Hi friends
good article from Economic times
Leading 24X7 existence, India Inc bosses find pulling weights at the gym comes weighted with death
CHAITALI CHAKRAVARTY & SAUMYA BHATTACHARYA
NEW DELHI
Two disconcerting events convinced Raj Jain, 51, to quit his daily do at the gym. The CEO of Bharti-Walmart, the joint venture for cash & carry operations, was gymming for more than a decade, often waking up at 5.30am to finish his 5.5 km run in 45 minutes. He had spent a substantial part of his life in the US, where work began at 7am. Jain was so obsessed with his running that he would often forego sleep rather than skip the treadmill. But one day, his knees revolted. “I ignored it, but the pain persisted and worsened,” he recalls. He saw the doctor who recommended immediate surgery and asked him to stop gymming. “I was also feeling fatigued at work,” he recalls. That was the second warning. And that was all he needed to hang up his running shoes. The first alarm bell had jolted him too. His gym partner, a 65-year-old businessman, who Jain admits was fitter, failed to turn up one morning. Raj found out that the businessman had died of a heart attack. Reason? Over-exertion. “He used to get very competitive with me,” recalls Jain. Jain had the advantage of two warnings; others aren’t so lucky. Many CEOs are either hitting the gym hard much too late in their lives, or after a long gap. Some fail to adjust their schedule to their age. Others are erratic and their stints at the gym do more harm than good. And more than a few cut sleep to squeeze in time for their fitness regime. Blame it on the super CEO syndrome. This type wants everything in life and more. They want to beat analyst forecasts every quarter, run the next marathon, make it for their child’s PTA, be hands-on with their pet charity project, surprise the spouse on birthdays, mentor colleagues in office, party till wee hours, rough it out while trekking in the Himalayas... and all this while sprinting up the corporate ladder and making more money. The super CEO is ever willing to push herself/himself harder and is more than willing to carry the burden that comes with more power and money. And they believe that a hard fitness regime is the magical key to make all this happen.
