Head...

The shampoo was stuck!

There was only a little left and whoever used it last had not placed the bottle lid-facing-down (like I always do) on the shower rack, which meant that the little left was all the way at the bottom.

I turned the bottle upside down and as the thick shampoo slowly made its way down the wall of the 44 Fl oz (130 ml) bottle, I let the hot water from the shower hit the soft spot on my lower right back.

As I watched the shampoo fall, not only was I able to get sufficient warm treatment for my soft spot, I also made a gentle adjustment to let the water relax my shoulders for a while.

When eventually, the shampoo slid past the neck of the bottle into the lid, I leaned my neck back a bit to wet my hair even as I slid my hands over it, from my face to the back.

Convinced that my hair was well wet, I reached out for the shampoo bottle.

Opening the lid with a gentle click on one end of its top, I let a little bit of the shampoo fall on to my left palm and quickly closing the lid with a click at the other end of the top, I returned the bottle to its place on the shower rack, lid facing down.

I wash my hair twice (always), but the first time, I use only very little shampoo.

It doesn't generate a lot of foam but it certainly does something (I don't know what) to prep my hair, for when I quickly wash my hair to drain off the shampoo-ness and apply a second coat, it foams up in a second (pun in-intended)!

Once I apply that second dose of shampoo, I usually let it sit a bit (I don't wash it right away) and I start applying soap on my body (while I carefully maintain the position I've adjusted it to while applying the second dose, so the water doesn't fall in my hair).

I did the same that day!

It would be inappropriate to state the parts I soaped in order, so suffice to say, I arrived at my face (as I always do) once I was soaped toe to neck.

I cleaned my ears first, just the way my dad had taught me as a child, using each of my thumbs to rub hard against the inside of ear on the other side, while my fingers held the ear's back.

Ears done, I spread the soap over my eyes (careful not to let it seep inside), my cheeks, chin, jawbones and on to the back of my ears and neck (just in case I didn't hit it before).

I finally arrived at my forehead (like I always do)!

Massaging my temples, I let my fingers feel the flatness of my forehead and realizing this is the final part I soap before I face the shower to start washing myself, I let my fingers slowly slide upwards to where my skin meets my hairline.

Only that day, my fingers kept moving... a long time!

Even as I involuntarily turned around to face the shower, it hit me how much my hairline had receded, as the water hit my face...

P.S. What a better day to tell this story than the one on which most Indians take a sacred shower after having an elder apply a little oil on their head?

Happy Diwali one and all...

OCD...

It was 12:37 PM!

"Enough time to get a cup of coffee before my next meeting," I thought.

I picked up my phones from my desk and as I started walking towards the elevator (I work on the 11th floor), I opened the Starbucks App on both my phones, checked to make sure that both had refreshed to the same messages / look-and-feel on the feed (a little quirk that some may call OCD)!

I hit "Pay" on both phones, smiled when I noted the balance, hit order on both phones and when the Starbucks App on my Comcast provided mobile phone did not locate the Starbucks in Comcast Center as the closest location to order from, I completed my order of a Tall Latte with 2 Shots (aka Double Tall Latte), with a few clicks of my right thumb on my personal mobile phone.

I was pleasantly surprised to see no customers (forget no line) when I arrived at the Starbucks store (in the lobby) and even happier when within a minute of arriving, the barista said, "Bala, your Double Tall Latte." It gave me sufficient time to get back to my desk, pick up my computer and walk over to one of our VPs' offices for my 1 PM meeting.

I should've probably expected it, given it was lunch hour and not many people would choose to get coffee at that time (especially if they had already had 3 cups since 5 AM)!

Most importantly, it gave me that extra moment to make sure the Starbucks logo on the brown sleeve aligned with the Starbucks logo on the white cup, after I had added to my hot drink, 1 packet of raw sugar and stirred it well with 2 wooden stirrers.

Trust me, it's not even my worst OCD!

I think that started with Numerology...

Even as my mother suggested I spell my name Lakshminarayan (and not the more common Lakshminarayanan), it occurred to me that numbers would play an important role in my life.

10 (my birth date) was lucky and so were 1 (the sum of the digits of my birth date) and for some reason, also 7 and 9.

It was when we started winning competitions every time my partner on the college Dumb Charades team picked a number (to decide the order in which we would take the stage), that that "5" became my luckiest number!

Now, lucky numbers are one thing but when you start adding up the digits of the time in hours and minutes to ensure you send an email (especially important ones) only when it adds up to 1, 5, 7 or 9, YOU NEED HELP.

Even shrinks would give up on me if they hear my restaurant routine!

For, every time I receive the check, I do the math in my head to make sure the tip (10 to 15% usually), adds up to make the total amount a perfect dollar figure (no cents please). If the dollar number ends in 5 or 0, it's sheer ecstasy...

As I started my walk back to the elevator after I got a new lid from the barista (the original one had fallen in the trash as I removed it to add the raw sugar), I pulled out my phone (only one this time as my right hand held my coffee), opened the Starbucks App and hit "Pay".

