Time flies..truly

So last week I completed one year in my current job which I started last year. The last one year has literally flown. I seriously didn't realise even once how quickly I completed a year! I haven't really disliked anything so far. But here are some of my observations about how I have changed, my thinking has changed because of the place where I work

- The first one month was not that great. Not because I wasn't excited about being in this fabulous place but because I had to get into the habit of starting early :-( Now I'm one of those people who won't sacrifice their sleep for anything. Transitioning from waking up at 8:30 am to starting work at 8:30am was a bit of an effort to say the least. And to add to my woes my travel time had also increased a bit. However, one month on and I was fine. Now I HATE being late. I, in fact, prefer reaching work "on time" ( I don't even call it early anymore)

- I have not learnt so much in all my jobs put together as much as I have here in the last one year and I'm still learning everyday. I have been given the opportunity to work on some of the most challenging projects that have not only added value to me professionally but even personally it has pushed me beyond my comfort zone. Now I'm even comfortable with the idea of being in the 'uncomfortable zone'

- I have learnt the value of having an inclusive approach. My company (notice me seeing 'MY' - I will touch on that more later) encourages teamwork all through, everyday. The people here do not mind stopping for a moment to help someone. That just creates an awesome culture

- Coming to 'MY' - I feel a sense of ownership and pride towards my company. I don't like people talking ill about it. It really invests in its employees & I value that. I rush to watch the advertisements as soon as they start playing and everytime I watch it, I beam with pride!

- Finally, for me this is the most important one - not even once in the last year I have woken up thinking 'I don't feel like going to work'. As much as I look forward to coming back to my lovely home in the evening, when I wake up in the morning, I look forward to going back to work. I know each day will be a new and a challenging day.

One year on & still loving it! I guess, life's like that...it takes you where you are destined to be and although I think I was destined to be here, I feel lucky to be here.

To the moon and back...

Clearly, I haven't been living up to my promise of writing as frequently as I should be. Life's all topsy turvy with ten thousand things going on at the same time. From settling in the new job to planning holidays to house hunting to car hunting - it's all going on simultaneously. After many many months, it's probably the first time that I'm at home on the weekend and suprisingly it feels really good! For me weekend had become synonymous with house hunting but I love the change even if it will last only one weekend.

So, about my new job - all I can say is 'I'm lovin it!'. I have probably not learnt so much in all my jobs put together as much as I have here and I completely love the opportunities and exposure that is provided! Infact just yesterday we went for a walk along the Yarra river with the CEO of our company for Australia & NZ! How often does the CEO of a company come and ask you - 'So, do you have any family here?'It was an exhilirating experience and knowing my company I know there will be many more to come!

The next exciting thing that has been happening is that summers and here and Rak and I have started going for walks in the evening, about 3kms. It is so satisfying to know that you have spent time to do something for yourself and not just that, its a time of the day that we spend with each other, without phones or TV or internet!
Now, the part that was so exciting to begin with but its actually becoming a chore! The house hunting bit. Have been in the process since Feb! I guess this is something for which we have now resigned to fate. I tell Rak in true filmy style - 'When we find the one that is mean to be hours, we'll just know! And then we'll just buy it, like that *snapping fingers*'

So, that was like a quick update! Will try posting more often (not that I know anyone is reading)

Mind your language..

With the coming in of Internet and mobile phone technology, our language and spellings have gone haywire. How often does it happen that while writing a formal email we end up writing 'you' as 'u', 'would' as 'wud', 'have' as 'hve'? This is not just limited to abbreviating words. I find it really annoying and pretentious when people write 'ma' instead of 'my'.
My mother is a school teacher and she tells me that students as young as 10-12 years old end up writing instructions given in Hindi in English like how I did in this post. Not just that, in their English class, they actually write 'you' as 'u' and so on.
I think English as a language is losing its beauty and charm because of the way we have started vandalising the words.
Consider this short impromptu story as an example.

This is how you and I would normally write.

She looked at her watch and saw it was quite late in the night, almost 11:30pm. He had emailed to tell her that he had a meeting in downtown LA and would then go with his mates for drinks but it was way past the 9 pm mark by which he had promised to back. She found it hard to concentrate on the book she was reading and realised that she lost the track 10 pages back. She gave up reading and turned to watch a movie on her new DVD player to entertain herself until he came back. The movie failed to hold her attention for longer than 20 minutes and so it was time for some TV. As she flicked through the channels, she saw there was a report of a fatal accident that had happened on the highway at 30 minutes past 8. The car was smashed and the police was finding it hard to identify the man killed in the crash as he had no ID on him. She felt a chill run down her spine and tried to brush of bad thoughts. This was the road he was meant to take while returning home. She reached for her phone and dialled his number but it was unreachable. She didn't know what to do or whom to call at this odd hour. Just then she heard someone knock at the door and she was hoping against hope that there will be no bad news. She ran to get the door and a breath a sigh of relief to see him standing before her. He was late because the road had been blocked off due to the accident on the highway. That night when she slept next to him, she knew he was the one and that she truly loved him. He had been trying to convince her to get married since 2 years. And now, just a 2 hour delay in coming back home had done the magic.

