The day arrives...... and passes by.....

The day arrives.. everyone comes to office, a bit early than usual.. all tensed...........
it was her last day!
She comes, bubbly, all cheerful, with the ever sported smile on her face.. as if nothing was wrong....
outside for everyone, she was the usual person, but for us, we could see what she was feeling from inside..
it was our best friends last day at office..
10.00 a.m., coffee time.. sitting in the cafeteria, i was thinking, this is probably the last time we are sitting together in the morning, talking and sharing a cup of coffee in which i dont take sugar, and she needs it.. so everytime we put some sugar which was not too much for me and not too less for her....
all the boys, trying to be happy, cracking jokes, and suddenly a drop of tear swells in the eye.... they look away, hiding it, trying to tell that nothings wrong!!
We have some nice chicken for breakfast which devdas has made specially for her.. and i can say, it was made from the heart! it was amazing!!....... thanks devdas!!...
everyones back to work, though i cant vouch on the concentration everyone is putting in...
the first half passes so quickly... in the afternoon i sit outside with freezer and i see this boy break down in front of me.. i feel so helpless.. all i could do was speak a few words consoling him, asking him to accept life the way it had come along..... 'hamne hi bola tha usko, resume bana, upload kar, otherwise she was thinking of somehow spending the year and a half here....ab uski aadat ho gayi hai re..' Regrets?
N then i saw devdas, sitting next to me, yelling at me to go inside, just because he didnt want me to see him cry.... 'main aaisa nahi tha re...................!!' Surprised?
isnt it so amazing, that one single person, in such a short span of time touched the heart of so many people.. changed them for the better, and becomes the most important part of their lives? and ofcourse you can imagine the condition of any one when he realises that he wont be seeing this person everyday for 10 hours atleast in the workplace...
suddenly the office seems to be so dull, as if all the life has flown out.. in a matter of minutes..............
packing, filling forms, taking various signatures... lot of work to be done.. she was clearing her drawers, handing over the things to me.. the box of chocolates, the pack of cigarettes.... wanting to say, 'take care of my boys... '
evening arrives, we gather in cafeteria again, for a cuppa coffee.... its almost time..... she becomes all red, tears flowing from her eyes, everyone looking away probably trying to control their emotions.. she gets up, goes to get a tissue paper from the bunch.... 'hey, get the whole pack, it will be required..'
she laughs, inspite of the tears continuing to roll down her cheeks....
Sun sets, cafeteria lights up.. we sit outside while she is sitting in the office clearing her mailbox... sending mails saying goodbye to everyone..
night sets in, we come inside.. everyone was looking horrible.. we sit for sometime, she brings chocolates.. then brings pastries.. no ones in the mood of eating..
she packs it all.. and then, it is suddenly the time for leaving.... everyone gets up, picks up their belongings, though leaving a lot of things with each other!
silently everyone walks out of the office, into the lift, to the basement... everyone controls their tears.. we walk to the parking slot.. n then the moment arrives.. now the tears become uncontrolled.. for everyone.. all are crying, saying no words, but actually saying so much to each other.. she points a finger at me n says, 'Useless' and i just give a nod...
we hug each other.. 'take care of my boys', she says to me.... i nod again..
n then we leave..
i had written in my last post, that friendships are found and are lost, but these kind of friendships are not found so easily, and when found, are never lost................
I take back my words.... you were right devdas.. i was wrong.....
I dedicate this post to mini, one of the best friends i have ever had in years together, and to the continuing wonderful relationship we have and will share for the entire lifetime....

Resignations....??

There is a time when a lot of people in an organization suddenly put up their papers! yeah.. the time immediately after appraisals..! So is happening with my place of work.. there is this sudden rush of news.. it has kind of become a 'everyday' sort of an affair..
One of my best friends leaving the organization shortly. Sometimes it becomes so difficult to decide if you want to be happy for the other person, or you want to be sad, because that friend of yours will be leaving you shortly!
Parting from companies is different from parting ways with friends.. thats what someone told me, and thats what i have explained a lot of times to myself and my collegues when such situations have occured in the past. but it is not so simple.. tough it is not exactly parting ways, still the distance creates void space between two people..
First there are phone calls and messages everyday.. then the phone calls reduce to may be once a week, once a month, then probably at that times when you have some work with that person.. then a moment arrives, when you actually face the question, 'what should i talk to him/her after calling....??
All that remains is a name in your mailbox from which you continue to receive some or the other forwards for quite sometime which, later on, you might not even have time to read!
some people say.. a friendship has a purpose in your life, it becomes a part of you, teaches you so many things, provides an outlet for your emotions, teaches you to express yourself, and then is lost..
you move ahead with your life and then, again, you come across this beautiful kind of relationship which walks some steps, along with you, in the journey called life...........!
Hats off to this beautiful relation called........... friendship!!

