Pehchan Kaun..Odia ya Bong??

The name is Roy..Sarba Roy. Well that was a bit filmy way to start.

I am a Bong(colloquial term for any Bengali girl/boy) from Odisha, speaking a Bengali that is often said to have an Odia influence, celebrating Odia festivals, cooking & eating a convergence of Odia & Bengali cuisines, loving Bengali Literature & Rabindra Sangeet & above all a true Cuttacki at heart.

 The flamboyant Roy joined our family name when in a comedy of errors we got it from the British.But the funny thing is that  in my childhood I used to have this vague notion that our family was related to "Raja Ram Mohan Roy", an essential figure appearing in std 6-7 history books everywhere in India, until I was corrected by my grandmom in my late teens.

Why I said a little something about my name was because no matter where I have been, the next question to me after the usual "What is your name ?" is "Ohh Are you a Bengali?" or "Ohh You're Bong Right?" or "Roy..Ummm Bengali Right?" and sometimes "Bengali..ummm u look like a malayali though". 

Then comes the analogy "Ohh Bengali meaning you love fish naa", "You must be having sweets & misti doi with breakfast also naa", "Have u read Gitanjali?","Your face resembles Goddess Durga" &  the stereotypical jokes which are sometimes not at all funny.

After the next question, all hell breaks  loose. "So where are you from?". I utter "My native place is in Khurda but I stay with my parents in Cuttack, both are places in Odisha". 

Then comes "Ohh Odisha, but u said you were Bengali Right?","So you speak Bengali or Odia at home?","Ohh so you dont have any relatives in West Bengal?", after a "No" as the answer I get a puzzled look & sometimes puckered eyebrows.

 

After a brief explanation that my family has been staying in Odisha for 4-5 generations, I summarize by  saying that "While Bengali is my Matru bhasa(mother tongue), Odisha is my Janmabhoomi (mother land)".
Its as is I have two mothers.One has taught me the beauty of Literature, Art & Music while the other has enriched me with rich heritage & culture.

Both the cultures have made me who I am.They have made me crave for Dahibara Aludum & Mangshor Jhol,enchanted me with Rabindra Sangeet & Akshay Mohanty's music, enthralled me with Durga Puja & Kumar Purnima, blessed me as Maa Durga & Prabhu Jagannath.

A Bong from Odisha can be an interesting combination, just like Poda Pitha & Misti Doi. What you get depends a lot on what you ask for.

December Love

There is an element of romance dipped in December.The cold climate,foggy mornings,warm blankets & of course the sense of comfort in one's beloved.It is also a month of breaking away.Breaking away from mundane activities,irritability,discomfort & delusions.

It is the month for the celebration of love,to find the invincible flame of love burning within us.To know that no matter what,this love shall save us from every frost bite.

During my returning from office in the evenings, I see many young lovers holding hands while moving on the road.I smile as I feel that December is a month of indulgence, it gives one a reason to hold hands.

No matter how many designer jackets, cardigans or pull overs we have, all of know deep within, that it is our sense of being loved that keeps us the most warm.

The amber street light, cold evenings, steaming momos with spicy chutneys, happy giggles, sweet nothings in each other's ears & a silent promise of being there for each other,all of this are a part of December love.

In the cold nights & streets amber,

as we hold hands & roam in the evenings of december,

I want you to remember,

that my love for you shall glow like amber forever

Coz I know that I will cease

to exist without you

as you look at me & playfully tease

I know you are me & I am you

You are the one

who chose to be mine

let the battles be lost or won

I know you are meant to be mine

In a small tear of joy

I hold all my love for you

Holding a promise that

Our love in december shall bloom in all hues.

My dear readers, hope all of you are drenched in these sudden drizzles of love in December.May it engulf all of you with the sweet times you spend with your beloved.

