Minor complaint time.
I normally live for Fridays. Though I’m up at the crack of dawn preparing for the slew of conference calls we usually have on Fridays, I’m doing so in my sweats from my beloved white armchair in my family room, curled up with my laptop with the fire roaring and a cup of tea at hand. The mornings are frantic, the afternoons spent wrapping up activities from the week, and the weekend begins around 4:00 p.m. when Dr. P opens a good bottle of red.
Sounds pretty sweet, right?
Then I came to India…
After a night of restless sleep (I have major snooze issues in India) and hitting the snooze for about an hour, I reach for the iPhone and turn off the alarm and check my e-mail. Naturally, about 50 or so have piled up in my inbox while I tossed and turned. After scanning through them all (and replying to one or two), briefly checking Facebook and Twitter, I drag myself from bed, go through my morning routine, throw on the closest and cleanest salwaar kameez, and hungrily reached for the strong cup of coffee my aunt lovingly prepares for me every morning. After my coffee and a light breakfast of toast or pongaralu (pan-fried idly, my aunt’s delicious concoction), I plod down the stairs to the car and attempt to stay awake during the 5-minute drive to work.
Once arriving at TD, I trudge up the stairs and into the office, and sit as our driver brings up my work tote (a battle of wills I have recently surrendered). I putz around the Internet after booting up the computer, checking my Gmail, read the latest on my favorite blogs, and scan through the Google Alerts sitting in my inbox as I wait for my coffee to kick in. I forward the interesting articles and delete the rest and get to work responding to the e-mails sent overnight.
The rest of the morning is a blur, firing off e-mails, updating project tracking sheets, scheduling and participating in meetings, and staying awake with a steady stream of green tea. I head home around 1:00 for a home-cooked lunch prepared by my aunt(s), and after vegging for a bit return back to the office.
The afternoon is much like the morning though at a slightly slower pace, with the exhaustion from the week and the food coma settling in from lunch. One would think I would welcome heading home at 5:30, throwing on my beloved yoga pants and a soft J.Crew tee, and relaxing with the latest episode of Fringe/The Good Wife/Mad Men/Glee from my iTunes season pass, ready to welcome the weekend…
Yeah, not so much.
Those Friday morning conference calls in the States become Friday night calls here in India. Wrapping up around 10:30, I follow-up with meeting minutes and assigned action items after the calls, eyelids drooping and my fingers slowing down over the keyboard. What would normally take me an hour takes two, and by the time I actually crawl into bed to sleep, my brain is still running at full speed and I toss and turn, willing my exhausted self to fall asleep.
And then I wake up, and do it all again (minus the teleconferences).
“You would hate this to, if it happened to yoooooooooooooooou.” (sing to “It’s My Party”, I promise it makes sense).
Hats off to the India team, who do this every other weekend regularly. I can barely handle it for 5 weeks.