Some thots......

Hopping jobs has become more of trend now a days. 80% of the people I ask, are definitely not satisfied with their jobs and are looking for a change. The change can be because of money, because of boss or because of the work ppl are getting to do. And it has become so common, that when someone comes n tells you that he/she is leaving the organization, you actually cant even successfully bring a ‘surprised’ look on your face. Because it really is no longer surprising!
Retiring in the same company which you joined as a GET, is now a thing of the past! It works no longer. Infact, now a days when you don’t switch jobs, people may even start thinking that you are no good to get a better one. Really, that’s the case here.
Some people say staying with one company does better to you, you can rise fast in levels. But salary becomes a constraint. And hopping jobs increases your salary to no bounds!
Well, it can be the other way round also! Depend in which industry you work in.
Manufacturing was infamous for paying low salaries. But the market scene is changing slowly. Manufacturing companies too have increased their salaries. Though not to the level of IT scales, but still, manufacturing has a lot more to offer (other than money) than an IT industry.
I probably say this because my first job was with a core manufacturing company. And the experience that industry has offered, is no match for the IT industry. You deal with so many processes, manufacturing, designing, testing, validation, systems.. its just so vast! The ‘cross functional’ working is an amazing thing! Though there might be so many problems within the team, but when they appear in a c/f meet, they are one. Always supporting the colleagues. Its like having ‘One face to the Customer’
Apart from the knowledge base, you get to deal with such a vast variety of people. N trust me, handling manufacturing people, is one of the toughest task! If you achieve that, you can be considered ‘good’ at people skills.
With so many advantages, there are also a bit of disadvantages! But those are there in all the industries, rt?
Personally, given a choice I think I wud anytime prefer to be an employee of a manufacturing organization!

A lot of questions...???

Things can get quite different with the attitude people show towards you.. till yesterday I was quite happy with my job. Today I suddenly felt this is not the place for me! I suddenly felt I must go back to my field.. in core technical! And then I actually gave a thot abt my decision of changing my stream. Was it the right decision I had made? Was it what I was really looking for? Do I actually want to continue in a job? Should I really think of taking up a full-time education course? If I get a chance, I will just love to go back to full time studies once again. It could possibly be the best thing that could happen to me. But if I do, what wud happen to family life? I am not on my own now. I have a bunch of other people to think about. Because one decision of mine will affect their lives to some extent, and the life of me and my husband tremendously! The whole plans for future will shake up.. but taking up a full time MBA course might help us re-plan our lives, and better than we have now, probably.
There are so many questions that I want the answers to. But I am confused. Whom to trust to help me out with this. My husband… obviously is the best person. But I know he will encourage me to do what I want.. he will never even think about coming across my career aspirations. He will be biased!
There is a lot of thinking to happen in this regard. A lot of things that can go wrong with one decision of mine! And with all this pondering, for a full time educational course, the most difficult things is that I must get admission into a good school first! And it is really getting tough to get one in Indian Schools!
I think I need to wait n watch for now to know what is there in the store for me and let the things unfold on its own.

Stepping in the year 2007....

New year finally started! With a decent celebration with family on 31st, and getting up late on 1st!! that was the only day I really got to sleep as much as I liked cauz the next day I was up again and loaded with work. Though college was yet to start, still the project that I had undertaken for academics, it was going and I had to stretch in office.. used to be like somewhat late..
And now the college has begun, so literally I have hardly time for anyone, leave that, I hardly am finding time for myself!
New year didn’t start very good on ‘people relations’ front, cauz I am fighting with a lot of people.. perhaps that was because of the work pressure and some other things, but thankfully now that everything is going under wraps and everything shall be normal soon and I wish that it will remain that way for the rest of the time! Now completing that wish lies plainly in my hands and I will give my best shot to it..
New year professionally is atleast very good (touch wood!). am learning a lot of things which are new and getting a wide exposure. But ofcourse there are some elements which I do hate to look at everyday in office, but here the choice is restricted! L Tough that cant be the reason I cant enjoy my job! I am to the fullest!
Somewhere getting bored of the routine life and wish some changes to happen..
Currently reading Crisis by Robin Cook. Will post somethings abt that as soon as I finish reading it! So far its ok.. based on a medical malpractice case. Yet to go beyond that to understand what really happens.. but will write a review on that soon!

Till then,
Ciao!

