Page 227 - A Banker Down the Rabbit Hole

this was a branch with a staff of 200 plus with three different Workers
Unions and two different Officers Associations. There were people who
would sit late after working hours and that may be a big distraction and
there was a possibility of getting involved in any brawl among themselves
due to obvious reasons. He told me that even my Chief was leaving sharp
at 5:00 pm and all others leave by 5:30 pm.

So, to cope up, I devised a new mechanism. I started carrying home
unfinished files and papers in my briefcase. It worked and pendency came
down a bit but the problem did not go completely. After a few months,
I started having slight headache or stuffy head by the evening that would
stay till I went to bed. Would feel better in the morning and it would
reappear towards the evening.

Finally after a few weeks, I decided to consult a doctor. He checked me
up thoroughly, got necessary lab tests done but did not find any
ostensible reasons for headache except blood pressure being slightly on
higher side which he called as "labile hypertension". Now he wanted to
find out the cause for this. He asked me about my profession and eating
habits, relations with colleagues, my wife and other family members. I
told him we had an excellent relationship and were a contented family
and there was no cause of labile hypertension on such grounds.

Finally, he diagnosed that bringing work home was too much taxing and
had resulted into raised blood pressure. He advised me strictly not to
bring office work home. He prescribed some relaxant tablets to be taken
at bed time and advised me to come for review after 15 days.

He also counseled me to take care of health that helps create and also
enjoy wealth. Any amount of wealth cannot be enjoyed with bad health.
If I continued to lose health, even employer might ask me to go. He
advised me to manage the work time better by cutting on unnecessary
discussions or gossip and meeting people after fixing appointments.

224 | A Banker down the Rabbit Hole