Small is Beautiful

This is something I wanted to write since quite sometime.A few months ago, my friend & I had participated in an extempore competition by the ToastMaster's club in our office.While I cannot recall what my topic was,my friend had given a very beautiful perspective on her topic "Small is Beautiful".

"Small" since then has pushed me to my reflective mode. While dropping me to the bus stand for office, my father while looking at little girls riding their bicycles to school, told me "U know I sometimes look at them thinking that I might spot you among them". I was touched by his remark, indeed time had passed so swiftly. I remember the first time I had gone to school on bicycle, while returning I saw a tall person standing at a distance from the school gate, moving closer I saw it was my father waiting with a smile.

Drenched in nostalgia, I realized that indeed the "small" moment had brought with itself so much unconditional love & joy.

Another "small" moment was when I was probably in Std 6. My mom had promised to prepare dosa for me when I would return from school but due to some urgent work, she did not. I was not that kid who would nag for anything but if I decided to do or eat something, I had to the same day. So there was this ruckus in the house.

It feels too embarrassing to admit but I did cry for dosa in my childhood. My father had returned from office & just asked me to come with him. With swollen eyes, I sat behind his bike & we rode to the yummiest dosa joint of the locality.The experience had  given me an insight on parents & their unconditional love for their children.

Now many years later, I just realized that in the midst of my dreams, my day job( a job that pays one's bills),my friends, my books & my tensions I had forgotten to acknowledge these small moments that had made my childhood so beautiful & special.

This goes to all my dear readers, no matter where you are, no matter how tensed or troubled you are, please try to create & treasure these "small" moments that you get with your loved ones.

The projects will come & go, the office politics will happen, the money which is less now will increase later, but these moments that you spend with loved ones will become your priceless treasure in times to come.

After all "Small is Beautiful" is not just applicable to a sleek smartphone or lap top always.

Hide & Seek Part 1

This time, holidays are going to be different , Sudipto pondered.The  sultry wind & dusty roads to Rajgangapur,his ancestral village were indicating the same.He was accompanying his mom to the place which she had last visited as a newly wed along with his father.

 His ancestors were zamindars of that place, his mother had told him."Zamindar", the term created an image of a king like man in Sudipto's mind.,who was laden with jewellery & fine clothes,smoking hookah & drinking wine while owning loads of money for which he tortured poor farmers.

Despite the feeling of guilt engulfing his mind for being the descendant of a zamindar, he was more or less very curious to explore the place he had never been to, Rajgangapur.The place where his family owned a huge haveli,a temple,a pond filled with fishes,a mango orchard,a huge garden where farmers grew vegetables & flowers & endless fields of paddy as described by his mother who would repeat this to Sudipto while shifting his attention, to make sure he finished his meals as a toddler.

Sudipto smiled as he remembered his rapt attention to the stories of Rajgangapur.He was eighteen now, all set to join Delhi University for his Bachelor's degree in English.Three months from now,Life's gonna change! he thought to himself.

Ahh the smell of Rajgangapur! his father's exclaimation during dinners.Sudipto wondered what it meant.His father, had recently shifted his base to Oman & his mother was going to join him after Sudipto joined DU.His mother, very religious at heart had decided to offer prayers at their ancestral deity's temple at Rajganagapur.Hence the visit.

Rajgangapur was truly beautiful.It was everything Sudipto had imagined.The pond, the temple, the paddy fields were no longer his imagination. The Ambassador car halted before what appeared to be an ancient palace,ruined to a large extent yet exuding magnificence.Get down Sudipto,we have reached,his mother said as she put the pallu of her saree over her head, the custom she had followed as a newly wed years back.

Arre arre ke acho,shigiri eshho,ke eseche dekho!(Come soon!Look who's here) exclaimed a middle aged man who welcomed them with a warm smile.BouMoni,its so good to see you after so many years , the man said & to double our happiness we have Sudipto babu also.The man must be Narayan Kaku,Sudipto wondered.

