Happy journey

It’s a new experience every time when I travel by train. I take the local train for work and yes it’s a big pain in the neck (literally too) …. As days passed I have started enjoying it… except for the pain…

Anytime we can find a lot of vendors selling stuffs like fruits, vegetables, accessories, and all kinds of junk… It’s a surprise to find old women/men also selling things… even at that age they earn for their bread. The meager income which they get must be just sufficient for their next purchase.

Actually they are heavily fined by the police if found selling things inside the train.
One of them said on this “I have paid a fine of Rs 3000 once and it takes months to earn that money”. This is quite a heavy levy on such people whose income is just sufficient for their mere existence….
Leaving aside this serious discussion… here are a few more kinda people I have met so far….
It’s probably 2 weeks before, that I saw a lady along with her 2 daughters (their age must be around 10) … she had dressed them up really well and was consciously and regularly adjusting their accessories. It was such a sweet sight to watch the mother being extra careful about the daughters and their appearance.

There was a group of beautiful girls in saree… who were just returning from their farewell I suppose (of course I know this only by over hearing their conversation).
They had a nice time commenting on all the girls and their attire… and I had a great time listening to it…

These are some of the instances that captured me and apart from this, there are always the regular bunch of students from schools/colleges and ofcourse some in the IT field just as me.
I travel along with my friends and we have the time of our life by cracking jokes and the non stop vetti kadhai (the most unconstructive stories).
We create so much noise and we get so engrossed in the talk that we realize late the ladies around us are silent spectators to our talk…
It was once when I was cracking a series of jokes, I realized it really late that the woman who was to get down in the next station got off her seat just on time laughing, and that she was also completely engrossed with the conversation J
That’s the strength of gossip I suppose!

There are also these teachers who travel regularly along with us…. They have their own set of stories that keeps the entire compartment busy (as they’re always loud… probably they aren’t out of the classroom yet).

There are also these cute little kids who don’t care about anything except for their food and play. They cheer up the people around them wanting the centre of attraction. No doubt they get it for these kids are so adorable!

There are also these little fights which happen between the ladies for simple reasons such as:
Lady 1: “Look at the way u have spread ur legs… your occupying the space where 2 people can sit”
Lady 2: “You try sitting here and see how hard it’s to sit”
Lady 1: “No don’t argue like this…. Stop arguing”
For whatever the lady 2 said this was her only reply….
Finally it settled when Lady1 moved out from the place only…

This is another cute fight which I enjoyed the most….
There were these 2 girls… who were standing almost throughout their journey
Most of the crowd got down at the same station as I do…. So some girls got up well before the station arrived so that they can get themselves ready to get down in the rush.. I was still sitting…. The seat next to me was vacant and I was sitting in the middle of the 3 seater… the lady to my right put her bag to seat on my left across me… actually reserving a seat for someone else…
One of the girls was just about to sit there… but the teacher near me was faster and on the first come first basis… she won the seat!!!
One of the girls smartly asked this lady “So have you got an extra ticket? Or have you got a ticket for that some one?”
This lady got really furious and shouted…. “Why, won’t you reserve seats for your friends… only you can have friends ah? We should have is it? Or shouldn’t we reserve for ours? Bla blab la”

This girl did not bother and started smiling along with her friend.
But the lady dint give up… she repeatedly was telling the same thing…
I dint know what happened after that for I had reached my destination and I had to get down….
Though I felt bad for the lady…
I liked the way the girl asked what she wanted to…. It was rude but still smart!!!!

I come across so many instances like this almost everyday and also some bad ones where these ladies push in and out before they hold on to the train and even I got screwed up by one lady who used such cheap words ….

I learnt one thing… Patience is all we need… to handle such people in the train and also to travel such long distance!!

Happy journey!!

Summer holidays

It’s probably years since I had a summer vacation! Man… what fun we had then…
It never struck me for long until my cousin, who is also working in the IT industry, said “How nice if we had some summer holidays just as in school”.
I long for such holidays… and wonder if we could get some days off like that.
What a break to this mundane life!!

I don’t want these holidays just to sit back home and relax, what I want is the essence of the childhood days!
Those were the days when the entire family gathered in together and would share joyous moments …. And during the first few days of the vacation, I always used to stick to the television to watch possibly all cartoons and various movies…

It’s the time when all our cousins come in and we get to go out somewhere together, say a theme park or beach or wherever!!
We’re never in short of a hang out in this wonderful Chennai…

Though, out of station was pretty rare, the once in few years trips were unbeatable!

