Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Success

Every day at work is fraught with problems, challenges, decisions. Every day tests us in new ways, makes us reveal and realise our strengths, weaknesses and capabilities. We struggle with the challenges as well as we can, trying to live up to expectations – our own as well as those of others.

So recognition at the work place seems like an affirmation of success. Even a word of appreciation from a colleague serves to bolster our sense of self-worth. It makes work bearable, even rewarding. It makes it seem worthwhile. It inspires us to new heights.

What else, after all, is success? It is doing well at what we do. It is being what we are, and what we are meant to be. And rewards, while not synonymous to success, seem to make success tangible.


Success is an occasion for celebration, for congratulation. A vindication of our belief in ourselves.

May you have many such successes.

Monday, April 24, 2006

End of the Weekend

Good bye to another weekend. It was more ordinary than most. I spent a lot of time sleeping (which has become common now), did the usual cooking, less than the usual cleaning and tidying, watched a good movie, had a fabulous dinner last evening, and went to sleep early, exhausted (from all the sleeping!?), so that I got up early (in comparison) to give an early start to the workweek (with fewer grumbles about the end of the weekend and the re-start of work).

The Guy and I went to Crossword - the bookstore - last evening. Found a few treasures. I had a grand time at the children's section - children's books fascinate me. I could even use my bf's niece as an excuse to buy a couple. I had been wanting to read "My Experiments with Truth" - I had started on an Assamese version many years ago, but it was too difficult to get through - and the Guy asked the store assistant for help: "Do you have Gandhi's autobiography?" She replied politely, "No, but we have the other book," and pointed it out on the shelf. On the cover was printed, in bold letters, "An Autobiography - My Experiments with Truth". We were both aghast at her knowledge(!?). I mean, she works at a bookstore!
People's ignorance never ceases to amaze me. I remember classmates at my B-school not being able to say where London is (No, this is not a trick question - I mean the London on the Thames - and they were management students!). To top it all, I'm reading a book by the famous journalist Thomas Friedman in which he extols the knowledge and intellectual power in India. I feel like starting a non-profit group which would educate people about general issues - say, that's a good idea. When (if) my (future) husband earns enough for me not to need a job, I might give it a good think.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Friday again!

Another Friday - a day of fun and frolic (as I would like to hope!). Friday is a transition - a workday that leads to fun, a weekday in which strict officewear rules (for those of us who have them!) are relaxed, a day in which imagination and excitement overtake staidness and care. It promises tantalizing possibilities. This weekend, break the rules. Do something different, something exciting. Something that will bring a private smile to your face throughout the coming long work week.

Have a fabulous Friday and a wicked weekend!

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Three Months in Pune!

The Guy and I find something to celebrate at least once a week - it adds some excitement to life. Today, we plan to celebrate the completion of my first three months in Pune.

How did I feel three months ago, as I was leaving my old life behind and getting on a plane to Pune, with just a couple of bags in hand (I'd sent across the rest of my belongings earlier)? How did it feel going to a new job and a new life, a boyfriend who had been 'friend' a couple of months ago? How did it feel leaving the first job I'd ever had, and all the reputation and respect I'd built up for myself?

Actually, I was not as nervous as you might think. I did not have much to leave behind - only a couple of friends found over the past 10 months, a roommate who would soon leave herself to get married. What awaited me in Pune were, to be sure, just promises - the promise of a dream job, of a perfect love - but it was enough to lure me here, and enough for me to get on that flight with more anticipation than apprehension.

Impossible promises, you say? But till now, I have not been disappointed. My only complaint with my job is that I have too little to do, but that is one of its attractions. About my love - well, no complaints. There is a little rough that goes with the smooth, but on the whole, the journey has been far more pleasurable than I had even hoped. Well, let's just hope it remains so!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Caught in the Middle...

It's the middle of the week, and near the middle of the month. No beginnings, no anticipation of pay, not a time for planning the weekend or a shopping splurge to get rid of some of that salary. A boring, busy, normal day?Nothing exciting, different, new - unless you choose to make it so.

So what did I do today that was different? Nothing, as yet. But yet it is different for me.

A friend I discovered not long ago is leaving forever - going on to better things, to a different country - in fact, to what was perhaps till not so long back the land of dreams, America. I regret not having had more time to spend with her, I regret not getting to know her better. But I am thankful that I have known her, that she touched my life, if briefly. I do not know if I will see her again, but I know I shall always think of her with fondness.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

In anticipation of a long weekend!

What pleasures does a three-day weekend hold? If nothing else, the pleasure of anticipation, of having all the fun and lazing around that seems too little for a normal weekend. Best, of course, is the prospect of getting away to a different place and having a small but exciting holiday. But my health is indifferent at the moment, and I am not brave enough to face the prospect of a weekend away from home. No movies I want to watch either, and no TV in my apartment. So I am looking forward to lazing around, lots of food, cool drinks and ice-cream, and games of chess and scrabble - it being too hot and too crowded to go shopping. I finally got a cooking gas connection today - after shelling out an astronomical amount - so I can also look forward to honing my cooking skills. The prospect of home-cooked food after so long is alluring - even though it be my own cooking!