Narayan was Sudipto's father's distant cousin & the care taker of their property & haveli at Rajgangapur.He  lived with his family of 10.He was just as his mother had described, cheerful & extrovert.I am happy to meet you too Kaku,Sudipto said.

After a simple homecoming tilak by Narayan's wife Malati & his children, Sudipto & his mother entered the haveli.Victorian architecture with huge pillars, wooden see through windows,huge courtyard,moss  covered walls,wooden ceilings, Sudipto was observing each & every aspect of the haveli.

Malati had prepared a special meal for them.Piping hot rohu fish curry,rice,fish mustard curry,saag,5 varieties of bhaja(fries),tomato chatni,cabbage curry & dal.Sudipto was given the fish head as he was the special guest.He ate till his heart's content.

After the sumptuous meal & afternoon siesta, he decided to walk around & explore.The mango orchard was nearby,his mother  had told him.The youngest son of Narayan,Chotan happily volunteered to take him there.

As he reached the Orchard,listening to the happy chatter of Chotan,Sudipto asked if he could teach him how to climb trees. Chotan with a lot of pride & happiness agreed & showed him a demo. 

While articulately trying to follow Chotan, Sudipto lost his balance & fell.But more than his fall what startled him was the sweet laughter that followed.

Looking around he saw on a tree, a girl seated. Draped in a saree,the girl was laughing continuously,her long curly hair moving in tow.Her face was beautiful with a hint of mischief.

Hey Koutuki ! Stop laughing! shouted Chotan. I wont! she retorted back. Next time lift him with you to the tree! She giggled as she got down & ran away.

That night, there was a power outage & Sudipto decided to sleep on the terrace with Narayan's children.

After initial attempts he realised that he was unable to sleep, not because of the powercut, nor because of his pain, it was the giggles of a beautiful & mysterious girl Koutuki.

He had to meet her again.

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday on my way to office in the morning, my friend Soumya called. Barely able to hear her voice amidst the traffic, I could figure out the words "Happy Anniversary" from her. Suddenly I was drenched in drops of nostalgia & happiness, one year had passed.So many memories,so many joys amidst challenges,tears & learning. With a smile I said "Same to you".

Well let me get it  straight, Me & Soumya are not married , neither to each other (Impossible :P :P ) nor to any extremely lucky man respectively :P ( The "extremely lucky" added to show the good fortune of the guys who would marry the beauties with brains like  us :D :D ) Well jokes apart, the "Happy Anniversary" was on behalf of our successful completion of 1 year at Tata Consultancy  Services Limited (TCS).

Exactly an year back, I had started my journey at TCS , Trivandrum with my Initial Learning Program (ILP). Clouded with hopes & apprehensions,I searched the internet for  all the blogs & experiences related to TCS Trivandrum,completed the lengthy legal procedure,packed my bags, booked my ticket,got pampered with gifts & blessings by family & friends, bid farewell to my tearful parents &  left for Trivandrum listening to "Tanha Dil Tanha Safar" on my I Pod. :P (Yeh shayad kuch zyada hi filmy ho gaya :P ).

ILP @ TCS Trivandrum was sheer magic. The intoxicating beauty of Kerala enraptured me to the core as I thoroughly enjoyed the trips to Ponmudi, Poovar,Allepey, Varkala,Kovallam & Shangumukam beach in Trivandrum with some awesome people who became dear friends.

The training in terms of Technical Skills & Business skills were also highly enriching.The faculty were an epitome of what they taught. Amidst endless power point presentations under strict scrutiny we all learned the silent lessons of excellence & enjoyment in the tasks we did.

There were many firsts in my journey in TCS. Some highlights :-

• Mountain hiking with ladies slippers- The all girls trip to Ponmudi included climbing the top of a mountain, supporting each other through slippery rocks  to reach a waterfall, eating hot biriyani & finally relaxing at a beach. PS : I was the only girl wearing ladies slippers who went hiking that included leech attacks :P

•  Art Attack - During ILP we made a chandelier made of plastic bottles & I tried glass painting on an empty glass bottle as a part of Recycle, Reuse & Reduce campaign in which these items would be auctioned for charity.We created posters on Industrial Service Units in TCS & also a Rangoli which won the Second prize  during the Diwali Bash.

