Life has been going at a fast pace for me for the last couple of months. Time flies here. Different emotions, different feelings, partly organised, some decisions taken with a cool head, some just happened before I could react to it. In short, life in Bangalore has been eventful. There is the urge to write another blog and yet I don't know what to write on...perhaps will be wandering here and there. Different very small incidents sometimes change the way you perceive things.
Things did not go too well after the MBA, especially with the type of job I landed in IBM and another idiotic and a****** boss that I had to report to. I mean some people just have so little knowledge about professionalism and they bring their personal 'I' so much into the office that they forget that they should actually abide by the organisation policies ; after all its not their home! But who will make them understand? But like this recession taught almost all that nothing in work can be taken for granted, hopefully, some day these managers will realise that its not enough to hang around in the name of (mis) managing the team. Since it was immediately after the MBA, the shock was just too much. It was a moment of shock and despair.
Thank GOD I do not have to deal with him and new manager is absolutely amazing.
Immediately after that manager, I came across my manager in Oracle. A completely different person. Jovial, hard-working, dedicated and loves the team! In fact the best boss I had in my whole career. The whole team has lunch together, we play pranks together..its absolute fun. In fact, last month there was a possibility that my manager would be transfered to another business unit. The whole day we prayed that it does not happen. Ultimately it did not! And the whole team was so relieved - BOSS stays as BOSS! A moment of celebration.
And then there are relationships and the over-heads that come with it. Mainiting the links, striking the right chord, understanding what opinions others have about you, its all so complex! In this small life of ours I wonder how people have the time to brood over small things, have time to peep into other persons' life, analyse it and then prepare the perfect recipe to set the house on fire. Perhaps those who have lost the direction of their own life try to distract others. Its sometimes so difficult to control your temper. But at the end of the day I realised the importance of something that my dear grandmother taught me long back when I was small - BE COOL. When as a child, I was very hot-tempered she used to constantly calm me down and compare anger with fire. It was a moment of realisation - an old lesson revised.
Compare this with what happened just in the last two days. Our maid (we call her "Aunty") yesterday told me about her past life and how her husband left her 23 years ago to marry another women and how tough her life has been. I was moved by what she said and was amazed to hear that she actually knows driving and carnatic vocal music (I know none of them!). Today morning she said she had a problem and had to be admitted to the hospital today evening. She cannot continue our job. I learned from her relative that she had breast cancer of advanced stage and was going to be under the knife soon. She bought our used old washing machine and with this month's salary it was supposed to be adjusted. However I don't know why, but I did not adjust and gave her the full salary. While time of leaving, she said "Sir, I will pay you the amount. Don't worry" I only said to her "Don't worry, aunty...you take care of yourself." I wanted to say "Let that be a farewell gift to you!"...But perhaps my throat choked and I was unable to speak. It was a moment of sadness.
My dear old friend of college days, Sandipan (to be precise, Dr. Sandipan Pramanik, Lecturer of Nano-Technology at the University of Alberta, Canada) one day mailed me about some project plan that he was going to submit in approximately 10 days time. He wanted me to proof-read it. When I opened, I was elated to find that its a business plan. Having just completed my MBA and raring to go, I jumped into it. We worked day and night - round the clock towards it. That was in May. Last week I came to know that our business plan won the first prize. I was on cloud nine. If there was even the slightest hesitation in me about the value of my MBA and the time and money I spent on it, this incident rubbished all of them. I am happy and proud for every moment that I spent in the MBA. Once I thought that I'll tell to all who even now doubt the credentials of my MBA, but then recalled my grandma's advise to be cool under all circumstances. I don't have to prove any point to the world. If I am clear in my conscience, I know I am in the right. It was a moment of great joy, satisfaction and peace of mind.
My life goes on...small incidents, big impacts,some old lessons revised, some new lessons learned. My life goes on...learning new things everyday, improving myself, changing the way I look at life, paying attention to some, ignoring others.
All in my endeavour to become a better human being -- better than the previous day.
Amen!
Things did not go too well after the MBA, especially with the type of job I landed in IBM and another idiotic and a****** boss that I had to report to. I mean some people just have so little knowledge about professionalism and they bring their personal 'I' so much into the office that they forget that they should actually abide by the organisation policies ; after all its not their home! But who will make them understand? But like this recession taught almost all that nothing in work can be taken for granted, hopefully, some day these managers will realise that its not enough to hang around in the name of (mis) managing the team. Since it was immediately after the MBA, the shock was just too much. It was a moment of shock and despair.
Thank GOD I do not have to deal with him and new manager is absolutely amazing.
Immediately after that manager, I came across my manager in Oracle. A completely different person. Jovial, hard-working, dedicated and loves the team! In fact the best boss I had in my whole career. The whole team has lunch together, we play pranks together..its absolute fun. In fact, last month there was a possibility that my manager would be transfered to another business unit. The whole day we prayed that it does not happen. Ultimately it did not! And the whole team was so relieved - BOSS stays as BOSS! A moment of celebration.
And then there are relationships and the over-heads that come with it. Mainiting the links, striking the right chord, understanding what opinions others have about you, its all so complex! In this small life of ours I wonder how people have the time to brood over small things, have time to peep into other persons' life, analyse it and then prepare the perfect recipe to set the house on fire. Perhaps those who have lost the direction of their own life try to distract others. Its sometimes so difficult to control your temper. But at the end of the day I realised the importance of something that my dear grandmother taught me long back when I was small - BE COOL. When as a child, I was very hot-tempered she used to constantly calm me down and compare anger with fire. It was a moment of realisation - an old lesson revised.
Compare this with what happened just in the last two days. Our maid (we call her "Aunty") yesterday told me about her past life and how her husband left her 23 years ago to marry another women and how tough her life has been. I was moved by what she said and was amazed to hear that she actually knows driving and carnatic vocal music (I know none of them!). Today morning she said she had a problem and had to be admitted to the hospital today evening. She cannot continue our job. I learned from her relative that she had breast cancer of advanced stage and was going to be under the knife soon. She bought our used old washing machine and with this month's salary it was supposed to be adjusted. However I don't know why, but I did not adjust and gave her the full salary. While time of leaving, she said "Sir, I will pay you the amount. Don't worry" I only said to her "Don't worry, aunty...you take care of yourself." I wanted to say "Let that be a farewell gift to you!"...But perhaps my throat choked and I was unable to speak. It was a moment of sadness.
My dear old friend of college days, Sandipan (to be precise, Dr. Sandipan Pramanik, Lecturer of Nano-Technology at the University of Alberta, Canada) one day mailed me about some project plan that he was going to submit in approximately 10 days time. He wanted me to proof-read it. When I opened, I was elated to find that its a business plan. Having just completed my MBA and raring to go, I jumped into it. We worked day and night - round the clock towards it. That was in May. Last week I came to know that our business plan won the first prize. I was on cloud nine. If there was even the slightest hesitation in me about the value of my MBA and the time and money I spent on it, this incident rubbished all of them. I am happy and proud for every moment that I spent in the MBA. Once I thought that I'll tell to all who even now doubt the credentials of my MBA, but then recalled my grandma's advise to be cool under all circumstances. I don't have to prove any point to the world. If I am clear in my conscience, I know I am in the right. It was a moment of great joy, satisfaction and peace of mind.
My life goes on...small incidents, big impacts,some old lessons revised, some new lessons learned. My life goes on...learning new things everyday, improving myself, changing the way I look at life, paying attention to some, ignoring others.
All in my endeavour to become a better human being -- better than the previous day.
Amen!