This is how someone serious about English will write.

She looked at her watch and saw it was quite late in the night, almost eleven thirty post meridiem. He had electronically mailed to tell her that he had a meeting in downtown Los Angeles and would then go with his mates for drinks but it was way past the nine post meridiem mark by which he had promised to back. She found it hard to concentrate on the book she was reading and realised that she lost the track ten pages back. She gave up reading and turned to watch a movie on her new Digital Versatile Disc player to entertain herself until he came back. The movie failed to hold her attention for longer than twenty minutes and so it was time for some television. As she flicked through the channels, she saw there was a report of a fatal accident that had happened on the highway at thirty minutes past eight. The car was smashed and the police was finding it hard to identify the man killed in the crash as he had no identity card on him. She felt a chill run down her spine and tried to brush of bad thoughts. This was the road he was meant to take while returning home. She reached for her phone and dialled his number but it was unreachable. She did not know what to do or whom to call at this odd hour. Just then she heard someone knock at the door and she was hoping against hope that there will be no bad news. She ran to get the door and a breath a sigh of relief to see him standing before her. He was late because the road had been blocked off due to the accident on the highway. That night when she slept next to him, she knew he was the one and that she truly loved him. He had been trying to convince her to get married since two years. And now, just a two hour delay in coming back home had done the magic.

This is how one would write in the SMS or email language.

She lukd at her watch n saw it was quite l8 in d nite, almost 11:30pm. He had emaild 2 tell her tat he had a mtg in dwntwn LA n wud den go wid his mates 4 drinks bt it was way past d 9 pm mark by which he had promisd 2 back. She found it hard 2 concentrate on d buk she was readng n realisd tat she lost d track 10 pages back. She gave up readin n turned 2 watch a movie on her new DVD player 2 entertain herself until he came back. D movie failed 2 hold her attentn 4 longer than 20 mins n so it was time 4 sme TV. As she flicked thru d channels, she saw dre was a report of a fatal accident tat had happend on d highway at 30 mintues past 8. D car was smashd n d police was findin it hard 2 identify d man killed in d crash as he had no ID on him. She felt a chill run down her spine n tried 2 brush of bad thoughts. This was d road he was meant 2 take while returnin home. She reached for her phone n dialled his number bt it was unreachable. She didn't know what 2 do or whom 2 call at this odd hour. Just then she heard someone knock at d door n she was hopin against hope tat there will be no bad news. She ran 2 get d door n a breath a sigh of relief 2 see him standin before her. He was late because d road had been blocked off due 2 d accident on d highway. Tat night when she slept next 2 him, she knew he was d one n tat she truly loved him. He had been tryin 2 convince her 2 get married since 2 yrs. N now, jus a 2 hour delay in comin back home had done d magic.

Just look at the three paragraphs and you will know what I mean. Unfortunately, abbreviating unnecessarily does take away the charm of the words, their meanings and story as a whole.

PS: Please don't judge the story, it was my first attempt at writing one.

Winds of Change

This is my 52nd week at my current workplace and also my last week. I am happy and excited and a bit nervous as well to move on to doing what I really wanted to do and with a company I really wanted to work for. I reckon there's going to be a humongous difference between working for the Government and working for a multinational firm.
I have had both good and bad moments here at, lets call it, G. Moving on from here means -
- No work from home options ...boo hoo hooo I really loved this and ended up working at least 4-5 days from home in a month.

- Not giving blank looks when people talk about UAT, SIT, Accessibility, Functional Specs, Testing and all other IT related terms. Well, they will give me a blank look if I start talking in financial language..NCL, ANR, Delinquency, PQR etc etc etc..

- Coming in whenever and going whenever..a lot of flexibility this place offers

- No more blogging at work, no net surfing :-D

- And most importantly, moving away from my comfort zone.


I'm not sure about how I feel at the moment. I am at a loss of words. I think one thing that I'm really going to miss here is the comfort of being in the heart of the city and the friends I made here.

I am happy to move on. Whenever someone use to have a farewell here, I always asked my friend and colleague, " When will I get a farewell!!". This had more to do with the fact that I never related to the work I was doing than the place itself. I was not able to contribute as much as I had liked to owing to my non-IT background.

I'm super thrilled! Last 2 days here and then my new company M, here I come!!!!

Manic Monday

At the outset let me clarify that this is not a post about how-much-we-hate-Mondays and Monday morning blues. This is about me being the witness to some peculiar things (read people) within the first one hour of when I stepped out of the house.

So, the day started beautifully! I slept in longer than usual, got tea in bed (I get that everyday :-)), caught up on another precious 5 minute sleep, had a shower, got ready and the trains were also running on time. And then...

I boarded and took a seat on the train. Once I settled in, I looked up and saw this set of identical twin sisters sitting in front of me. I have seen identical twins before but never so closely. Both these girls had the same hairstyle and were well synchronized in playing with their curly locks. Usually, I go off to sleep within a few minutes of sitting in the train, but today I couldn't help but notice these two. Then gradually I came to notice the differences. One was really sporty while the not-so-sporty one was well decked up with make up. And to my horror, the sporty one was wearing shorts in this freeezzzing weather!!

