A Toss to Vacation

My eyes opened to an annoying noise as I looked at my phone giving me a cold stare of 8:25 which made me jump right off the bed. Damn I was late! I shouted. By the time the bucket started overflowing I was done ironing my shirt. Realized after taking bath that I had not brush my teeth; what a sad thing to begin the day. So I reached office half an hour late, off course after I brushed (I personally consider that on time), started my pc and there I was all gloomy thanks to the late reactions of the machine. As so the mailbox happened to open I was glad not to see a mail from a guy who had been bugging me with one-to-one mails for about a month, I continued with my normal work. An hour later my tickets were done and all that was left was the confirmation about the leave J

How many times does it happen that we get a sudden leave plan and need to work it out with our leads on the eleventh hour.  Special thanks to some recent events, (don’t worry I am not getting married) I had to be at home and obviously I needed to cast my vote. As it happens usually with all of us, the leaves are discussed but then it’s all in air and so it happened to be the case, it was discussed but just from my side.

With the day almost over, the discussion began after most of the work was done. After building some background stating my reason for the leaves, the fact was I had already too many unplanned leaves this month (thanks to the Manali trip that left me with a fever and a not happy stomach x( and yes about that trip, the post will be coming soon ;) ) and I was working on a task for which I needed a volunteer to back me up. After some fun about the topic the decision was left on a toss O.O yes a Coin Toss..!! So I called “Head I go home, Tails you give me leave” :D which was interrupted by a casual “Cancel his leaves”. As my lead Nimit (name changed for obvious reasons) flew the coin up in air, I called “Heads I’m going” and that smile widened, as I was never happier to see the National Emblem.

Change and Time- they never stop…

As minute as a particle, as big as the Sun, something that is destined to continue, it is Change. How often are we able to adapt to it? We do or we don’t, nothing changes to change. People change themselves to make it up to it, some find success but some succumb. The world has been the same, the weak bow down to the mighty and will continue to do so.

A month back, I relocated from Bangalore to Gurgaon. It was the biggest change in my life so far, rather I should say my stable life. A new place, a new company and a new set of people around. Sounds intriguing but here’s what is not so intriguing. Coming out of your comfort zone which I referred as the stable life, you leave behind a house you called home for 2 years, a city you explored on your own makes it no less than the city where you grew and played on streets, the unknown roads you flew your bike all night, the friends you made in the strange world that became family and gave them a hard time from your craziness and a lot more small things that bring happiness to your life.

But that was not the only thing that was the part of it, moving to a new place, what a pain it can be. Not to mention I was not only changing cities but also I changed my organisation from Wipro to Accenture. Here again the comfort zone was left far behind. A difference of a mere day but the change was huge, I felt I was again on the starting line of the race I had almost won. From a place where people had confidence in you and your capabilities to a place where you need to market your skills and capabilities.

It is said time heals everything. No matter how big the change is, it is a matter of time that we the humans are able to adapt to it and work our way around it. Talking about me and the two major changes I went through, and I am sure it’s just a matter of time until I get the same feeling here in Gurgaon and Accenture. That’s the way I live my life, I find happiness no matter how hard the road ahead.

Change may be mightiest and Time may be mightier than the mightiest, but be the one to follow your path no matter what the time or how big the change.

Tomorrow is not the End

The hottest topic of discussion these days, “The End of the World”, I know you have been discussing it with your friends or family. My perception, ‘Not gonna happen..!!’ & I am thankful to you all that you follow me with so much dedication that my belief matches your thinking :P

Anyways, now that we are so near to the Day, you have been thinking a lot and what are the things that these thoughts have in common, ‘I should have done so many things before I die, and I just have a day left, and today also I am in office :( ‘ There would have been a lot of things that you wanted to do lately but you haven’t been able to take out time for it, or you did plan but your friends ditched you on it.

I am giving a list of things one would have wanted to do before the so called “End of the World” and here it goes:

Top thought: You want to kill your Manager or Lead :D or least blast them nicely ;)

Rest of them:

·      Go out booze, get high and get wasted. I am sure many of you haven’t even smelled liquor by now :P

·      Bunk office :D most of us would have bunked college and school, how many of you have bunked office, ‘No’, then go ahead and try it.

·      Live in The president house for the day and see all the nuclear missiles in action ( I am sure this thought is going to pre-pone the End of the World by a day :P )

·      Sneak into NASA and take a trip to the outer space in a space shuttle.

·      Take leave and enjoy with your family, umm I guess you are a little late for that, but you still have tomorrow left if in case no one implements the above thought :D

·      Want to have a muscular body or a curvy one, well you can’t get that in a day unless you meet a Genie or a Fairy :P

Apart from the above crazy thoughts, some of the normal thoughts may be enjoying a sip of coffee and witness the way time flows, go around the places you wanted to visit, live a life of a your favorite celebrity, drive a Ferrari on a highway, get dressed like a prince/princess and many more things.

