Leaving your first Love

Seriously leaving your first love is very difficult..... I remember my brother who used to tell me that Love your work not your Company.... and today I regret i loved both. It's becoming really difficult to leave this.

I think for any person attachment with first job is special...., first induction , first salary, first desk, team, meetings, client calls, parties, colleagues, deadlines, Go live, defect, appraisal, hike, rating, shift ,bench..events........all these things you come to know here.....

you spend more than half day with people around you, you sail in same ship, you meet for breakfast , for lunch, for eve snacks.... you share your day, talk about your personal issues. Gossip about office culture and people..... go to break out area...play some game.....get relaxed.....wait for Friday to come.... some how wake up in morning on Monday and reach office without interest and then again week flies....this goes on and on.... and one fine day there comes the day to leave.... You have to leave all people you met in this journey....we call it networking....need to leave this networking here....and move ahead...for new induction, new ppl....again same change...just characters changes.....and cycle continues.....

This is hard time for me to leave all this.... can't stop my eyes from getting wet.....

Being on bench

From my engg days i heard about BENCH concept in IT firms.... one of my friend used to think that bench people are get different treatment...they are actully made to seat on BENCH without computer.... as if waiting line .... Then we knew that it's not so.... you get cubical...you get a Desk, your desktop....internet....Phone....and most importantly your salary is also same.... .everything is there.....only thing missing is work.....
When I knew about this i was like WOW..... then I came to know people who crib about Bench and I used to feel how stupid they are..... why can't they enjoy life....I was like hope i get bench in my job....but to my luck or unluck....from first day after training i was placed in Project....rather they were waiting for me to come out of training.... And then onwards.... I was billing to same client....getting something or other in project....got a chance to attend different trainings but not a single day with BENCH.... There were lows and High's ... But even in low...there were many things lined up.... and we knew that we have to do it today or tomorrow......
In high peak of project I used to feel why I can't be on Bench for some time... I need a break... i will do many useful things... I will have fun... Will read forward mails...will write blogs...and what not...just give me a break...
And today here I am....this is my 3rd day on bench.... and trust me it is very boring...you login to gmail...see there is only two mails....one is some ad and other one friend request on Hi5 or similar like that....No need of checking your Outbox....Login to Orkut....No scraps for you...ok for change change profile picture...done...now what...see if any upcoming bdays...ohhh yes there is one...drop a scrap... Now what.... In my company we don't have to report anyone ...when we are on bench,...There is something called Firm activity....doing other things for firm than proj...Checked with few people if I can participate in any... I got one hr activity to do ...You won't believe How happy I was.... being in Mumbai.... Away from Family...can't do much except sleeping by coming late or going early to flat....
So I am exploring all different thing one can do.... this is one of the attempt for same.... :)
Thanks for your time.....

Wedding bells

Hey there,

Since childhood i used to wonder how will i feel when i will get married to some one.....when i will know that this is person i am going to spend my rest of life with....he is one i was waiting till now...but you know now after knowing all that also I don't know how it feels... seriously...when i started to write blog on how it feels , i am not able to go further than it is mixed feeling. It is excitement as well as anxiousness..... specially in arrange marriages.

I feel that is all about acceptance, I wonder on this magic of arrange marriage.... You don't know a person...you meet him for some time...may be an hour or two ( In my case i got 2 ) and then you have to make decision if you want to spend your entire life with him....once you take this decision ...life becomes really easy... you don't have to judge that person any more neither see any negative qualities....all that you can see is your life partner.......Do we ever think why my mom or Dad is like this .... we can't find any bad qualities in our siblings....We just love our brothers and sisters because they are our bros and sis........ We never get a thought that my parents are not so good looking.........so this arrange marriage also is same........At least in my case it is like that...... Just an acceptance that matches are made in heaven.... and trusting that wonder makes you feel happy..........
For all those who are afraid of arrange marriage ( like I was ) .... don't worry.......... It works :)..........

My manager

hmmm..... posting something after long time.... was busy in so many things that didn't had time to sit and write something.....many things happened in life though, which deserves to be posted.
So I will start with latest one and then will try to update with whatever i can recall, generally I have read many forward emails with jokes made on proj managers. How they are fool or make you work like hell or how they are bad to make ur life miserable, but here I am going to share very different experience. this week is my last week in US. now time for back to pavilion, so was trying to learn as much as can, finish ending tasks and maintain good repo at client side.

My manager and client are happy with my work and I gained lot of trust in these three months, believe me , some one trust you so much gives very nice feeling. You feel so good about yourself. So i am living in that feeling. All this was possible with support of my manager. In these three months many people helped me a lot. Starting from Mumbai my manager was ready to help me in all ways he could. It continued at Cincy office also, I got such a wonderful manager who was supporting and grooming me.

