Tommorow at this time, I'll probably be ready for the countdown to the new year 2009. Its time to say goodbye to 2008. This year has been of mixed sorts for me. First of all the good :

1) My first trip abroad and by an aeroplane......to the United states......that too for more than a month of just holidaying!!! Visited places like san francisco city, yosemite national park, carmel beach, stanford university campus, roamed in sunnyvale city on a bicycle. Also, in general travelled a lot for holidays and hikes!!!
2) My new bike.....Honda Unicorn smooth as silk.........sold off old super splendor at a good price..
3) Good news from my sister's side .........(I am about to become a real uncle......BOO to the kid if he calls me uncle.!!!!)
4) One of my best friends, KC, completing MBA and getting placed as well as getting engaged to his gf!! Congrats to him.
5) Another of my best friends bought his own apartment!!! Congrats to him too!!!
6) Another one of my best friends, got a job in vashi and handled a lot of disappointments very well.
7) Made new friends in office.

Bad :
1) Attacks on our mumbai....wont say more on that.
2) My professional life.....wasnt great......learnt a lot of do's and dont's in work.......definitely a good learning period but I still wont say it was a good period of work.
3) Recession.........which has come as the year closes.....will definitely affect my future decisions of changing jobs and getting more out of india exposure.
4) Certain things are so bad, I wont even mention them here.

There are some things for which I dont know whether its good or bad.........
1) I still dont have a girlfriend!!! (Joking!! 60% of my brain tells me its good!!!)

My new year resolution: To enjoy more!!!
A happy and prosperous new year 2009 to all the readers of my blog!!!

The importance of diplomacy

Another post related to office. Sometimes I think I am turning into a workoholic so God save me. Not that its bad..................its very bad. So the post is about a conversation I had with our departments group head....quite simply called as the General manager. He called me to his cabin in the very early hours of saturday morning when no one was there except me and a few other fools who come to office on saturdays or are compelled to. So began the conversation...

Gm: Ravi, tell me, you have now worked with almost all the senior engineers (project leads). Tell me about them?

Me: They are good, sir.

GM: See, I am asking you about them on the professional front. I am asking u for a review of your current lead. Just as I would ask him about a review of you.

This question put my usually saturday-numbed senses on red high alert. A big boss asking for a review of his juniors from a junior of his juniors. (Pardon the repetition). A question of this nature is quite tricky. There's no point in being totally honest.............especially if you honestly think that your immediate senior is bloody son of a bitch!! There is also no point in saying that hes good, coz that would be like telling your GM that "I wont tell you anything."

This question is like one of those which your lady lover asks you........Am I looking fat? If your answer is yes..........she'll say......"You are just trying to please me, you arent being honest"

If your answer is no.........she wont say anything.......she'll slap you and say "How mean!!"

So it goes without saying that the answer to such trick questions should be diplomatic. Put your point forward and yet in a non accusatory way. That is what I did that day.......first lesson in politics (professional or government)..........Be diplomatic.

Overtime

Working in the office on a saturday is never by choice......for me atleast. We have 5 official working days. So coming to office on saturdays is either due to excess of pent up work loads or simply due to the orders which cannot be defied. Bachelors like me come sleepy eyed to the office on saturday. Most of us look as if a zombie has taken control of our bodies. Sleeping till late hours of the morning, afternoon naps or matinee shows on TV, the hot steaming home cooked lunch, perhaps a movie later on in the evening........all these happy thoughts are snatched away by a 'working saturday'. Some people like to think that working on non official days in office has its merits. Like work can be done efficiently, because there are less people around you, so no one can trouble you. I have also met those dumbsters who say that coming to office is fun because you get to sit in air conditioned environment, get free coffee and also get to surf the net at company's cost and for them there is nothing better to do at home too. A big boo to people who think that way. In mumbai, traditional thinking is on the lines of 'If-you-sit-late-in-office-or-on-come-on-non-official-working-days-then-you-are-really-working'. This kind of thinking is crap and I hope that it is changing. What I feel and have always felt is that work is something which has to be done only for the sake of earning 'the big M' and that work and ambitions should not take your life away. It was a different story when our folk generation started earning. They had to work like hell to make ends meet initially. But now as India has grown as an economy (Pre-current-recession), we should be working comfortably. Just as there are a minimum no. of working hours in a week, so should there be a maximum limit.

The way the mind works.

They say that a person changes as he grows. They also say that his habits change. They also say that some of his personality traits change throughtout his lifetime. Rubbing of chin while thinking, scratching your head when in utter confusion, biting nails when nervous, fidgeting etc etc. While some people might outgrow these , still others take the habit all the way.

I dont know why I wrote the above part because the reason why I wrote this post is I wanted to describe one of my habits.........actually it cant be called a habit but its something of a fear induced compulsion...........

