I am giving up my greatest addiction

To give up something that we love the most, is very difficult, and rather challenging. One such was my addiction to coffee that our ‘chaya cheettan’ brings (Though he brings coffee more than tea, we call him ‘chaya cheettan’, (for the non natives- chaya in Malayalam means tea) for reasons unknown.).

In the beginning I didn’t have much interest in the grotesquely bitter taste of the coffee, as I was a tea lover. But slowly I started finding it difficult to survive without coffee.

Yes, caffeine, the magic potion that made me do innumerable things at a time, without getting tired, was slowly overpowering me.

Usually we get the coffee by 12 noon, as ours is the last session of his journey throughout the city. So the coffee comes just half an hour before our lunch. I fell madly in love with that coffee and was slowly getting addicted to it. The addiction became clear when I couldn't have that cofee, as he didn't turn up with coffee one day. I started feeling restless and uneasy, a kind of‘withdrawal symptom’ I should say. This got repeated for a few more times, whenever he didn’t turn up, making it clear that the coffee was overpowering me. The funniest part of the story is that, I have this irritation only when I am in the office, and not at home, or in the hostel.

So on one fine day, I took the boldest decision to stop coffee. I was sure that it would be the most difficult task, as I was addicted to a-coffee-a-day habit, and had this as a part of my life for almost one and a half years. The lovely aroma of the coffee that ‘chaya chettan’ brings had thus almost seduced me by that time. As I said I rarely bother about it when I am at home. It’s a working day syndrome.

The very next day when ‘chaya cheettan’ came with a tray full of cups of coffee I purposefully ignored it. If I look at them my hands will involuntarily rise to take up one from them. He served the coffee to all my colleagues and left. I watched him going out and felt upset. Yes, the withdrawal symptoms were slowly rising in me. I tried to concentrate on my work, but headache and irritation persisted the whole day, and I just managed to do the work and reached hostel soon and had my tea.

The symptoms were much less the next day.

Gone cold turkey literally, as it’s my Day 5 without coffee and seems I have tried to overcome my withdrawal symptoms to a considerable extend.

The headaches and irritations at the beginning were so bad, but now, a kinda ok. I drink water or have some fruits at the coffee time, and satisfy myself, while the others have the yummy coffee… But no more nightmarish nasty consequences of caffeine dear guys...…

Time for a break!!!

A day without any tensions, I had a very happy time on Monday. A whole day without my PC and cell phone, a very happy non-online world, I badly wanted that, to get rid of the exhaustion that I had, after putting a hell of toil on my recent projects. Moreover the menstrual cramps were just killing me!!!

I crawled out of my bed only at 8 in the morning, had my coffee and breakfast, and came back to my room soon. The first thing that I did was changing my phone to silent mode. Actually I wanted to switch off my cell phone, but didn’t want my mom to get worried, and hence chose ‘silent mode’ as the best option. I had a book with me, but didn’t feel like hurting my eyes. They badly needed rest for a day. My roommate left by 9 am. I closed the door and jumped back to my bed. I felt so happy, even though I was alone, coz I was free of deadlines, at least for a day. I slept till 12.30!!! Yes, no one who knows me would believe this! But I really did! Getting sound and restful sleep for three hours is really great. That even took away my menstrual cramps and I felt absolutely fresh afterward.

The cleaning staff came by 12.30 or else I would have slept half an hour more. (lol).

After lunch I thought of going out for a walk, but the scorching heat wiped out that idea from my mind. What next? Well, I didn’t want to sleep again. Yes, the book, I thought of reading it and was about to take it, when my friend came in to my room. She had gone to attend her exam. We had a nice time together and talked about some interesting topics. By four I went to the mess hall to have my tea, and she went back to her room. I came back with a cup of tea for her. While she had her tea I had some snacks that she offered, luckily some of them were my true favorites like tea rusks.

My roommate came back by 5.30 and was surprised to see me fresh and lively, as she thought I would have felt really boring, being alone in the hostel. I told her that I had a wonderful day. She was very happy to hear that. I really had a nice time, no matter being alone or not. I did whatever I felt like, never had any restraints of any sort, and didn’t think of any of the disheartening things that occurred these days. I didn’t think about anything that had negative vibes. The whole day was just wonderful. It’s really good to take a break like this, as it refreshes our mind and body a lot. Thanks to Shirley for the idea!

I reached the office on time the next day, and everyone wanted to know the reason behind my sudden disappearance. I told my Branch Manager, that I had menstrual cramps, and she was fine with my answer. What about others? I didn’t give them the reason yet.