I admire my manager a lot, he is very dynamic person. one will get 100 things to learn from him, always at high energy level. My client trust him so much that for any small decision he needs him. He is so much involved in all technical and business activities that everyone needs his help to move further, if you have a prob then he will have a solution for it.
Apart from proj also is is very interesting person, you be with him for 30 mins for lunch and you will get loads of new information ( God knows from where he got all that info)

So such a cool manager of mine taught me many things in direct and indirect way, and best part happened Yday, when before leaving he gave me a gift :). I was so happy to get that from him, he said it's his wife who sent that for me ( We met in NY once). Actually that was such a small thing for him, he gave it very casually but I was on 7th sky.

so moral of story some managers are really very nice, and i am lucky one to get one of them :)

At client side i got so many managers, one technical lead, other engagement lead, over all lead.
Recently one more lead joined proj two weeks back. She is also over all impressive, very fast in grasping and smart in acting. as she was flying to her home this week and won't be seeing me again as she is on vacation for next week i was saying her bye, and she hugged me ....saying all the best. I felt as if she is my old friend. it was such a nice feeling :) and it proved again that I got very nice managers. who treat me like kid and help in all ways, supports and appreciate my work too.

Q&A

I am reading this Q&A book these days, this is something different i am reading, summary of book is something like
Framing the story is Ram's greatest triumph: he participated in an Indian TV quiz show, Who Will Win a Billion ? (also known as W3B) -- and, despite being an uneducated waiter, became the first contestant to answer all twelve questions correctly and take the prize. This book tells about how he knew all 12 answers correctly, which was difficult for a professor to answer. This book talks about all sorts of problems Indian poor or orphan can face, he shares innocence of a kid, simple day to day routine etc.
I liked this book very much because of some different reasons, may be I got many lessons from this one, main message I learned was nothing is useless in life, you don't know how much a bad lesson will going to help you in future. All happens for a good cause, you don't know which person, which situation will help you in life and will take you to next level.
Just enjoy your today and go ahead. Nothing is impossible or with any one's copy right over it. you can do the same just have courage. Not sure if others will like this book or not, but i liked it.

Wait & Watch

IF you are not sure about something and don't want to get caught in any embarracing situation then simple formula to apply is wait & Watch. I am doing this from last two weeks, from day my journey to US started, and trust me it works :)
Right from what to do after entering in internation airport, where to go what to do just be observative --> wait and watch. In flight there were many things i just followed by seeing other people. How to open cabin drawer, how to see TV provided to you. How to switch Off light on your top, how to eat food provided to you, how to fill I94, where to go for immigration. where to go for security check in. All Do's and don'ts
In office or in apartment also there are many things different than India. I was not getting where and how to drink water. there was a funny tab for drinking water and you don't need glass to drink water from it. I saw my colleague drinking water from it and got how to drink. Then slowly I discovered how these people prepare tea or coffee.
My Client arranged for a Welcome lunch for me. We went to a Mexican Hotel. I am still wondering though it's very cold here why people drink water from glass with full of Ice. So I didn't had option to order food what others are ordering as except one all were Non Vegetarian people, So I asked waitress which is Veg food available. Among two options I cleared her that by Veg I mean No egg, no meat, no fish. She said yes those two choices serves as my food. So i ordered one of them. After some time she came up with one plate with some sabji kinda thing then one bowl with salad. There were some Hot pots with our Rumai roti kind of thing. one bowl with kind of coffee beans, i was not sure how to eat all that .... so again simple formula- Wait and watch, I kept drinking iced water for two Min's, then few other ppl also got same kind of setup. they took rumai roti then spread sabji in it added some salad, some of those beans then rolled it and started eating, so i knew how to eat that and followed same :). There are many such things which i am learning with this funda.

only constant in the world is Change

yup,

This is very true. to keep your life moving Change is only medicine. My Job in deloitte Mumbai had kinda became routine after 1.6 yrs. Same office, same cubical, same bus to take for office, same cafeteria. So I was actually looking for change, So i started playing badminton after office hours, That was really a great stress buster. i enjoyed it like anything. For that one hour I used to forget all other things, and according to my Coach ( My colleague with whom i used to play) I have improved a lot. Now days only I had started reaching 4 Vs 15 Points.
Thanks to my friends in Pune by whom i got this motivation to play.
Many people asked me don't you get bored of s/w life, same office and all. But true answer is no, i was enjoying my life to it's fullest ( routine though) , as I am used to find out stupid ways of making change in life. May be trying some new dish in cooking or meeting some one new or reading a new book or any new activity refills me with same vigor. I keep participating in all office activities ( how small or stupid they are). It gives me channel to get to know new people and make new plans.
So for all my dear s/w friends, if you feel that your job has become monotonous then you have to make that change happen, Find out what you like, go out for trips, go out for treks, arrange for get together and discuss something different than office and yes recently i started utilizing Internet to it's fullest, watching very nice video's on u-tube or reading any one's blog and what not ( of course after office hours) so this is also nice medium to explore new things.

Planning for trip to US

Ha, so finally I have stopped receiving all do's and don't instructions from my friends,relatives and colleagues, huh... My trip got finalized before one month I actually has to fly and then it started of getting instructions for flying from all over the world.

