The ups and downs

~ 91 weeks to my 'Tees' (30th) ~

So, the first weekend of 2019 started on a high indeed. 

Our cousins from Kolkata were staying with us, and we planned a dinner with another cousin-couple, who had recently moved to Singapore. It was good fun indeed, catching up over 'Xiao Long Bao' and green tea, keeping up with our 'first weekend of the year at DTF' tradition. The after-party continued in our living room, listening to college stories and what not - love what a bit of a good ol' rum/whiskey can do to one's inhinbitions ;) 

I was working the night shift again on Sunday, so I had the daytime to do whatever I pleased. Despite the late night conversations, I did manage to reach before time, for the 'Art of Living Kriya follow up session' - the first session of the year. Not only was the session of yoga/pranayama/meditation/long Kriya amazing, the Guru Puja & knowledge session that followed was lovely too - I was uber glad I could attend it. 

The next noon, I was woken up post my night-shift slumber by the toddler who was back from playschool; but what really got me sitting in bed was the younger brother Rohit's message. When I had dozed off, his last message was "Off to Pune for work - don't know how long" - and then I woke up to "Acute appendicitis." I was clearly missing the in-between pieces. I rang him up immediately to find out that he had had abdominal pain and vomiting since landing in the city, and he had been to a hospital, and gotten a painkiller shot as well as an ultrasound which revealed that he indeed had 'Acute appendicitis'. The next couple of hours are a blur: they were spent on the phone, ringing back and forth - speaking to the brother's manager, his local doctor, my doctor/surgeon friends, my supervisors and Head of Department, the roster person, husband, parents who not! - at the end of the day, I was flying home to Bangalore (now Bengaluru) with my toddler in tow. Luckily, mum managed to reach Singapore on the immediate next flight from Jakarta, and we were headed together to Bangalore. 

I had taken a gamble, on my brother's health (fingers crossed that the inflamed appendix wouldn't burst enroute to Bangalore) and so obviously, as his healthcare proxy, elder sister (kind of like his second mother) and only doctor in the family,  I was nervous when I put my phone on flight mode, as we took off - afraid what the Whatsapp notifications would read like upon landing. Thankfully, despite his own flight delay, he was home and was coping. I reached and took him immediately to the nearby hospital, got him admitted and scheduled for the operation. I can't recall enough, but it most likely was my first overnight stay at any hospital as a patient's attender (I've obviously attended to family/friends in the daytime but first time at night). The brother dozed off... in the wee hours, I was saying my prayers of gratitude as everything was ok...and nothing untoward had occurred. I know I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself IF it had... 

Anyways, fast forward to 2-3 days later, and the brother was back home, after a successful, uncomplicated laparoscopic surgery and what we realised was that the Kamaths were together under a single roof, for the first time, since my wedding! We spent some good time eating Mom-cooked finger-licking-yum food, chatting loads and decluttering our home even (thanks to the Konmari bug that had bitten the family!). My good friends from medical school, Prudhvi and Althea, very kindly paid the brother a visit too, despite their busy schedules and I was very touched obviously. We also managed to squeeze in a family lunch to celebrate Mum's birthday (belated) where Rohit had to stick to 'curd rice' while I had 18 bbq prawns ;) (which is only half of Rohit's high score to date :D)

Soon, I was on the flight back, headed to Singapore. I was famished, to say the least. It felt great to be picked up by the husband at the airport (a first for us as it's usually, the other way round) even though it was quite early in the morning. I was also relieved that my shift that day was kindly shifted to the evening so I could recuperate, prior to heading back to work. And soon enough, it was the weekend again. I was working and Prantik had his cricket matches. Saturday evening, post work, I went for a spa session (was a birthday gift from some friends) while the husband took the toddler on a playdate to our friends' place; and then for the first time, we went for a midnight movie "Uri" with another couple, after putting the baby to bed. The Indian army-centred movie was invigorating indeed and expectedly, we really liked it. I was free on Sunday morning, so notwithstanding yet another late night, I traced my steps to another follow-up session - and again, was glad I went (I knew the next couple of sessions would be missed). I was refreshed and rejuvenated for another happening week.

Throwback to Guruji's words of wisdom: 'The ups of life, bring expansion - the downs, bring depth" 

And so, the journey of inner growth continued, through the ups and downs, that the past week had in store for me and us. I also told myself, that sometimes, we can choose how we perceive these so-called 'ups and downs' as well; and irrespective of circumstances, choose poise, choose calm, choose happiness, if you may. 

And, so when I got back around midnight on Sunday, I plugged in to some of happy, trippy numbers and woke the half-asleep husband and convinced him to watch some Netflix with me, clink our glasses to 'life', and just chill... :)