Chandelier made of plastic bottles

Glass painting by meeeeeeeeeee :D

poster

Our Award winning Rangoli :P on Global Warming

• Outbound Learning Program with Mitsubishi trainees-10 trainees including me were very lucky to undergo the unique learning program filled with adventure sports & inherent management lessons at the "National Adventure Foundation" with the Mitsubishi trainees from Japan who were so cordial. There was a lot of cultural exchange that happened happily from both sides.

• My First Marathon - After a lot of thought, I decided to run the 5k marathon at TCS Bangalore.As mentioned in my earlier  post it was an experience of  a lifetime including a brief meeting with the CEO himself who inspired me to keep running. The marathon inspired me to push myself beyond my comfort zone & to run & reach my goals.

 

• Life Transforming Books - The Information Resource Center (IRC) at TCS has offered me many books that have transformed my life in innumerable ways.The Secret, The Happiness  Project, The Alchemist,The Monk who sold his Ferrari, Unposted Letters, Go Kiss The World, The Professional,Same Soul Many Bodies, The Case of the Bonsai Manager, Snapshots from Hell and few more books have had a tremendous impact on my way of life & thought process. 

So along with  the above , the source of enrichment for me has been the company of people at TCS whether it be peers or seniors who have made my journey even more special. Right from the Meet the Mentors sessions to the PEEP sessions to the interactions with the seniors who have spent almost a decade here, I have not only learnt the importance of being a Professional but also to be a better human being. Heartfelt gratitude to each one of them.

I have seen puckered eyebrows when they enquire me about my salary, to the fact that I am along the 2.5 lakhs associates who work here, but at the end of 1 year I have realized that enrichment in work life has very little connection to one's pay slip & being a part of a beautiful sea doesnt deter the fact that you are a unique drop who makes the sea beautiful.

In short I have realized that sometimes being happily married isnt always a prerequisite for having a "Happy Anniversary" :P Cheers to life !

In Life & Afterlife

For the past few days my world is revolving around the profound concept of Reincarnation. Thanks to the amazing books by Dr Brain Weiss, it has opened a whole new spiritual realm before me, of which I was completely unaware of. Our souls are immortal, it is we humans who take the concept of life & death too seriously & believe that death is the end. 

Many near death experiences state that upon our death, our soul calmly floats over our body to do a life review. It contemplates about the lessons it has learnt during the lifetime & ascends higher towards a beautiful beam of light or the "ONE" which we name as "GOD".

The people you truly love, your soul mate , the person whose presence bathes you in bliss will never be separated from you. Your togetherness shall span over the many births you take, it is simply because you were destined to be together. Physical separation by death is transitory, your bonding is eternal.Do not grieve & curse the separation, your togetherness is planned by higher forces. Let it unwind, till then enjoy your journey.

I have found this beautiful excerpt from a book, " Listen to yourself, Follow your feelings, your heart & your mind. Forget about appearances or what others think of you as no one knows the secret of your soul nor the promise you came here to fulfill". What a profound thought ! 

I have composed few lines on soulmates.

As I pass through the woods & meadows,

casting some dwindling shadows,

I share happiness , borrow some sorrow,

in my journey between yesterday, today & tomorrow.

For I know, wherever I go,

You shall find me in my afterglow,

Dont cry, dont touch , dont follow,

My dwindling shadows in my afterglow

Do not mourn or grieve, if ever I shall leave,

our physical separation is transitory, very brief,

our love has the power beyond the earthly realm,

In our journey towards the eternal  beam

We shall reunite, we shall become one,

doesnt matter if the worldly battles are lost or won,

Our souls are eternal, free from shackles,

life & death are mere transitions in our travels

In the tryst of times,

When you cease to be you & I cease to be me,

Just look behind, in your journey of births & miles,

coz you will find me , looking at you , waiting for your smile.