My school provided some summer camps and coaching which I participated almost every year. We would have several activities such as tennis, yoga, swimming, music, dance etc etc…
Every year I learnt something new….

I used to play throughout the day…. All kids gather in, not only from that apartment but from you-don’t-know-where only…. There would be batches of kids playing ranging from the age of 10-18.

Now the sad part comes in…. the homework…. which is a part of summer vacation activity (God knows who started this only!!!! It spoils the entire mood of the vacation…)
We are given some assignments in various fields such as Science, English so on… which has to be submitted without fail on the reopening day!!
My history says…. I had never submitted it on time!!

As always, my last minute work and the major contribution from my folks around help me complete the same successfully, though with a ‘B’ grade for late submission…

Who cares about the grades… for there’s always next time…. and I eagerly wait for my next summer vacation (Of course, not for my betterment in grades ;))

It almost 6 years since I have completed my schooling and I cherish every moment of my school and the summer vacation….
Everyone’s settled in life and these moments are precious in each of our hearts!

Now, where are we?
Why no such lovely healthy days together....
No time for play and no time for family….
Probably I should rephrase it as “We don’t spare time for them”
However we need to move on… in order to exist in this challenging world… and to meet the expectations…
I’m not saying we don’t have time for family but the wonderful moments which we spent happily together has drastically reduced…. There could be several reasons for this change which would be inevitable for each one of us…
Else would someone miss such joyous moments with our beloved…?
NEVER!!!!!!!!

I’m still longing for one such summer vacation to spend with my family and friends for we're…

SO CLOSE YET SO FAR……

Time for a change

It’s just 2 months since I got back from Pune to Chennai. After a huge struggle I got relocated to Chennai. Life in Pune was wonderful.
However, Chennai is the place I had always been and getting back home was a treat… not only for me but for my friends, as I had to give one before I left Pune J
Also I got a wonderful farewell from my roomies… Thanks a ton to all to have made my days special in Pune!

Its just 2 months since I joined Chennai office. Working from Chennai was totally different from the work culture to the people. Traveling to MWC (chengelpet) ate up most of my time and the rest of the day @ work is all I got here in Chennai!
Leisure at home was out of question! It was only during the weekends… which I ended up spending with friends and studies!

Now it’s time to move on and I have got an opportunity to work in Bangalore for a short term. The new project assigned requires me to work from Bangalore. This is for a period of 3 months and hopefully I can get back and resume my routine over here!

I was a little apprehensive about this new location as it was on a short notice and I had a take a quick decision. The 1st reason anyone would opt for any location as long as we get a project is the recession that’s going on! Being in IT industry, recession is the biggest blow happening and everyone is aware of it!
So making a witty choice leaving aside the sentiments and emotions was more important!

Having drilled my mind for over 3 hours and having consulted with the ones who are concerned about my future, I decided to take up this new opportunity.
It was a tough decision. Sometimes even a small decision might make a huge difference!
So I wanted to take the right one!

So I’ll be moving to Bangalore this weekend and would be resuming my work for this organization from there!
Good luck is all I need now and I wish the next 3 months is fun of fun and learning!

So I’m all set to leave to Bangalore with the hope it’s just a temporary shift!

Being away!

How is it to be away from home…?

Being away from home seemed a lot more thrilling before it happened!!
Independent life, no nagging from parents, never early to bed, no early to raise calls from mom…. I did get all this…
But still something was missing during the entire tenure!!
Probably this is what they call “home sickness”?
Did not feel it a bit the first 6 months as I was having the time of my life.

Settling was the biggest target and it took over 2 months for us to settle things in the new land. Having found a new house and a new term “roomies” came into my life.
Wow… referring roomies was such a nice feeling!!

Calling home everyday was never routine whereas my roomies made sure they spoke to their mom or dad everyday!!
I call my home once in 2 or 3 days and it was nice to speak with them as I got more attention than when I lived there…. Also when I used to visit home once in 4 months, wow… watta treatment … I had never got that even when I lived there… that’s the irony!!

COMPROMISES

Life is full of compromises!!
Without compromising, one’s life will never be fulfilled…
At all stages of life we do compromise; from an infant to an aged.

When one year old, the kid wants a mobile phone to play with; ends up getting a toy mobile, she has to compromise with what she gets!
And she is very much satisfied with the toy, for she knows if not this she’ll never get any… Smart kid right!!