A long time ago....when I was very young I hated the dark. I could not sleep alone in a room. Fear of the dark, no doubt about it. Whenever I slept alone, I felt as if ghosts would come and haunt the room. I used to feel that if I opened my eyes, a ghastly face would stare right into my eyes and scare the wits out of me. Once a ghastly face did stare at me when I opened my eyes......later I realised my sister was wearing a paper mask and trying to scare me!!

Anyway, once it so happened that I was sleeping alone in my room (I was scared and yet was very sleepy so sleep was coming inspite of my fears I was in a sort of subconscious state of sleep.) It happened to be a stormy night and I remember there was a lot of thunder and lightning, that night. Just as I was about to sleep, there came a bolt of lightning which illuminated the dark night and simultaneously a loud crack of thunder. Thoroughly shaken by the loud sound of thunder, I opened my eyes wide and sat up on my bed upright like a 'bolt' (It probably freaked me out more because I was in a sort of subconscious state of sleep). When I looked at my rooms cupboard, there was another illuminating strike of lightning, and I saw a white figure moving side to side in perfect oscillatory motion, in the wind. When I saw that thing there, I literally froze, out of fear for a few moments. I could'nt talk or I would have screamed. After a few moments, I came out of my 'trance' and realised that it was indeed, just my shirt which was hung on a hanger!!! I still remember that incident and even till now, whenever there is a shirt on hanger, I put it out of sight before going to bed!!!

Revisiting childhood playing days!!!

Played football after almost a year today......and got to say that IT WAS GREAT!!!! Never been an expert at it........in fact quite the opposite!!! (sadly, as my friends would totally agree!!) nevertheless its very refreshing to go out in the open field and take a sprint to the goal post. It was like being a kid again...no worries of work, no tensions, not a care in the world......just be out there and run....run like hell.....run loose...run for the fun of it!!! Changed into shorts, they felt so comfortable (half chaddis offer a nice breeze around the privates!!!)...especially after a long day in the office in trousers...putting on sports shoes and da stockings (socks more like). Took the football, kept it on the ground and then kicked it as hard as I could towards one of my friends standing near the goal posts. The feeling of elation when you play is still so pleasingly familiar. As if we were kids just a few days ago and came to play everyday on the grounds!!! So started the game 3 people on 3, a game, a war, a battle, a fight to the finish......thats how I have always thought a game should be!! The usual tiffs come....as they came so naturally when we were kids.......the abuses hurled, so casually.....no one to hear them on the ground....no one to say its "bad to say that"......no holding ur tongue back, shout and yell all you like, shout till your throat goes hoarse!!! . The sweat trickling down in huge drops......the minor cuts and scratches, a fall, and still an almost dignified ignorance to all these, by the true sport, amidst the game!! The twists in the game......the tackles made by members of the other team, dodging, ball control.....it would go on and be endless......lets leave it at that and say that I revisited my childhood playing days today!!!

So much to learn in life from games and sports..........

In life there are times when you'll win and times you'll lose......enjoy the times you win.....cherish those moments. Try to be a good sport when you lose.....,much as you would feel bad for yourself.....congratulate the winners......they were definitely better on that day!!!

When you lose.......try to find where you went wrong....correct the flaw and come back to win another day....higher...stronger and faster.....

Opportunities come and go.....grab them if you see them and score!!!

When you fall, get up, if you don't, you wont be able to chase your goals!!!

If at first you dont succeed, try again................then give up .......you werent probably talented enough for the same!!!! Try another one!!!!

What happens when you forget yourself?

Went to a marathi movie recently called 'Dhudgus'. Didnt like it very much.....In fact didnt like it at all. But anyway....folks wanted to watch it since someone had given them good reviews about the movie. Went to a mall cum theatre to book tickets. Rs 102 was the cost per ticket .  Purchased 4 tickets. Sister, her husband, dad and mom. Gave the cashier Rs 410. 

Cashier: Sir, Do you have the exact change. 

Me: Nope. I dont have change. 

Cashier: Just a moment sir, I'll have to get it from someplace. 

Me: You dont have Rs 2 ? That is surprising....

Cashier: No sir, Morning time.....no change. Just a moment, sir, I'll get it. 

Me: Ok. 

Moments later cashier comes over at counter. 

Cashier: Sorry sir, a bit late. 

Me: Yeah it didnt seem like a single 'moment'. 

The cashier handed over Rs 2 to me and I was off. As I was walking towards my parked vehicle, I realised that, to see the movie, there were going to be 5 of us!!! I had forgotten to count myself!!! When I realised my absent mindedness, I laughed out loud. Started back towards the booking counter to book another single ticket. 

Me (Handing him a Rs 100 note and the Rs 2 coin which he had given me): Here is Rs 102 in exact change. Give me another ticket!! 

I am still wondering how I could forget myself while booking tickets? 

Wouldnt happen again I hope!!!