Now you can come out of the dreams you went in, thanks to me & I would say come back to reality and continue doing your work which most of you hate to do. The most important of all, don’t laze around and think about enjoying your life only when you get the knock at your door about the limited time. Take out time from your busy schedule, live life the way you want to and enjoy the most you can.

P.S: If you are going to implement any of the above thoughts, I am not responsible for the consequences. :)

The You and The Me

To a long lost friend……………………………………………..

The you who was once around

The you who was full of life

The you who made me lively

The you who shared my feelings that no one even knew

The you who I bored for hours

The you who still bore me

The you who cared for me

The you who shared with me

The you who made me feel special

The you who laughed and smiled

The you who I called a close friend

The you who I disappointed

The you who I hurt

The you who I turned down

The you who I betrayed

The me who didn’t have words

The me who kept mum

The me who didn’t know what to do

The me who thinks if you think of me

The me who had a beautiful you

The me who was sorry for all he did

The me thanks you for being with me.

Are you really cared?

We all have been working in the IT industry for quite some time now. Some are in the starting steps and some are on the verge of climbing the stairs and some are already on the top. But as we move up on this ladder, or we are stuck at some step, our needs and demands vary widely.

Expectations are you work hard, extend when required, consider project issues on top of your plans or parties or personal issues and many more, I am sure each of you has your own list, but What do you get in return?? Do you get in return to the dedication of the work you have done. Are your expectations met against the hard work we put throughout the year? Indeed for some of us they are, but most of them fall into the potholes on the way ahead. Not only the expectations from the organization but Conflicting egos, age differences, over confidence and insecurities are such factors which are also among those potholes on the way ahead. Definitely the expectations from the organization need to be met, because they hired you for a reason, but how do we face the other challenges. At the end of the day all that counts is the one thing that you missed or you did no finish on time, and the countless things that got you or the team appreciation, ‘Oh! That is history, are you still stuck in those dreams, Come out already!’

Still you keep working in the hope that you will be rewarded for your efforts, but do you really get to do what you want? At times you have the skill to do a task better than someone else but then, you will not even get a chance to show it. Only technical skills are not enough, the most important thing in my realization apart from technical skills of course, is people knowing you. Yes, it is not ideal but this is how it works, ‘Getting the spotlight’ is going to be your key. How to grab it you ask? Well there are two ways to do so:

Either you perform extra ordinarily, take a lot of initiatives and make sure they are addressed, if they are not addressed they won’t be implemented, but I know you are smart enough to know that much ;)

Second being, make a blunder which will grab all the attention to you, but if you don’t want to be kicked out, make sure you have the plans to correct what you did and earn the appreciation.

In both the cases, you will be known for some of your own qualities, Creativity or Problem Resolution. Whatever it is, don’t get blinded by this little bulb on your head, it’s not the sun. It will go off very soon, you need to perform once you have the spotlight, don’t let it go, Never!

Continue working with all your efforts, dedication and put all your hard work, or just roam around take extended coffee breaks, laze around in the greens or sleep in the dormitory, no one is really going to care, because this is life and on top of it the ‘life of IT’, and you will understand it sooner or later.

P.S: Take Care, coz you are special!!  :)

Hit n Run

What is it that comes to your mind when you read the title? A kid hitting another kid and running away :O are you serious you thought of that :P or a vehicle hitting another vehicle or a person and trying to escape, now you are making sense 8-). Some of you guys might recall the Need for Speed Hot Pursuit versions as well I’m sure. But what is the severity in real life, it can be minute or even life threatening. In any case don’t give stress to your brains, you are already into a lot I know :P

So here I was lost in the beauty of the clouds, the ones who were ready to launch a full scale assault on Earth, and expressing the same in words and I wrote “It took a while for the craft to board and I somehow managed to put my bags in the rack with my injured wrists.” – reference 3^rd para A New Dawn. So here goes the story, well this is a little embarrassing but who cares I need something to bug you guys.

I watched the brother cut the skin around the wound while sitting on a bed in the emergency of Greenview Hospital and tried to recall what happened. It had been a hectic day and another was to follow. It was Independence Day tomorrow and I would be spending 12 hours in office alone. Considering the fact I had to start my shift early morning, my lead allowed me to leave half an hour before. Also I had too many things to do, most important of all was to pack my bags as the next day I was also going home. All I could remember was the empty dark road, a screech of brakes and the bike skidding on the road to its right. It took not more than a moment for me to stand up and pick my bike, only to realize that I could not feel my right hand around the wrist. People gathered around to check what had happened; I could recall someone helping me with the helmet and spects, after that only thing I remember was my fading vision and the thirst that made me ask for water from people not only whom I didn’t know but now was not able to see as well. I felt I had not drunk water from days and it was making me weak every moment, I could realize the diminishing visibility, and the glaring headlights of the passing by vehicles were pinching terribly in my eyes. There was a clash of thoughts in my mind as I started to black out. “I have my bike”, “What about the office laptop”, “What if someone takes advantage of the situation”, I will be in worst condition. So before I ran out of power, I somehow grabbed the bikes keys and put it in my pocket, someone had already picked the bike and parked it on the side. I clinched my backpack belt and tightened it till I felt it hugging me tight and only then I sat on the footpath. The words that made me fight the blackout was someone saying “Take off your bag”, though the intent was generous, but you can’t trust anyone in such circumstances.