When 11, she would have asked for a bi-cycle to her dad for all her friends would come to school cycling together. Her dad would say “Dear, you’re just eleven and you’re too young to be on the road all by yourself.… In 2 years papa will surely get you a new cycle… until then you will continue going to school safely in the same van along with your friends.”
Her next compromise… she’s happy that atleast she doesn’t have to walk to her school though just 2 streets away J

When 13, she would get back to her dad reminding him on his promise and he would smartly reply “Dear, your school is just two streets away and I’m sure you can have even more fun by walking along with your friends too”.
She again compromises and enjoys her days walking with her friends to school.

When 16, it was time for her to choose her group. Dad says “Dear, today computer science is the most valued group and I want you to take that” before she could even stand up to him and say “Dad, I do like science but I have no interest in computers.”
she had already been selected for that group.

Successfully but unhappily completed her Junior college too!!!

Now time to move into college… choosing the degree that one wants is one of the toughest decisions to make.
That too when its non-professional, its worse!

She wants to do her under grads in Physics but her dad said “Dear, doing a professional degree is valued more, so pursue your engineering to have a bright future!”

So she compromises for her dad and his concern about her future… and she starts with her professional course.

Now she goes to her dad and asks him for a 2 wheeler so that it would be easier for her to go to college. Dad says “Dear, you need to understand… we’re in a financial crisis and my income is just sufficient for our daily living… I’ll get you one once you start working”.

Being a big understanding girl, she compromises and completes her UG with all
laurels!
On completion of her graduation, she starts working in an IT industry as her dad wished for. Well placed through campus with good income. She continues to be an understanding girl at home helping her family when situation calls.

NOTE: Till date she hasn’t got her 2 wheeler and as a responsible member of the family she prefers to be without one.

Its time for her to settle down and matrimony is all that’s pending to complete the settling. She gets married as her parents wished though she wanted to pursue her higher studies.
Compromising isn’t new for her!!
Wonderful guy and a supporting family is all they wanted and was fulfilled as per their wish.

Her marriage life was very smooth and she extended her family with a baby girl. She compromises from the name of the baby to the selection of the school she has to study…

All she wanted was to make sure her child does not compromise at any point as she did. She wanted to give the best to her but still this compromising is a vicious cycle which was transcended to her daughter too.

Though the same story repeats for her daughter, as a parent she realizes why her parents made her compromise.
Parenting and being hard on kids isn’t that easy!!
This is what she learnt and what the kid is doing is compromising for his/her better future… so they don’t lose anything!

Every coin has 2 sides, similarly the other side of compromises; from the parent’s is also there, be it from the simple life they lead to their sacrifices for the betterment of their kid.

Thus taking life as it comes and compromising on certain things doesn’t do any harm to your future….
Compromising should be only on certain things w.r.t luxury or for people who deserve it!
One should not compromise on their ambition and goals… they have to strive hard to achieve their destiny and no compromise would ever block such an achiever!!

The above is just a glimpse of what many go through…
The example that I have taken; I’m not able to classify it as a fiction or non-fiction;
So guys do compromise on this and take it as a random thought!! J

My First Blog

Few best days of my life...

This is my first ever blog and I thought I should write on what made me start this blogging…

Sometimes we never know what we’re good at until we meet the right person to identify it… A similar thing happened to me.
It was during my training days…
Being a part of IT industry it’s a must to undergo a behavioral training to groom as a professional. I was first sulky about this idea but what a difference it made in my life.

2 months of technical training passed by and then came the behavioral training…
I would say this program turned out to be a success as intended for, after the program all the participants got a different dimension to their skills.
Our trainer, Rashmi Shetty is the reason, not only for this success, but also my blogging. It’s over a year since training got over and even now there cannot be one who wouldn’t say “I miss those training days”.
It’s her very presence that makes everyone so comfortable and creates an attitude to give their best. She mesmerizes everyone with her smile and without any second thoughts she appreciates people for what they are.

I just took up the speeches and skits as a part of class activity but the kind of impression it had created on my fellow mates and the feedback from my trainer made me speechless in the end of the day.

It was almost after a year we got to speak again and the same women, with no change in her love and affection asked me to take up this writing seriously. And to do justice to this work, I thought I should first write on what made me write this blog.

Thanks once again for your support and your very presence in my life ma’am….