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Stressed-OUT!
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Stress is unavoidable in today's corporate scenario. Happiness depends on the acceptance level of people. K. JESHI meets up with those who do their best to take time out and enjoy life while SUBHA J RAO profiles the life of those who are simply unable to manage and face trouble both at home and in office
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IF YOU have not experienced the demon called stress, talk to the spouses of those who have. They'll tell you how their sweethearts turned into `not-so-sweet' hearts, if not outright bitterhearts. Deadlines and targets have ensured that many people return home to angry children, spouses and parents.
The problem is mostly seen in the corporate sector. Though many companies organise training programmes on stress management, stressed-out folks say the tips hold good only during normal days, not on month-ends and high-work traffic days.
"I have undergone two trainings so far, but then, it's fine when you have to just manage your work. The rules don't work when you have to manage a team," says Dhyuv, who works in a private sector bank. He is happy, though, for he is yet to get married. "Otherwise, I'll have to start lying over the phone to an angry wife who calls every hour to find out when I'll be home, and go face her every late night like my colleague Shashank," he quips.
Shashank's wife Priya wants to understand her husband better, but bringing up two children all on her own is getting nearly impossible.
"I used to work before, so I understand the importance of deadlines. But, I feel bad that Shashank is missing out on the growing years of our kids. Also, playing the dual role of mother and father is difficult. The kids don't even get to see him during the week," she rues.
Gone are the days when a bank job meant returning home in time for evening tiffin. Anathakrishna, Chairman of The Karnataka Bank Limited, says the role of banks has changed. "Customer demands are increasing and banking is no longer done like before. Thanks to technological tools which facilitate tallying, works gets done faster. So, working hours have increased. Also, the customer is now king. The staff is, therefore, being trained in Customer Relationship Management and change in mindset. That is helping them cope."
Yamuna, a newly married homemaker, bristles every time her `ignorant' friends, all married to businessmen, envy her for landing a husband who returns home in the evening. "I feel like yelling and telling them my plight is no different. I don't even know my husband fully well thanks to his late coming. I keep calling him up from 8 p.m. to find out if he'll come home for dinner. He attempts to take time off to please me, but that never happens." Such friction invariably gets reflected on the couple's marital life, doctors say.
Infertility is on the rise among younger couples, who simply don't find the time to `do' it anymore. Many people also land in hospital, thanks to stress-induced illnesses.
"I'm amazed I have not landed in hospital till now. My job (in a BPO) has ensured that everything, my waking and sleeping hours, my work schedule and food habits, has changed, for the worse.
Even on my day off, I can't sleep in the night and I don't feel hungry during the day," says Natasha.
Thanks to hormonal changes triggered by work-induced pressure, her periods have also turned irregular.
Ask these stressed-out executives if they miss out on the fun that others their age enjoy, and you hear a unanimous `Yes'.
But, will they quit their job and lucrative pay packets for better quality of living? "No. We don't really have a choice.
This is how everyone works today. We have no choice but to accept reality," they say.
(All names changed on request)
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