Pressure point

Last week732;s high point was the visit to my doctor. After much frowning, he declared I would have to be on blood pressure medication for life.

Last week8217;s high point was the visit to my doctor. After much frowning, he declared I would have to be on blood pressure medication for life. I thought: life is a four-letter word.

No amount of bargaining helped and the cardiologist forced on me my second life partner 8212; Amlomed 5. I was told, like its human counterpart, it would bring out the worst in me if forgotten or ignored for a single day. I shared the news with a bunch of colleagues, witty but slightly lacking in empathy. 8220;Amlomed 5? Only five mg? You never really know what gives you pressure, baby,8221; said a veteran of blood pressure, indulgently. But, she added that I was at least better off. 8220;I have to take a diuretic too. You8217;ll get used to it,8221; she winked. I began to tell her that I was only 36, but was cut short: 8220;No booze, meat, salt; plenty of water. And go for a walk, all 45 minutes of it.8221;

One esteemed columnist said her parents had given her blood pressure. 8220;After they died.8221; She was sweet enough to show me the right way to practise pranayam 8212; take a deep breath and let it out in a drone so that the head buzzed. I had to drone and feel it resonate in my cranium. Groan.

High on pressure but low in spirits, I went out for a drink. 8220;Don8217;t get het up,8221; said the managing editor of a magazine group. 8220;I am on those pills for the last 13 years,8221; she added, sipping wine. 8220;If a pill allows me to do what I am not supposed to do, then it can8217;t be that bad.8221;

By now, the complete lack of what usually characterises human sympathy had made me work up a sweat I could swim in. My columnist friend, who was eyeing the plate of kebabs, looked up. 8220;You know, the doctor will reduce the strength of the medication in time.8221; How much time, I asked. 8220;Oh, let8217;s see. Seven years?8221; More sweat. Then she added, 8220;Look at my father. He was taken off the pill and was fine till he passed away.8221; At what age was that, I asked with hope. 8220;Taken off the pill or passed away?8221; The first, I replied. 8220;Seventy-four,8221; she said. I didn8217;t bother to count.

Dear doctor, moral of story is that we all have pressures. Here8217;s drinking to them.