Souls never die or perish, soulmates never separate.

Ladies Special

Years ago, I remember a show called "Ladies Special" that my mom used to watch. It was a story of a group of women,traveling in a  local train everyday to work, sharing their stories with each other right from maid's abseentism to life's strange dilemmas.

 Since then I wondered how it felt to travel in an all women's bus or train & what would the real  conversations be like. My tryst with frequent bus travels started during my undergraduate years when I used to travel home during weekends from my hostel. Just like the poster of movie Swades where ShahRukh is seen sitting in an overcrowded bus, my picture was similar.Luckily my travels back then used to happen during low rush hours & I used to settle for a seat that was occupied by me & my bag beside me.

Transfer to Odisha requires me to travel almost 70 km (back & forth) everyday. Yet for the wonderful feeling of being at home with parents, I chose to travel everyday. A recent family function had me explaining the location of my office, mode of my travel, arrival & departure timings to almost everyone who saw me & wondered what I was doing in Cuttack after getting a job in TCS :P  After the initial joy over my transfer , I got the warnings that "Aaj kal din kaal khoob kharap"(Now a days situations are very grim) & "shabdhane jeo" (Be careful while travel).

That brings me the thoughts of my travels.Every morning I travel by the "Ladies Special" bus run by Odisha government. A dream come true of some sort. As a ninja like creature after covering my head & face with scarf, I silently observe my fellow ladies who travel. The "special" in ladies special was justified by the winsome smile of a little girl who boarded the bus with her mother only to find that she could come in the bus because she was girl, she was special. Amidst the chitter chatter of ladies who travel for work to the young students who reserve seats beside them for their friends, morning travel is almost picnic.

I have seen various aspects in a woman's personality during my travels. One is of a fearless tigress who lambasts at hooligans who try to disrupt the bus journey through her fierce words & looks. The hooligans hide their tails between their legs like scared jackals & flee.She emerges during bus travels when some lecherous beast is trying to display his dirtiness with her, she shouts at the top of her voice,reprimanding the beast with her words & sometimes slaps, fearless to the core, reminding the people in the bus that she is the daughter of the land that worships Durga, the deity of supreme power & that she is totally intolerant to any activity that provokes her modesty.Kudos & salutes to the tigresses.

The other is of a shy & demure creature  who is fearful to even demand her ladies seat when it is occupied by a shameless male. She will choose to stand throughout her journey, getting pushed by others in a crowded bus, but she wont go & ask for seat from the male fearing the "SCENE" that could be created. Any girl demanding for her seat  invariably becomes the "Nari netri" ( female activist). The demure creature ranges from a management student to a working woman who is scared that the beast might attack her. She out of her own interest wants the beast to win by smiling & feeling proud by sitting in the ladies seat.By feeling superior, by feeling that he can get away with anything as his opponent is too demure & powerless.

A recent article I read stated that in India the chances of a girl getting molested in a bus are more than her getting a seat. I do not agree with this statement completely excluding the shameful incidents like Guwahati where many lecherous beasts gathered & performed a heinous act.In most cases of travel, I believe it is the choice of the woman that determines the outcome of any beast's evil intentions or actions.

She can either choose to be demure & silent, whether for a seat or any act of indecency,making the beast more powerful by making him feel that provoking the demure creature is his  damn right.Else she can  choose to be the daughter of Maa Durga , revolting valiantly to any act of indecency inflicted on her , teaching a lesson to the beast & his followers to never repeat the act again.

Dear Sisters , my appeal to you is to be absolutely intolerant to any act of indecency that you face anywhere as your silence then will become the source of your regret lasting a lifetime.Be Brave, Be Valiant, Be The Courage that destroys the beast in murderous rage !

