a word so common in our daily lives. I bet you cannot find one who has not experienced this at least once in his or her lifetime. I would rather say that it starts at home as you obviously wake up at home and not in your workplace.
Children getting up late, allowing them only a few minutes to go for a wash, dress up and have a grub, the reason their mother overslept and failed to wake them up (she has been watching a late night movie on TV). Adding fuel to the fire, the children miss the school bus. Now it is the turn of the dad to accept moral responsibility for this debacle. Tension filled moments follow.
My first assignment abroad was with a British firm and I was made responsible for managing the service contracts. Having overcome the early tension of the day, I am at my office desk all set for more. A pile of problems passed on to me (passing the buck is the reckoning in any office). What more do I need for added tension?. I am about to clear the pile and the boss dashes in with a big list of complaints. The door closer is malfunctioning (as if I am a carpenter). Get it fixed before any wanted face breaks in. There is coffee stain in the carpet (I do not drink coffee in the office). Get it cleared as we have some important visitors (all heavy coffee drinkers). I assume the role of an acrobat leaving the pile of work half done. Two third of the morning is lost. Finally when I get back to the chair the telephone keeps ringing ruthlessly. A technician from the field calls "Hellow there, am going on leave tonight. Will be there at 7.30 pm for my salary and passport" (well knowing that the office closes at 6 pm). No sooner than I keep the phone down, an unfamiliar face appears at the door with a tricky smile of a typical insurance guy ready to take my life rather than protect it. As soon as I struggle out of that vicious circle the phone rings again, this time an offshore operator requesting for emergency leave. Now the hunt for a replacement begins.
So after a hectic day full of tension, I will be trying to heave a sigh of relief. There comes the boss again with yet another complaint that there is no water in one of the company flats. And for the next couple of hours I will be encountering departments disowning responsibility.
After all these, when I finally reach home, I usually come across a wife a kids putting up stiff faces with that pertinent question "Why are you so late?".
Having completed 12400 tension filled days in active service overseas, I finally decided to call it a day. Enough is enough, I concluded. Somehow I was confident (or was it overconfidence?) the days ahead in retirement will keep tension at bay. The children are now grown up and on their own. So we can expect ample support from them instead of tension unlike the days bygone. With retirement, stress at work will become history. But tension follows human beings like a shadow.
Before relocating to Kerala (God's own country) I spent a month of cheer and jeer with my son in San Francisco in the company of my wife and daughter. We had a really wonderful tension free time there and enjoyed life to the brim.
It took us a little while to settle down in Kochi. I felt completely at ease devoid of the stress at work. Barring minor dissents on petty issues at home, life was at its best. Tension is a foregone conclusion, I sufficed.
Having spent a peaceful year in retirement, we decided to make a trip to Singapore and Malaysia. After a fun-filled joyous ten days sojourn we took the return flight from Singapore. My sister was also with us during that flight. We had to be in transit at Kualalampur airport for about eight hours before flying to Kochi our final destination.
We boarded the aircraft at Changi airport. My wife and sister were in the front row and I was given a seat in the middle row. Before moving to my seat I kept my backpack and camera in the luggage hold right above the front row as it was virtually empty.
When the flight landed at Kualalampur my wife and sister alighted first. Being in the middle row, I had to wait in the queue for my turn. When I reached the first row I opened the luggage hold and found it empty. I assumed my wife has carried the backpack and the camera. I came out of the aircraft and walked towards the waiting area to join my wife and sister. On seeing me my wife asked "where is your backpack?". I was startled. Then only I realised that my wife removed the backpack and camera from the luggage hold and left them on the seat for me to collect. But I failed to observe it. I was left with no choice. I mustered strength, called out Almighty for help and dashed towards the aircraft which was preparing for take off. Pushing the passengers who were waiting to board the aircraft, I rather jumped into the aircraft and retrieved my backpack and camera and without caring for the Captain and Crew who were busy discussing about the unclaimed items on the seat, ran out of the aircraft. Had I been five more minutes late, the aircraft would have gone with belongings I would have lost them for ever. For a while I thought I was about to collapse as I was completely stressed with tension at its height. I sat down on the floor for a while till I could breathe properly and then slowly moved further.
Six months have elapsed without any untoward incident since we completed our near east trip. Life is back to normal.
If someone argues that "Tension reduces life span", I will have only "No" for an answer because I am still alive. But tension definitely needs attention.
