Here now. Gone forever...

On September 22, in Mumbai, a member of our off-shore support team died of a brain hemorrhage. He was just 23. Most of the people in our company had never met him. No. I think no one had. The Claims team of our company worked with him regularly. They spoke to him every day while working on the reports. They often teased him about silly things like whether he was going to get drunk over the weekend or not. They developed a special bond with him – after all he was their colleague who just happened to be very far away. He hadn’t been feeling well lately and had been away from work for a week or so. One of the Claims Team members, V, said to him “S, you are not forgetting us, are you?” to which he said “No”. Then she said something to him that I am sure she will always remember. She said – “S, you know you are indelible in my heart, don’t you?” And he said “Same here, V. Same here” That was last week (or maybe early this week). And today he is no more…

I am amazed at how people can form so strong bonds of friendship over long distances without even seeing each other. How they begin to mean a little more to us each day. How their absence is sorely missed. Even when they were not with you from the beginning. They were just a voice over the phone and now just a memory in your heart.

Such tragedies remind me how fragile life is. And how unexpected its twists and turns can be. I have been trying to imagine the state his parents must be in. They must be devastated. This was the time for them to plan their son’s wedding, not his funeral. A few of us in the company were talking about him and someone mentioned his age. Each one of us took that in a different context. Our HR director said all she could think was “Oh my God! He was just my daughter’s age!”. One person said she remembered that at age 23 she was living a carefree, happy life. I remembered that at 23 I was madly in love with my husband, then my boyfriend, and planning my future business that I was going to start once I got married. The biggest concern I had at that age was if my husband’s parents would agree to our marriage or decline flatly.

In other news, my brother was here for 2 weeks on a business trip and squeezed out time for us too. I had a great time with him after years – though I am still craving more. And my daughter just didn’t get enough of her “Sonu Mama”. It was crazy with my in-laws and him together in our house because there was so much juggling to do. But we all had a great time. Even went to Mount Washington in New Hampshire again (went there last year too, with my parents). Took the Cog Railway to the peak. Saw two signs in and around their Base station cafeteria. One said “Dinner choices: 1. Take it. 2. Leave it.” I loved it!! It sounds much like my kitchen :D

The other one was this –





Another similar sign I saw in a pet store said “Unattended children will be given a free puppy”! Many parents really do leave their children unattended in places they shouldn’t even take their eyes off of them. I am amazed at this stupidity is all I can say. And I have great respect for businesses that ask parents to look after their own kids (in other words, do their job!) in such funny ways. It takes a lot of restraint not to blurt something out to these parents. I should know – I worked at a Halloween Costume store for 2.5 years.

Am going in for transfer today. Zero Expectations. And the part that I am looking forward to the most is the two-day bed rest that I will be on afterwards!! After retrieval two days ago, my blood pressure was through the roof (184/117!!) It is lower now but not normal yet. I believe it happened due to a combination of stress from running around, the toll that an IVF cycle takes on one and the fact that I was badly bloated due to the medicines. (OK _ here is a half-baked theory. I was bloated, which means my body was retaining fluid. Which means my blood was denser than usual, which ultimately meant higher concentration of sodium. Hence – High Blood Pressure). Let me go and check that out right now. If I am correct, I will come back to say “I told you so”. If you don’t hear from me, assume I was wrong :P

Update: Well, I was partially right! Fluid retention does raise blood pressure. But that does not make the blood dense - it increases its volume. Of course! (smacks her head - twice). The increased vloume raises the blood pressure. Q.E.D.