Pregnancy or something like it.

Due to long distance and to avoid heavy traffic, I leave early morning for work, I mean really early like 6.30. There are two advantages to this: one, I don’t have to apply sunscreen and two, I have evenings to myself and to my family. The only downside is, I no longer get any time to run in the morning. It literally translates into days bereft of any physical activity except moving my fingers on the keyboard and walking up and down to the cafeteria to get my lunch if that counts at all. As a result, I have been experiencing frequent migraines. Since I do not take any medicines, I decided to consult my neurologist once again.

He has a pleasant personality and a good sense of humor. He understands my lack of preference for allopathy. I request him not to prescribe any medicines which may be addictive. He cautioned me that though the medicines are not addictive but they may result in loss of appetite and consequently, I may lose some weight as well. I tell him that losing weight is not a concern as long as the chubbiness of my cheeks remain intact. My boyfriend will be happy, he teases me. Perhaps he doesn’t know that my imaginary super-intelligent indifferent boyfriend is more interested in studying manuscripts, authors and literature versus looking at my chubby cheeks. (No! Don't question my femininity.)

It’s been a week. I haven’t experienced any loss of appetite. In fact, I feel hungry every two hours. That’s also not a concern as long as you’re not stuck in long extended meetings. Other days I manage to sneak out for five minutes to grab a quick bite but today it is different. I am stuck with my boss, her boss, and couple of my DRs. The agenda is to conduct an RCA of a recurring problem. The meeting is likely to last approximately two hours. My boss’s boss also happen to have a history of migraine so she keeps giving me tips on how to combat this beast. Also, one of my team members is three months pregnant and she experiences equally strong hunger pangs or perhaps a little less, I can’t say, there is no scale to compare and I am not experienced in this field.

The meeting started at 09.00, right after I had my breakfast. We began with the discussion of the problem, the various factors contributing to it and then finally moved on to the possible solution. We are still strategizing on the implementation of the proposed solution and the results thereof when I realize that two hours have long passed. I hear my stomach grumble. I take a deep breath and tell myself to stay put as the meeting is about to culminate in a few minutes. But behold! My super boss has some other plans. She asks my team to go and orders me to stay. I request her to excuse me for five minute so I could grab a bite.

My team member blurts out almost without realizing her surroundings, “What’s with you. I’m the one who is pregnant and even I don’t eat as much.”

“Then perhaps, I am six-months virtually pregnant.” I reply swiftly.

"Objection overruled." says my super-boss bursting into a laughter.