So there were three categories who were guiding me ,
1 Experienced
2 Non experienced but heard enough from some one
3 People without any idea

So just imagine what will happen to a person like me whose circle is big enough to fill all these categories of people. Don't go out at night time, How much currency I should keep, Where to keep change, How to avoid Jet lag, how to do immigration, how to take care of your documents, How to identify your bags, which bags to buy, what to carry and not to carry, so many contact numbers, My god each coming day I was fed with bunch of information. On top of it so many formalities. Over and above so much of work and have to get it done as that is the bread and butter.

But you know all these things really helped a Lot. Some people scared me, some told not to worry at all, and be cool, and as result of this my journey was fantastic. With so much of guidance my things were in place. i didn't had jet leg at all. Weather was also pleasant. so overall by every one's wishes and god's grace my journey was good.

Anyone needing tips to Avoid jet lag or any other information can reach out to me now :D

Namaste

Our culture and it's importance we realize after going out of India.I had heard about it but cam eto know in my recent journey to US.Yes on my way to Cincinnati I had a stoppage at Newyork. this airport is considered as busiest airport in the world, don't know how many gate are there for arrival and departure, I was waiting on gate number 11 as mention don my boarding pass for my next flight. After some time i thought of confirmation about timing and all, when I asked at reception he told me that i am waiting at wrong gate and I should go to gate number 25, so I headed towards gate 25.

Not knowing directions i went by asking people, I Met one American person who knew where is this gate exactly and guided me accordingly. I thanked him and started towards my way and I heard, NAMASTE, I just looked back, That person was smiling and he again pronounced NAMASTE. I smiled back , and replied him with namaste :)

Don't know why I felt very nice, some where our Indian culture is admired and they like it. When He said Namaste i could saw what he was feeling, I felt a to be very proud Indian.

Run Mumbai Run

18 months back when i came to know that my posting is in Mumbai, i was really scared. I wanted change in posting desperately, but i was afraid to stay in Hybd also because i realised in my 15 days stay that it's difficult to live without friends. Right from college days i believe if you have nice frnds with you then you r journey is not difficult. i have enjoyed worst situations also with my frnds just bz they are with me.
So rather than asking for change in place i decided to be part of Mumbai because i knew at least one Friend that is my flat mate, company mate, hostel mate ( Rinku) Will be there. Initial few days i was not happy with City, we came here at wrong time, bz July is month when all Chip Chip and Rip Rip is there.
Earlier i was of the opinion that i will spend on Taxi but won't travel by Local , just bz of my prejudiced mind.but on one fine day though i had money didn't had time to go by Taxi. mumbai taxi's take hell lot of time to reach bz of it's traffic where as local takes you very fast. and now i m gr8 fan of Locals, i prefer to go by locals whenever possible.
local menes lot of fun, you get to see different people, richer to poorer, smart to ugly, young to adult all variety. You can learn spirit of Mumbai here. you will get to see many vendors selling things which you don't know from where to get outside that too with low rates. Few working wives will try to balance their work life by cutting Sabji in train, few will prefer to take nap in that crowd. few will give this time to God and will read some Bhajan's or Prays or students will study their course else few will go to fiction world. There are few who play variety of games like Anatakshari, cards etc. you will find few exchanging food recipes. so it's just fun. Even when i m travelling alone i never get bored here.
and this is how i started liking this city, i realized Mumbaikar have tendancy to enjoy every single moment may be bz they know " KAl HO NA HO", Now my friends get surprised to see me talking in favor of Mumbai.
I remembered all these things on day of Marathon, Mumbai Marathon-Run for a cause and on a sunny sunday i found 33K people waking up and running on roads just trying to make a difference.They were happy to participate here than having a sleep at home. so this is the spirit of Mumbai. Apart from participators i saw many people standing on road sides and cheering people. it was really a memorable day in my life.

Tare jameen Par

On 1st Jan 08 i saw this wonderful movie and it just rocks. Might be all of us have already seen this movie if anyone haven't saw yet then while leaving theater just catch expressions of everyone around ,who saw movie with you ( if you are not loaded with your own thoughts). Everyone might have read through papers and mouth publicity that movie is perfect.
I saw this movie with my younger bro, my intention was to take him to multiplex which he doesn't get to see in village like Renapur. I thought Tare jameen par is not his kind of movie and he may not like it, but other option WELCOME was not my type of movie so we finalized on TZP.
when we came out and were having snacks in a nearby hotel i spoke with my bro, i was curious to know if he liked movie and tears came from his eyes. He said Yes Didi i liked this very much. He explained me who all he remembered while watching movie. All Ishans in our own family. My cousin who is good in Badminton doesn't get chance to show her talent and many more. And prob being all of them having scholar brother or sister.
I asked Umesh if he was crying in movie and he said many times. on my question if he really felt sorry for all our cousins he explained that in reality he felt sorry for himself. he was seeing Ishan in himself, when i made point that i cried but not much he said,"Didi, you are at Yuhan's position so you won't realize".

This last sentence made me think more, i thought about what can i do for my brother Ishan (Umesh)and i am still thinking ............can i be Amir Khan in his or for that matter in anybody's life?.......