Another couple

Two hours you say. That’s 120 minutes, or 7200 seconds. Phew! That’s a fat lot of time to spend. Hmmm... Can’t deny that I’m tempted by the prospect. Half an hour of extended sleep in the morning, an extra 20 minutes socializing on Facebook and Twitter, a couple of more articles to read, another episode of my favorite sitcom. That’s a neat little package. And that is probably where the extra 2 hours will end up each day. Piling up on the already tall heap of ‘meaningless’ daily activities. When did I end up devoting 40% of my day to these vicarious pleasures? How about a little exercise for the prematurely ageing joints? Well, since it’s only a plan I am supposed to conceive, I would like to be noble, if only in thoughts. I would like to spend 1 hour teaching my maid’s child, half an hour exercising and the remaining half hour sleeping. It’s one thing being noble, but an iota of practicality is essential to make the resolve strong, necessitating the inclusion of the last activity on the list. I know one hour of tutoring the young fellow won’t change his life or anything but that is the least I can do. And the best I expect from myself. Why this sudden softness of the hard-as-a-boulder, young urban heart, you may enquire? Well, I suspect there is a selfish motive behind it. I expect to feel good by doing the deed. Yes, that is what it is all about, isn’t it? They say every good intention has a hidden motive. This is the little devil behind mine. When I send that little kid off in the evening with a toffee for doing his homework well, I expect to treat my love lusting heart to a little toffee of satisfaction. So that the next time I blow up 500 bucks on that yummy pasta at Big Chill, the guilt is a little less heavy. Plain logic. You give something, you earn something in return. Meanwhile, the young fellow might bestow upon me a few newly learned abuses, but that’s another matter. If I get that kid to sail through the treacherous waters of school, I will be tempted to invest in his college education, which will perhaps be some real philanthropy. Till then, I’ll be quite satisfied if I can make a start by doing my bit for the underprivileged. As for the rest of the plan, I am supremely confident of my abilities to rest the old body for an additional 30 minutes. Roaming around in the tranquil gardens of sleep and conjuring up a few extra dreams has never been a challenge for my lazy but imaginative mind, and I expect the devil to rise up to the occasion. Well that’s it then, except for the darn exercise bit. Let’s see how that works out, given I haven’t ran so much as 100 meters at a stretch since the end of my splendid cricketing career (spent in the most cramped of northern Indian gullies). And that glorious career was succeeded by another fine one in smoking and beer gulping, which is yet to see the sunset. So, 30 minutes of jogging will be more like climbing a mini-Everest daily. I plan to take along my Doctor friend, just in case.

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