Of love that lasted a lifetime

A few days back, my Dadu left us for his journey after life. My grandparents have had a lasting impression in my life, one of the reasons being my entire childhood spent in their loving hugs, stories, smiles & a belief that only good can exist in the world.They were both pristine people showering love right from their grandchildren to the maids working in their children's homes. 

A prose by Khuswant Singh in my std 11 English text book is still fresh in my mind. It describes a moment when he realizes that his grandmother has left for her heavenly abode.Losing someone you love dearly forever is one of the most strangest feeling anyone can ever experience. Reading the prose way back in std 11 had me in tears during the class, experiencing it in actual is a different story altogether.

 Thani-Dadu's love for each other is the kind of love we know through classic books or movies. It is unconditional,it never says till death do us apart coz even death cant be a hindrance to what they feel for each other.I have been a close witness to their eternal love, playful teasing, long letters, songs, stories of their romantic getaways, holding hands, silent smiles, sense of fulfillment to have each other around.Dadu in his own words had admitted to the fact that he was lucky to have married the most beautiful lady, my Thani.To my dear readers, let me assure you that this love exists in real life.

Thani's sudden demise & Dadu's parkinson's played a hide n seek in Dadu's mind.I will always be grateful to the almighty for erasing the fact of Thani's demise from Dadu's mind & heart. It would have been havoc otherwise. Yet I have also been tthe witness of Dadu's lonely longings for Thani during the painful moments of his illness. Thani had made all of us her world & Dadu had made Thani his world. Loving & losing is painful but the oblivion of the loss & the sheer hope of the return of one's beloved has been personified by Dadu.

I believe their love is the greatest, it is beyond life & death,beyond time, beyond the shackles of anything that has tried to keep them apart.They are together in life & death.

 That brings me to the concept of a twin soul, a soul at whom when you look at, you feel as if you have found yourself.Being with your twin soul can be the most blissful feeling one can ever get and with your twin soul you share nothing but most intimate & selfless love. In that way I am truly lucky, coz I dont have one but two twin souls, my dearest grandparents. I firmly believe that one day we will reunite, never to be separated again. This separation for now is transitory, the bigger truth is we are in love with each other for now & forever, together in life & death.

Yaariyaan

After shifting back to Odisha,last Saturday was my first official shopping date with my Mom :P Due to the incessant heavy downpour during our shopping, we went to have ice cream, hoping for the rain to subside in the meanwhile. As we were having the ice cream, I saw three teenage girls entering the parlour, giigling, chit chatting & poking each other about what to eat. Finally a few giggles later, they left drenching me in nostalgia.

As I came out & gaped at the continuous trickles of rain drops, my mind wandered in snapshots to my ILP, hostel,college & school. Each phase of my life has given me friends.Happy moments, crazy times, silent tears,sharing & caring & above all, timeless memories.

The school farewell is vividly in my mind.That was my first tryst with growing up I guess. All those people with whom I had spent so many years talking, giggling, sharing secrets,  competing from cycle races to ranks, nursing heart breaks,  slogging for exams,indulging in notoriety during classes, kneeling down during punishments, chit chatting for endless hours on phone, exchanging cassettes for favorite movie songs, roaming during lunch breaks, sharing notes, cracking jokes during morning assembly & finally being there for each other right from school functions to tuitions to punishments were all going one by one to deliver their farewell speeches & wishes. It was a strange feeling, I was wondering how would I ever do without them around.We promised that we would stay in touch, we are still in touch through FB & occasional calls.

Then college came & along with it came the wave of freedom & friendship. I must admit it that the best thing about my college CET was the amazing group of friends it gave me.People from various places,backgrounds uniting together to share a unique bond,sometimes facing the side effects of studying in a State govt owned college, sometimes attending birthday treats, sometimes studying together for internal exams, sometimes visiting the zoo & Dominoes after bunking classes,sometimes organizing a fresher's party in 2 days with budget constraints,looking back, those moments could be the best ever I could experience in my life.

