Friday, April 25, 2008

On my last working day

Hi one and all,

After spending over two and half years here in the ODC and experiencing, learning, growing , falling and exploring new relations and circumstances bidding an adieu sure does feel a little overwhelming.

It would definitely remain a memorable time that I got to spend with you all here. And as I welcome this change to explore another new field ,by pursuing higher studies in MBA ,I hope the learning that I have imbibed here grows and moulds further . Hope I carry forward the wisdom gained and the acquaintances and friends along as well.

Wishing one and all the very best for their future endeavours. Adieu till our paths cross again.

Regards,

Friday, April 18, 2008

Start of Another CountDown :)!

A countdown to begin…
In just about a week’s time all the known faces will fade away to the dimly lit memory lanes…some of them will remain as memories and some in reality in contact…another list of incidents added and stacked away to be remembered and cherished as time progresses. Nostalgic wouldn’t really be the right word to use…. I know I am not but then I can’t even say this that I will not miss my system which has befriended me the last two and half years of my stay here…the hot cup of choco almond which has always been there to help me rejuvenate my spirits…the lunch time gossiping and leg-pulling always there to bring a smile on whenever remembered…the sudden announcements of pani puri treats where you realize you are the one who’s got to treat after happily having had your share of the delicacy…and the taste (both bitter and sweet) of professionalism….those few leads under whom you had worked and really admired their dedication…and those that you didn’t…bouts of unprofessional out-bursts in the team…chocolates and sweets distribution…team-outings…gossips…cribbings…the list of songs playing on your winamp which keep assuring you that they can just pull you out of anything and everything just that you need to put on your ear phones …..and there goes an unending list.
But above all there is one huge learning that any profession gives you and which no degree can ever teach and that is people management….dealing with various kinds of people is one thing that you just can’t get to learn in any institute.The wisdom of taking all kinds of people in your stride is one talent that I guess cannot be mastered in a short time. Its infact a continuous learning process that keeps growing as the years of experience keep accumulating. Its really interesting to observe the various ways in people take up their responsibilities…the different ways they tackle their tasks…and the most appreciable among them are those who work in a planned way and in the most organized manner.And its truly said the true nature of a person can be perceived only by observing how the person handles high-pressure situations. Different people handle pressure in different ways…and keeping your composure under pressure is one art that every individual tries his best to learn I guess.People who have already mastered this art really deserve an accolade.And when you get to work under such a supervisor or module lead you got to call yourself the luckiest of the whole lot.And the third learning would be balancing work and home and friends. A perfect balance maintained between your personal and professional life a virtue which needs conscious effort from your end.Three learnings that your profession strives to teach you.Hope these learnings go a long way and are moulded and groomed further in the coming days.
One interesting question that I was posed a few days back was…what is the need for you to take up a job or go for higher studies??You can happily relax at home and njoy isn’t it??Somehow I have never understood till date what my answer to such questions should be.I usually answer saying “Good suggestion…Thanks”.But I just wonder if I start thinking on those lines then what was the need for me to study either…could have happily sat and njoyed my childhood at home isn’t it…why be literate also!!Thankfully, not everyone thinks that way otherwise half the population would be illiterate today.Had it been not for my profession I would have had no identity of my own…no learnings and wisdom would have been driven home…I would have been just another being cocooned in a closed world unaware of what an independent identity means…how does the sense of achievement feel. Anyways, whatever it is…different people have different perceptions.And questions like these just cannot be answered.
So now that I have witnessed the taste of having a unique identity and have njoyed my short term professional life I will really miss a few cherished moments that I have been fortunate to experience in this place.But that is life isn’t it…as long as you have all the pleasure of being in the moment you don’t realize it…and the realization dawns only when you leave those moments behind you and advance to explore new events of your life…and then you can only look back and think about the moments that have passed and just smile quietly to yourself till the next countdown starts ticking away :)!

Friday, April 11, 2008

So this was it!

There are these times when you actually feel that you are a mere spectator and life has taken complete control over itself…the reigns of life have slipped out of your hands and your role is to just see it …as it is going …with a broad smile..gazing at the way it makes its way through… curving here…turning there..and gliding through, past all obstacles..above all hindrances….proceeding ,accomplishing…and breaking thru.Yeah, that’s how I exactly feel now when I am being asked “oh are you going for higher studies”…”Got thru MBA is it??”..”It had always been your aspiration right”…”All the best.Good to hear you made it”.And I can just smile but do anything when people ask me “So, happy now…must be feeling on top of world right??”.
I am really not sure if I am feeling that way.MBA …pursuing and aspiring for it had been an amazing process….I had taken the decision over night just because I thot I wanted something on hand to keep me occupied…to struggle for …and MBA entrance exams had been my choice…. not sure when my over-night decision grew into a career decision and a reason for perseverance and a yearning to do an MBA.Giving up…breaking down…getting up and trying again…squeezing out time off the schedule became a regular habit.And in this whole process pain of not making it or failure became insignificant so much so that making it thru or not also has started seeming insignificant somehow…
Just like I have mentioned in the beginning of the post …all through out your journey of perseverance you try to hold on infact cling on to the reigns of your life in your hands and try hard to keep it on track and in the process you are bruised badly, you are hurt, you fall, rise, experience the worst and finally when you stop bothering about whether the bruises pain any longer or not….whether you bother any longer if you are clinging onto the reigns or not, that’s when life just takes on itself the control and you can do nothing but watch smiling and thinking so this was it…was it!! :)
So XIMB it will be then…the place where I would pursue my MBA dream…another new beginning.Another hostel room all set to welcome me and become my home for the next two years.Another set of strangers waiting to become acquaintance and then convert to friends.In another two months I would be on a new campus ….which is awaiting to unfold a series of tests,assignments,lectures,presentatitons,friends,night-outs,treats,b-day bumps,grades,vacations,projects….all to be re-lived again.Hope I make the best of it.Hope I stand to its expectations of me….especially since this time pursuing this degree would not just mean me just acquiring my dream of a Post Graduation but a lot more added to it….a lot other things that have gone hand in hand with it…a lot of support and sacrifice to which I need to stand up for…hope all that has started off well will end well one day me standing up for everything… and me posting on that one day just like today…so this was it :)!