My Sabatical from Work

By Alfons Madoc, (my sister)
We all need to retreat, realign and refresh at times .... here is how my sister did it . An excellent example of how Goal Setting can do wonders !!!

Introduction

Long working hours, unending piles of work, children and homework neglected, food taste unsatisfactory………nothing seemed to be in perfect scenario. This incompleteness was causing a vague sense of burnout. I needed to stop my world from spinning for a moment. Then think what I wished to do. Maybe a break from work for a month or so. After many deliberations and discussions at work I got the desired ‘sabbatical’ sanctioned. No phone calls, no mails. This is unlike the regular leaves which make you still responsible for all the work entrusted in your care.

What to Do

I’m an A type personality. Have to be always doing something. I cannot be still for long without any activity. So I had to list the things that I intended to do during this time. Here it goes:

1. Travel/trip

2. Read Books

3. See Movies

4. Cooking

5. Ron/Bon

6. Housekeeping

7. St Stephen’s Hospital

8. Learn something new

9. Collage of pics

10. Discipline for Happiness

Travel

My sabbatical began with a triangular trip to Bangalore, Mysore and Ooty. Bangalore to meet my dear Manoj, Philo, Alex and family. Met all three and chatted up. The kids had a fantastic time with cousins. The delicious food at Manoj, the beautiful home of Alex intact with a lot of gizmos, the homeliness and liveliness at Philo’s, all were very memorable.

Ooty was a long pending desire. Even as I was in school and we used to make our trips to Kerala, this was one hill station, I felt we must go. After a lot of deliberations by Madhu with Manoj and Alex we finalized our trip. The toy train on which Shahrukh danced to Chaiya Chaiya, the tea plantations, the tea and Chocolate factory, Lambs Rock, Dolphins peak, boating and shopping and some good food and our trip was done! What added to the delight was the journey through the forest where we could see many a deer in their natural habitat and also many a shooting spots for the typical song sequences of Bolllywood!

Mysore had 2 must sees. One of course the palace and the other one being the Mysore Zoo. You name the animal and it is there in the zoo. Healthy and active. After seeing the Delhi Zoo about 3-4 times, the Mysore Zoo was really a treat especially for Ronnie and Bonnie. I enjoyed it too.

The flight to and fro was also a fascination in itself for Ronnie and a joy for Bonnie.

Books

What to read? Coming from a family of Book Worms I cannot let my reading habit die just because of lack of time. I had to read all the so called “Best Books”. So I asked a few close family and friends and got a list ready:

1. War and Peace

2. Les Miserables

3. Who moved my Cheese

4. Sunset Club

5. Be All You Can Be

6. Outlier

7. 7 Habits

8. The Secret

9. Prisoner At Birth

10. Atlas Shrugged

11. Pelican Brief

12. Night Train to Lisbon

13. Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

14. Kite Runner

15. Fruits of Earth

16. Prophet

17. Of mice and men

18. Winter of Discontent

19. Bhagwat Gita

20. The Holy Bible

I stopped asking after getting 20 suggestions for Best Books. The above choices include suggestions from Monchetan, Lincy, Anna, Manoj and Litty. Of them, 8, I read. 3, I had read earlier. That still leaves 9 books for me to read.

Movies

Last year saw me emerging as a movie fan. Only English or World movies, though. In pursuance of my interest I also got a list ready of ‘Must See’ movies. Well, I must add that suggestions in this arena was not very forthcoming, anyway……..I got a list……

1. War and Peace

2. Les Miseables

3. Anna Karenina

4. Gone with the Wind

5. Life is Beautiful

6. Roman Holiday

7. Benhur

8. Amistad

9. Heidi

10. Tempest

11. Shakespeare in Love

12. The Queen

13. Kings Speech

14. Invictus

15. Pearl Harbor

16. Kung Fu Panda

17. Transformers

18. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2

The first 3 are books! Now you know what my inspiration is. Yes, I liked the books so much that I was tempted to see the movie as well. War and Peace is Awesome! Well, the last 3 was added by my kids! Leaving 3, I managed to see the rest!! Yes, I’m getting to be a movie buff.

Ron Bon

Summer vacations for kids are these days loaded with holiday homework. And it is near impossible for kid to do it all on their own. Thus, a lot of time was spent with Ronnie and Bonnie searching for pictures of shapes, pictures with a certain sound, places and faces. And projects on Silk, mathematicians……yes, interesting too. Getting Ronnie to speak and understand English was one main target as well. The Bangalore trip was the beginning of learning to speak English. Well it was good to have spent so much time at home with them. Lucky we, who had our Mom at home when we returned from school! I guess I assuaged a little bit of my guilt of not spending adequate time with them with this break.