One of the reasons I love the Starbucks App experience is how quickly they refresh the data, and it gave me immense joy to note that, the balance, which was now showing $0.00, had been $4.27 (the exact price of a Tall Latte with 2 shots) before I ordered the coffee.

Tell me please, should I be worried?


P.S. I'm posting this at exactly 11.50!

Thank...

I thank my friend and end the call.

All I find to lean on is the wooden pole of an electric post. Tucking my water bottle under my right arm pit, I lean my right hand against it and use my left to stretch the quadriceps on my right leg.

I pull out the water bottle with my left hand and decide to hold it there as I lean again on the post, this time using my right hand to stretch my left quads.

I set the music option in MapMyRun to "All Music". Quickly checking to make sure the mode is set to "Shuffle"before I "X" out (back) to the home screen, I click "Start Workout"...

I don't seem to remember when the phone and water bottle exchanged hands for the phone to go into my left trouser pocket, but I swiftly switch the water bottle from my right back to the left, soon as I sight the first car. I raise my right hand, index finger up...

I run on the road!

Even where there is a paved sidewalk, I prefer the blacktop to the hard concrete and going east on Marne Highway (from Larchmont to Creek) on the first leg of my 3-mile course, there is none, so not only do I run facing the traffic (something I learnt at school), every time a vehicle passes by, I raise my hand to it...

"It's not easy to miss me in my black shorts and bright red shirt", I think to myself (though I should've worn a lighter one given its warm). I immediately see a Red Jeep with black tires and metal frames approach me and pass by (to which I raise my hand again). I smile...

I usually raise my hand only when the shoulder is narrow (or none). If the shoulder is wide enough, (usually when the the driving lanes themselves are wide), I play it by ear.

When I notice a bus as I approach Marne and Masonville, I'm taken by surprise. Not only is this the first time I've seen a bus running this course, it just pulled up at its stop in front of Dunkin Donuts, which means the bus is on the shoulder...

I raise my hand again as she (the driver is a lady) pulls back out on to the street just as I get closer, my water bottle doing the swift switch back and forth between my hands again.

Not that I need a water bottle for a 3 mile run (in fact I prefer to run with my hands free)!

I just picked one up as I walked out of home and like Eric Orton (Christopher McDougall's coach in Born to Run) says, "it's good practice for when you need one"...

I pass Masonville!

It means that I'm now committed to the 3-mile run (unless I choose to to take a left on Fleetwood Ave once I've turned left on Creek).

I raise my hand again, this time to a group of cyclists, riding the shoulder towards me. It's the right thing to do after I notice one of them (gesturing with his right hand) indicating to the rest of the group to shift a little to their left to make way for me...

I'm not fast either (my usual pace is between 12 and 13 minutes a mile), but once I crest the little hill at Mama's Pizzeria, I settle into a comfortable pace to complete my first mile in 12:32.

I turn left on Creek!

Creek is one long hill (like my colleague Ken Anderson likes to say) and as I start the climb, I feel the stiffness in my right leg and lower right back (I should continue the physical therapy). So I decide to conserve my energy as I tread the hill so I can settle back into a rhythm going down...

I see a Red and Black Jeep pass me (from behind this time) and I wonder if it's the same one I saw going the other way on Marne. I continue my climb up the hill, faithfully raising my right hand and index finger to every passing car, and my full outstretched palm to those that choose to veer left and stay close to the median. It helps, especially in those parts, where the shoulder reduces to none.

I turn my head left at Fleetwood Avenue!

I even raise my left hand to the car approaching the turn (from Fleetwood) as I catch a glimpse of the green outfield at Fleetwood Elementary School, but I raise my right again as I step on to the shoulder on Creek (past the Fleetwood crossing), fully committing myself to the 3 miles this time...

I see a dead rat!

I step on to the grass this time (to go around him), given there's hardly a shoulder at that point and that what's approaching fast is a 4x4 truck. I raise my hand anyway...

Mile 2 is slower (Time: 25:20)!

As I straighten my back and look up to step up my pace, I notice the Red and Black Jeep again, but it's the red Volkswagen Jetta that I raise my hand to (as I turn left on Masonville), that has stopped for me before turning right (on Creek)...

I approach the Buis' residence!

All 4 of them run and I wonder if they see me every time I stumble by and what they must think of my languid pace but my attention is quickly diverted to an approaching U-Haul truck, that (don't know why) instinctively makes me take to the grass. I quickly step off it and back on to the shoulder realizing it's their lawn. I raise my hand to the Nissan Altima and Rogue in tow.

I usually cross over to the other side of Masonville, closer to my turn on Larchmont, but I even as I pass the other end of Fleetwood, I turn around to see if there are cars headed my way toward Marne. I trot over to the other side...

I raise my hand again (the left this time) and keep it raised till I approach the turn at Larchmont, to signal to the cars I hear behind me!

