Midlife problems have come up. Time is flying, life is changing. Everyone is telling me,” change the attitude & be happy.”

So I decided to change my attitude. I will do post-graduation so that I can grab the post of boss. After working 20 years at a hospital, I decided to study MRCPCH.

I pulled out my old dust loaded certificate bag after years of exile in the last drawer & sent my application. Due to the high cost of books, the photo copy shop owner who was a friend of my kids, got a new customer, their mom!

At home, the scream, “reduce the volume of the TV” was then in the reverse order. Now I was complaining of distractions. Soul satisfying social events & parties which once were pleasures of life became a waste of time.

Walls of the room are quite different now. Ikea frames were replaced by charts displaying formulas & reference values. When my forever jealous friend inquired whether the charts belong to my son then I answered that they belonged to me.

Her jaw dropped, which had never happened before. I was surprised to see how these diagrams had such a powerful impact on her than my diamond collection! Alarm clock came into action again, often switched off after the whole house was disturbed at 4am.

But soon I was slumped on the books, snoring peacefully again after half an hour. Morning newspaper and yoga were put on hold. My memory was confused and foggy without 5-6 cups of coffee loaded with caffeine.

At hospital, I was practicing clinical scenarios of practical exams with my consultant who is younger than me. Quite an amazing scene! The interns and students always ready with difficult questions are generally referred to as brain teasers or brain eaters.

Suddenly they became my favourite companions and I revised important topics with them. They were so glad and thankful. What a mutually satisfying experience! On the day of the exam, my kids gave me encouragement and wished me good luck.

Awaiting the result was another era, my mind kept rehearsing the list of excuses to be given in case of failure. But thankfully I passed. My heart started beating like DSF fireworks. Suddenly my life was in turmoil with new applications and file works. I wanted to see the faces of my colleagues who found the idea of me studying now, ridiculous! I’m expecting to get some perks now. My mind is full of ideas like million cars in the traffic jam! But now craze for study is gone. Look at the tide of time! Don’t forget it is the year two thousand & nine!

Everyone says, Job market is shrinking.

You are thinking of a change? Are you gone mad? This decision being bad you will regret and you will be sad. Forget the stagnation / progression Be happy with what you have.

Don’t forget this is RECESSION.

drsadhanaumesh@hotmail.com