The pain of flesh being cut with the skin brought me back to the hospital and I was still confused about what had happened, I decided to let the brother do what he was doing and I again tried to recall how I fell. This time it was a little clearer, it was the dark road again and I was in my usual pace, and something flashed and again the screeching brakes, the skidding bikes and the same story.

I realized I was able to feel the wrist area but was in terrible pain even with an inches movement. After the cleaning was done it was time for X-Ray and another episode of flash back started while waiting. I came to the parking from ODC, started my bike and realized I had not taken out my gloves. It were in my backpack, and came the devil and the angel me on my shoulders, the devil pushing me to let go and just ride, the angel said “No take them out, what else did you buy them for, just to keep in bag is it?” But it was too late the devil me killed the angel after the debate and I pulled the throttle.

The X-Ray was done, turned out I had had enough milk in my childhood to save my bones, but there was slight damage in the ligaments. It was time to get the wound dressed and return home, but the brothers were busy attending other patients. I closed my eyes and concentrated for a minute, played the whole thing numerous times in my mind. Play, Rewind, Play was all that happened for a minute.

What was it that flashed and came running from the dark, something with brown hair I was sure of now. I remember hitting the brakes hard, but it was not enough, the distance was very less. I managed to balance from the sudden brakes but could no more when I hit it, I lost my balance and it was road my bike and on it ‘me’. Yes I could see what it was, it was a dog, came the words out of my mouth ‘Son of a Beach’. It was not me who had hit the dog; it was the dog that had hit me, coming out of nowhere running wildly on the road and BANG…!!  And I was on road! Even before I got up and saw if it was alive, it was not even there, it had run from the crime scene.

Just a message to pass: “Beware of Dogs, each has its day”, if you know what I mean 8-)

But poor me, there is no dog police that I can lodge a complaint against that dog for not following lane discipline :P and book it on the charges of ‘Hit n Run’

‘Ride hard, but make sure you have the safety gears on and not in your bag :( ’

A New Dawn

The security gates opened to the breaking of a new dawn, the sky had opened its eyes only by a little, disappointed to find out that it was morning and the time to get up had come. It lazily opened its eyelids and the shining eyes came rising up slowly as the bus covered the way to the craft and bestowed us with the beauty called sunrise. The sky became bright gradually and so did my mind, after all I was travelling to my native after a long time. The passing of every second was filling me with a weird happiness, weird because I was confused whether I was happy or content, whatever it be it was subtle and I enjoyed every moment with a smile stuck to my face.

The sky was hazy as if it was not in a mood to wake up and take a sick leave, unfortunately the manager did not approve. From far I could see some hills, the top of which were being munched by the clouds, I wondered if among them were Nandi hills as well - A place to experience the true beauty of nature rising from the slumber from your very own eyes.

It took a while for the craft to board and I somehow managed to put my bags in the rack with my injured wrists. Now that you are wondering how I injured them, well it was a case of ‘Hit n Run’, but that is another story I will share separately. While boarding I witnessed something I cannot resist to share. If someone could give a competition to a beggar for tidy clothes, it had to be this guy who sat opposite to me in the escort bus. He had managed not to wash his jeans from the times when jeans were not even invented or may be clothes as well, indeed I should refer to stone age. I was speechless by the condition and probably many others were too, so I simply offered my prayers for the person who would sit next to this chap, fortunately it wasn’t me and yes that was also a part of my prayer ;)

The craft approached the runway, and I was pushed into my seat when it suddenly picked up the pace, and every time that happens I wish I could sit in a car and feel that speed. I want to press that ‘Red button’ which you would never find in your own car but in sci-fi movies or cartoons. In no time I was hanging in air (for those who understand the term ‘absolute’ and ‘relative’, u know I was hanging in air). The clouds were dense, the visibility was reducing and then it crossed that layer, I have no clue what it is called or any such layer even exists, but it was the layer of the clouds, and all I could see was white cotton spread all over the earth. I was having trouble naming it as there were so many things that I could relate it to at the same time, and I don’t mind if you laugh at my minds weird creativity but the things I could relate the clouds to ranged from an artist’s drawing, a humongous Jacuzzi filled with foam :P Cotton’s mission to overcome human race and what not. I was truly mesmerized by the beauty of the sky, which seems so nice from down beneath, but from above it was even more admirable. This was not my first trip by air but surely this experience was the best. I felt so close to the nature and wished if I could stand outside the craft on the top or wings, but I know I’ll be a part of nature if I do that :P

There are many things in life we love to do, forget our routines, responsibilities and everything else which bind us from our releasing our inner selves. So here I was relaxing and enjoying doing nothing and smiling. Sometimes you should also let go of yourselves and let the you within enjoy, then only you can see the New Dawn.!!