Work,wife,balance

I have been thinking of writing something but was not getting a good topic when my wife walks in.I tell her of my predicament and she suggests to write about her. I think to myself “My wife overestimates her prowess and feels there is a lot in her to write about”. To be on the safer side I ask her the question. “Tell me about one writer who has written about his wife and made money”. She points to the book on the shelf “2 states” as she walks out.I ponder for some time and go back to reading my current book by Hussain Zaidi. A brainwave hits me and I scramble for my laptop. We have been married for more than 5 years now and have been in totally different professions all along. I have been an Engineer/Manager for quite some time now and she has been an Assistant Professor all this while in Engineering colleges across Kerala and Mumbai. Life was simple, we had 2 different work lives, different colleagues and varied work problems. Things changed when about a year back I came back to my home state of Kerala for work. After spending a few years in the world of academia Jeslin decided to move on and starts to explore opportunities in the IT sector.

Picture courtesy: Vishnu Madhusudanan

Turns out that she bags a job in my company and suddenly our workplace becomes one. But nothing prepares me for what happens next. Not even in my wildest dreams have I imagined that we would end up working together. On the first day of work as we are walking through the lobby one of my colleagues makes a comment “Oh hi, you folks are a couple right ”. It is like going back to my college days in the picturesque Kerala University campus Trivandrum. If you are walking with a girl for a couple of days in a row you get asked this same question.The only difference being that you can walk with a different girl the next week but not in the current milieu.

During her first few days we used to go together for lunch because she hardly knew anyone. That itself was a huge ask for me because I preferred to eat alone to get some me time. With the new arrangement that goes out of the window. As luck would have it within 2 weeks after my wife joined I had to pack my bags and leave for an onsite assignment in Germany which lasted for a couple of months. Once I am back it is a totally different ball game altogether my wife has managed to get herself into a gang and goes on lunch with them. Phew, I let out a sigh of relief at getting back my ‘me time’. Not to be left behind I also manage to form a gang to go out for lunch. I have almost made it a point In my best interests to try not to hang out with my wife’s gang because there is a chance that whatever I say can circle back to her eventually. Previously her friends were only people in the periphery of my attention whom I hardly got to meet.

Picture courtesy: Vishnu Madhusudanan

Now it so happens that for the Company anniversary we have a Party arranged in a cruise ship through the scenic waters of the Vembanad lake. Without me realising my wife pulls out a fast one on me by asking me to take the car for the day. That would mean I cannot drink during the party. But I don’t let that dampen my spirits and start to break a leg because it has been a while. As the evening progressed adrenaline starts to kick in and I started to put the dance floor on fire. As luck would have it my colleagues who haven’t seen me in such an informal setting start to remark to my wife that I am a jolly good fellow post a couple of drinks. In reality it was only adrenaline working its magic. For the record she did check on me a couple of times just to be sure. Her offer to dance with me for a bit was also on these lines .I bet if it was back in Bombay she would have even kissed me just to be double sure. Anyways in office we had made it a point to try and stay out of each other's sights. Thankfully we were allotted two different workstations where there was a minimal chance of meeting each other. But everything has gone for a toss with the lockdown in effect where both of us have ended up working in the same room. P.S: For all my well wishers out there I have vetted this piece with my better half before publishing, so yes I live to tell another tale. If you like this post please check out another post "how i met your mother" on similar lines(click on the link below).

How I met your mother