Cooking

Rising complaints of the maid not cooking well…..I knew it was time to Rise to the occasion. Thanks to the inspiration from Manoj, I bought a few cook books and got started. It’s amazing how a little bit of inspiration and some perspiration in the kitchen can lead to such satisfactory smiles from hubby and kids. By the way, lack of frown on Madhu’s face is to be taken as a smile. And asking for a second helping is actually a sign of a lip smacking delicious meal!! It is fun cooking! Hope my enthusiasm lasts!

Housekeeping

Clean home is a must and a beautiful home is a desire! Somehow with 3 boys at home cleaning is one continuous task! I wanted it clean and tidy inside out, from attic, to bed boxes to cupboards and everything else.

Got a little bonsai from Bangalore, a bamboo shoot to decorate, tidied and spruced up the potted plants. 2 garden stools (read balcony), a shoe rack, some bed and table linen and a touch here and there was all my purse strings allowed for the moment! My greatest joy was the multiplying of one Champa to 4 Champas by cutting their branches and planting the branches in new pots. All 4 are growing well! There is a lot of joy in creation. Imaging how joyful our Lord must have been when he created it all!!

Collage

There was a time when I was always taking pictures. At every occasion, any time, any day. Now, I enjoy seeing them again and again. Guess, I’m getting old! What better way than to make a collage and put it on the wall. After cutting and putting together more than 125 pics, spending hours selecting and pasting them, my collage was ready. Framed with Madhu’s assistance in a neat manner it was soon put up on the dining room wall. It captures many events from my wedding till date which spans about 12 years! As the ad goes……12 years in one sheet, Priceless!

St Stephens Hospital

10 years spent at this institution is unforgettable. It is the place where Ronnie, Bonnie were born and the place I was working during this time. It is the place that gave me an opportunity to shift to my desired stream of work – HR. That was 4 years back. Today, thanks to the same I have made a decent place in Corporate Healthcare in the field of my choice. I wished to go back and meet all the people there and see how life has changed the place. It did not come as a surprise that nothing had changed. All the staff was as caring as before, with all the time in the world. It was a good feeling. I returned with a lot of volumes of the hospital newsletter, a brochure, 2 caps and a memory to last for some time to come. A thought did occur to me was to retire from this institution perhaps! To close where I began…….

Pranic Healing

This came unplanned. One call from one of my doctors at Fortis whether I wished to learn Pranic Healing and be a healer had me all ears! Yes, the thought of being able to heal had definitely a very good ring to it. What greater joy than to alleviate suffering and pain. That too without the gruel of 5 years of MBBS!! With 18 years in healthcare, this sounded just about right! So I entered into the basic course and then the advanced course. Now, I’m a Pranic Healer. I have learnt the stuff and have books to refer to. Now, I need loads and loads of practice to get to the heart of it. This too like medicine is an art and has to be practiced well to be perfected. It does not cost any money to heal and neither does it cause harm. It only requires time. To start with small aches and pains and when the doctor gives up hope then this is definitely worth trying. I have a ready person to try it on. Ronnie. And maybe teach too! Well, if (or shall I say once) mastered it could be my retirement pastime!

Discipline for Happiness

Frivolous mind, as mine is, tends to forget many things. So, I naturally became fond of checklists. Also, I realized that what causes stress very often is unfinished tasks. Both at work and at home. Well, at office I tend to be on my toes, and that has borne fruit and happiness. So, I decided to do the same at home. What evolved next was a Daily, Weekly and Monthly Checklist of To Dos. Some checks and balances on my finances, expenses and savings. Then got Bonnie and Ronnie to do the Check and Audit respectively of all Mom’s tasks! Well, print out taken, it has also found a place on the Notice Board. Now, I’m geared up to go back to work and take life headlong!

Ravi Nagar

This was unlisted in my to dos. Yet, this break saw me take 3 trips down memory lane. One with Mummy, one with Litty and Mom and the third with Monchetan. Cleared some debris, sorted some stuff and books and felt good! Well, we seem to be struggling to put together one tiny home and here Papa and Mummy have put together such a big home and that too with one person working and ten children. We must be having the best parents ever!

Conclusion

Life is one big journey and half the journey has already Gone with the Wind. No point shrugging life as envisioned in Atlas Shrugged. Sometimes life is like Tempest and sometimes like a Roman Holiday, but most often Life seems to be like Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, like seasons it keeps changing and keeps going on and on and gets us back again and again to where we started making a Full Circle. We must BE All We Can Be and be connected till the Sunset years of our life. Life is Beautiful!

Rejoice and be Glad! That is what HE said!

PS: I wrote this for the sheer joy of writing. By sharing this with all of you, I'm sharing a bit of myself.

Enjoy!