I raise my right again to the kind lady, who among a stream of cars turning left on Masonville from Larchmont, chooses to let me pass, back to the shoulder and my safe side (facing the traffic)...

It's the homestretch, but I still feel the stiffness in my right leg so I stick to my slow pace. The shoulder is wider here (and so is the driving lane) but I also stick to raising my hand to every passing car, as Larchmont bends left and quickly right again.

My son ran with me once!

A couple of miles on a Spring afternoon up Elm Street in Concord, MA.

"Why do you keep raising your hand every time a car passes by dad?", he asked me.

"To thank them for not killing me", I said.

We both laughed! And kept running...

As I finish mile 3 at 38:12, I can't help but remember that I wore black pants and a red shirt that day in Concord too! I smile again...

After I hit the button for the Walk Sign at Larchmont and Marne, I raise my hand one last time, to the cars lined up at the light, before beginning my walk back home...

Bus...

I saw her late!

I had turned left on to Marne Highway and was cruising west at over 50 mph, when I really noticed. That down the road, to our right (my son was with me), at the edge of the shoulder, was a woman.

Not that she was easy to notice!

She was short and seemed to be standing right where the 2 large fields seemed to converge. Especially with the grass being really tall, it was hard to notice her till we got really close.

The only thing I noticed as we passed her was that she wore a pair of white earphones. Why she was standing at that exact spot, not that I could not fathom, but I really didn't think about it.

I didn't give her another thought either!

We went on to pick up Ganesh from his home in Moorestown (the next town), turned back around and headed to the YMCA. Where I dropped off the boys and then turned home bound.

It was as I passed Hartford going east on Marne that I saw her again!

Not only was she to my left this time, the way the road angled ahead, she was in my direct view.

That's when it also struck me why she was standing there!

She was waiting for the bus.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?", I asked myself! "Are buses plying this route that infrequent?"

My mind was transported in a moment to another place, another age!

I smiled to myself and it only became bigger, even as my car went up the hill, I noticed a bus, bound for Camden, just leaving the light at Larchmont, headed down her way.

I thought of the other place as I passed it!

"Madras", we used to call it.

I thought of long waits at a bus stop!

I'm not sure why, an image of the one in front of Valluvar Kottam flashed before my eyes.

Everyone did it!

"I waited for an hour today", they would say.

While '37' had a higher frequency, legendary was the wait for '25', bound to Triplicane.

I came up to the right turn at Larchmont!

I turned further right at Narbeth and eased to the left on to Normandy.

"There was no telling when the next bus would arrive!"

"There was no app for that", I thought as I pulled in to my driveway.

"Only the rectangular bus shelter, with its neat little squares that housed the bus routes."

"The endless sunshine and several other people waiting for theirs"...

Imagine...

"Hey! How's it goin'?" he asked.

"I'm good," I said, "How about yourself?"

"Just tired," he responded.

"I can imagine," I said!

It's a phrase I learnt during my call center days. An expression call center employees were trained to use when a customer expressed a problem or concern.

"It's natural to say - I understand," the trainer explained.

"But imagine a situation! A customer is trying to complete the purchase of his new home by a certain date. He would like to move in before the new school year starts for his children, but his home loan is not approved though he was promised approval by that date and has submitted all the documents he was asked to."

"In that situation, if you said, "I understand", the customer would say, "No, You don't understand!"

"Which is why a better way to respond is to say, "Dear Mr. Customer, I can imagine how that creates a problem for you..." and then provide the reasons for the delay, or better still, an alternate solution."

It struck a chord right away! And has stayed with me for over 15 years.

Which is why, as I got ready to stretch my hamstrings and quadriceps at my 7 PM physical therapy appointment (the last one for the day), I could imagine why Warren (one of the therapists) felt tired...

Spring...

I leave the office!

5:20 on Friday evening and and I feel like I got some work done.

I pause a moment in the lobby.

I need cash and I have a decision to make.

I can either go down to the food court, get cash from the No-name ATM and pay a transaction fee or I can walk 3 blocks left in the wind to my own bank.

I tuck my scarf into my coat so it covers my neck.

I wish I can put my hands in my coat pockets too, but I'm carrying this huge binder from the training program I attended that morning in one hand and leftovers from the Thai food I had for lunch in the other.

Luckily, a homeless man curled up on the sidewalk, graciously accepts the leftovers.

I wonder why the ATM area at the bank is filled with policemen!

I find it funny that every single one of them is busy looking at his phone.

It's a 6-block walk back to my parking garage.

I transfer the binder to my right hand so my left can have some respite.

The attendant at the parking garage is happy with the 20.

Still, there's a long line of cars on the street and to turn right, I'm at their mercy.

The Parkway looks rather empty!

I make a couple of phone calls even as I weave through Race Street.

I chance upon the sky as I approach the Ben Franklin bridge.

I'm surprised, it's almost 6 pm and there's still light!

It makes me smile...

Soon, it'll be Spring.