Wednesday, May 22, 2013
I’m no Roger Bannister, but I do a pretty good imitation every morning of a working day. It’s amazing how much one can fit into the last 15 minutes before rushing off to work.
If you’re one of those perfectly organised beings who find it hard to empathise with others who find themselves doing the five or ten-minute dash, please don’t bother reading this. Unless, of course, you want to live my life vicariously.
As a child, I loved to watch the clock as I was determined to be the first one in the world to actually see the minute hand move. Needless to say, it moves so fast on mornings like these that you’re left gasping in disbelief.
The day begins in different ways. Sometimes one has to loosen the grip of sleep and perhaps this is the hardest part. It seems to have bound your limbs to the bed and extricating yourself takes a lot of will power. It’s so much easier to sink into sweet oblivion. But if the alarm has gone off (internal or external, that is, body clock or timepiece), hauling yourself out of bed is the only way to go.
That’s because we all have experienced the rude awakening an hour later after falling into a deep sleep. Letting out a shriek of horror and dismay after glancing at the time, you realise that what you thought would be a ten-minute lie-in has stretched into much more than that.
So, panic buttons go off, silently, but alarming in their frequency. With “oh my gosh I’ll be late for work” running through your fuzzy head like a stuck gramophone needle, the rush hour begins sans the likelihood of bumping into Jackie Chan. But now you no longer have an hour at your disposal, it’s a matter of minutes.
Never have you moved so fast in your life. That’s when the Bannister comparison makes sense. Casting a longing look at the unread newspaper (actually it’s the Sudoku and crossword which are morning staples), you gulp down a cuppa and pour cereal into a bowl. But lo and behold, the box is much lighter than you thought it would be. Eyeing the trickle in the container, you recall what it is that you forgot to buy on your way home the previous night. That’s a great way to start the day — grouchy and hungry.
As the minutes fly, you find yourself moving from room to room (presuming you have several to flit through), stopping short in one you’ve flown into because you can’t remember what brought you there. Clothes are pulled out willy-nilly from cupboards and the frugal use of water in the shower would make any eco warrior proud. But it isn’t because you’ve gone green, it’s just that you have exactly two minutes to clean up your act.
By the time you’ve thrown on some clothes and brushed your hair, it’s another five minutes. You know it’s a losing battle, but you are ready to fight to the finish. And even if you go down fighting, at least you know you’ll look good!
Once you’re on the way to work, you are actually deranged enough to think that everything will be all right now. There’s the slow vehicle in front whose driver seems determined to stay in his lane on his own terms. Of course, every traffic signal works against you and by the time you arrive at the workplace, you’re a hair’s breadth away from tipping over into insanity.
Grabbing a cup of coffee to get a dose of much-needed caffeine into the bloodstream, you sit down at your desk and realise you’re ready to fall asleep. Several cups later, you find yourself back in working mode, ready to take on the world. At least until the next morning ...
By Vanaja Rao Stone Editor
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