Once these girls deboarded, there was an Indian girl standing who came and sat down next to me. She plugged the earphones and as soon as the sounds of music began crossing the boundaries of her earphone, I was shocked at what she was listening to. It started with the tolerable "Desi Girl" and then went on to some absolutely horrendous song. From whatever I could listen of the song, I think it was some "Papa Jaag Jayega" song from the movie Housefull! It's undoubtedly a CRIME to make such songs but its even a bigger CRIME to actually listen to such songs and have them in your IPhone!!

I was only regaining my composure and was waiting for the lift when this lady stepped into the lift with her colleague. I noticed this lady (may be in her mid-40's) was bare feet. I thought may be just a bad day, she must have broken her sandals while coming to work. As if understanding and trying to satiate my curiosity, her colleague questioned her. The conversation was something like this with me shamelessly eavesdropping.

Colleague - Hey, how are you doing. *Looking down* Oh, where are your shoes?

Lady - *Somewhat snobbishly* Where they should be - in my bag!

Me - *Ya right, just say you broke them*.

Colleague - *Gives a slight smile and shakes his head a bit*

Lady - *In her full defensive mode* You know I don't like dust on my shoes. They'll get dirty if I wear them. And anyway, they last much longer if I carry them and wear them only when I need to.

Colleague - *Just being kind* Yeah, fair enough.

They get off the lift

Me - *Thinks* Obviously they will you miser. And just what happens to your pretty irreplaceable feet. *Trying to spot cracked heels as she walks out of the lift*

Ah well, so that was the beginning to my day. Not that I'm complaining. After all I got something to blog about.

Home Alone

When I was looking for work about a year back, I used to be so annoyed when hubby use to come back from work late. It was so hard to pass time...so we ended up installing Indian channels. Pretty soon I was bored of day time television with the same movie and same songs and same serials being repeated back to back. With just the two of us, there wasn't much work at home. In short, it was annoying to be home alone. The only bright side to it was that I didn't have to wake up early..well I'm not at all a morning person.

So, this morning hubby said that he'll be late from work not because of work but because of 'after-work drinks' and company dinner ( bohooo no partners allowed!).Late means instead of being back by 6pm, he'll come by 9pm. I was obviously not very pleased because this meant that I had to walk back home in the bitter cold from the train station ( it's about a 15 minute walk) and no Friday night plans ( I'm dying to watch Toy Story 3). It's been 2 hours since I came back from work and I'm already beginning to enjoy being alone for a change. Well, being alone means-
- Not immediately rushing into the kitchen to make tea
- Not worrying about what to have for dinner
- Watching TV as much as I want and whatever I want
- Being lazy and just plain lazy
- Writing my blog!!! I mean when have I been able to write after coming home!!
- Hmmm..starting work on my new painting
- Hearing how the good/bad is the sound of my door bell
- Having some 'me' time
- No cooking = no dirty kitchen = no cleaning (yeah!!!)

No matter how much I enjoy this time, I will never trade it for hubby coming back home late! So, Rak, come back soon!!

PS: I was super excited to see a visitor on my blog from India. Whoever it was..thanks and do leave comments when you visit next.

Where's the difference?

I always thought that any job that requires dealing with the government is really hard to get done in India. It almost translates into taking a leave from work, queuing up really early, a long long wait, having one meal in the government office (obviously at your own expense..)and if you are lucky, one more visit else several more.

I've had several trysts with the government offices in India. Dealing with the government offices in Melbourne should have been easier...or so I thought until this happened.....and trust me the transport system and a prowling gunman doesn't make things easier.

Last Monday I had to get my Visa re-stamped. Mom & I (she was visiting me at that time) left home at 9am in the hope that we will be back home by 12pm. The city from my home is a 40 minute train ride. The trains were running 20 minutes late. Now the twist here is that the Immigration office does the stamping only between 9am - 11am. At 10:15, I was 2 stations away from where I had to reach. I glanced at my watch and thought,"Yeah, fair enough, I'll reach on time". And just when I thought,the train just came to a halt at this station...5 min..10..15...oops...the train isn't going anywhere because there is a teen gunman on the loose!!! Damn!!! We rushed out of the station to catch a tram. Now, Indians have this ability to make space for themselves in a bus/tram even if they have to stand on the toes of one foot! While I may have lost this ability owing to the luxuries of this country, my Mom's polished skills came to my rescue and we managed to board the first tram. This tram ran express for almost 10 stops before it entered the main city as there was no place to take in passengers and no one was wanting to get off. I stood squashed next to the glass doors enjoying the expressions of people when the tram just zipped past them (sadistic, I know). Anyway, I somehow managed to be across the road from this Immigration office at 10:56am...stepped in the office at 10:58am..and my chance in the queue came at 11:02am...and guess what does this person tell me,"Sorry, too late..come again another day before 11am". I wish I had bottle of water or something in hand, I could have smashed it over his head!!!

So, what do you get when you have trains running late + police trying to nab down a gunman + Immigration officer saying 2 minutes is too late when technically I was in before 11am ....another day, another visit to Immigration!!