Welcome 2007!

Well, i thought i wud buy sometime this week as my boss is not there this week in the office!! ;) but i think fortunately that is not the case! i am quite overloaded with my regular work and plus the academic project that i have undertaken! but its definitely fun!

I have started receiving the new year mails, the mails of the horoscopes for year 2007.. mails saying goodbye to 2006, mails renewing the 'contract of friendships for the year 2007', and all the planning going around for bidding goodbye to 2006 and welcoming 2007.... the planning for 31st december! Lots of plans to spend the night in a club, or may be with friends, or just sitting at home with family and enjoy the 'TV programs' that come up! Well, for me, i havent planned anything as of yet.. lets see..

But finally one more year comes to an end.. a year of so many ups and downs.. a year of so many achievements, a year of some failures and year of sorrows and a year of happiness!

Lot of things happened in the past year.. i became manager in Cummins, and then, the very next day i resigned!!!!! and joint another organization at an Engineers level! funny huh? well, but i dont probably regret my decision because i am doing all the new things and uptil now, there is not much repetition of work! and yes, for the current senario, i can say, i am enjoying my new job!

This past year was also the first year of my married life. and as i said in my previous post, it was really a splendid year as far as my married life was concerned!

About the rest, well, there was nothing much other than home n office! so in all a good year for me! and hopefully the next year passes even better.. for me.... and for all of you!!
So heres wishing you all the best for the coming year!! work harder and enjoy each and every moment of you life!

"Life is an ice-cream..... enjoy it before it melts!!"

Is that so.........?

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at what u r studying or ur job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused.

Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone! but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about this only to realize that they are experiencing this or have experienced this b4!

I have experienced some of the things, but not all.. Is this what happens in everyone’s life?

Going back down the memory lane....

last two weeks were so amazing! just great! the whole preparation for the program we had made with the GETs of TFDC, took me back two years in time.. the time when i was a GET in Cummins India. My friend from cummins did leave a comment on my last blog.... and that just gives a swirl bringing out the memories of my first job!

OMPs.. that was what we were called as! and probably were proud to be so.. to get so many privilages under that tag! we were the kings n queens in there for a over a year!

The LC sessions, the trips, the treks (though i didnt go for many!! ;)) the get-togethers, the birthday parties and the sendoffs which we gave to our collegues!

it was so much fun! i still remember the record breaking book reviews which we managed within 3 days! even the rememberance of those moments brings so much excitement from within!

That period of two years, be it spending time in the assembly conf. room, be it having fun in the Learning center, be it sleeping while others are presenting their book reviews, be it getting thrashed by LC ppl and then laughing to no end!

The first official party for Manufacturing in CIL, and hearing to the 'kisse' of my dear friends, chalk (dont be surprised if you are reading this blog), girya, and krishna.. and the way the discussions went still brings a smile on my face as i write these lines!

I dont think any of the GETs in any of the companies i know, had so much fun! and the bonding which was formed because of this, still remains and i hope that it will for the rest of our lives!! (i keep my fingers crossed)

Everyone now is busy a lot.. some to US, some changed jobs (like me.. :)) and some are still there.. in that world where we've had the best of our times!

Sometimes i still feel like going back to to that place, and feel a bit sad about leaving those friends behind.. But the decision i made was a conscious one! and even though, i have left that place and those people behind, that time, those people are and will always be one the best parts of my life!!

A great Party...........!!

After 10 days of continuous work in office, coming back on the 11th day seems to be so boring! And with the absence of my boss in office today, everything for me is at a standstill!
Yesterday was my First Party at my new Work Place. And it went really good! Everything was very alike as it used to be in Cummins, only that the public in my current office is of average age of 25 years! So the public was young and very enthu! Well, Cummins ppl were also very enthu, but that enthusiasm usually used to reach heights, which I didn’t find yesterday! But anyways, a great party!
and finally my very hectic schedule comes to an end, and finally I am a bit relaxed and very very tired!!
Lots of things to do ahead! Many things to happen..
Till then… Ciao!

For the splendid year that we spent together.....!

Yesterday we completed one year of our married life! One whole year!! Wow! that really passed so quickly.. so many things that happened, intentional, unintentional, good, bad, and so many dreams waiting, yet to be fulfilled!
I was very much elated by the end of the day, because many people had remembered this special day in my life. It really feels very nice to know that these people are there to share your moments of happiness!
First Anniversary! and i was working for the whole day!! it was pathetic! But anyways, in the evening we did have a gala time and did spend some great time with our near and dear ones! But ofcourse, the whole day bash is pending, and we are planning to have that soon!