Even the hostel life was truly amazing. The one bowl four spoons Maggi, late night chit chats,secret sharing, movies,outings, functions & pujas & above all a silent promise to be there for each other no matter what.The biggest thing I have learnt in hostel is the beauty of sharing, from a reserved person reluctant to share her bucket & clips to someone exchanging clothes to spoons while eating, one does come a long way.

The friends in got in my college have inspired me in their own ways.My school days were my during my fairytale childhood, when I was given the belief by my grandparents that only good & nice things existed in one's life & the world.My college days began with my grand mother's demise which was a period of huge void for me,where I faced a lot of issues personally & otherwise. Yet during those moments of darkness, it is my friends in CET who inspired me to be a better person, who taught me the valuable lesson to never give up on life & the fact that along with humility comes greatness.

I have met some amazing people during my internship in IIIT Bangalore. Crazy interns is the name we give our group, each one there is loaded with talent, be it coding or singing coupled with loads of humility, yet what makes me smile is the beautiful bond we share.I havent met them many times, nor do we speak on phone often, yet be it a crazy post in our group or chat, we start from where we left. They are special !

Then there was my ILP in TCS Trivandrum. A group of 30 people from different parts of the country coming together to design & execute a J2EE Project but ending up to be friends. The All girls trip to Ponmudi,the chandelier made of plastic bottles for an exhibition, the Rangoli during diwali,the slogging in  lab for final presentation & finally the painful good byes knowing that we might not get to see each other ever.This phase taught me that friendship doesnt limit itself to geographies or distances, its just the distance between heart to heart.

And finally Bangalore. There were two beautiful things I got in Bangalore. One was the reunion with my school friend who became my room mate.We have known each other for more than a decade, yet we had lost touch in  the past few years due to our circumstances.As we stayed together we relived all those moments  of  our growing up together, it felt as if we started all over again. The lesson I learnt here was that no matter what, true friendship never dies, it might go for hibernation during winters but it shifts to agility the moment spring returns.

The project team at TCS Bangalore also has a special place in my heart. All the inhibitions I had about the real life work situations,were shrugged off, thanks to the amazing people I met there. Each of them inspired me in their own way. I found my mentors, whom I can always look up to & friends I can always reach out to.

All this again brings me back to friendship.In Rabindranath Tagore's song "Purano sei diner  kotha" , he summarizes friendship in the most beautiful way, stating the happiness of two long lost friends who meet & remember all those happy moments they spent together, stating that even if time separates them, they shall reunite again.

Working in TCS Bhubaneswar, makes 12 hours of my day perish before me realizing it. I admit that once one's work life starts , it is difficult to stay in touch with friends regularly.I know I am not good at meeting up or SMS's or regular phone calls either.

But believe me my dear friends no matter where you are, I carry a little part of each of you in my heart always.And we shall start from where we left, the next time we meet, coz that I believe is the beauty of our friendship :)

 Cheers to life !

Havoc

There is one moment in one's life when there is so much of havoc that it creates a tornado of unpleasant memories.It is the very situation when anger takes over & ruins everything else. It is like a volcano erupting & covering the entire grassland with lava, where nothing can ever grow again.

Each one of us has a tryst with havoc at some point of time. And given that we live in today's era of more stress & less time, the frequency of havoc ha increased. We are restless & stressful, too impatient to walk & too irritated to run. We dont have a middle way out also, its either walk or run, both of which let us encounter a moment of havoc.

I had my moment of havoc today. It was when the surge of anger took over me & destroyed all the beautiful tranquility I had gathered over the past few months. My will was taken over by my whims & I spoke of things I never thought of speaking.

Sometimes we are too shallow to underestimate what we have & one big mistake we do is to take our loved ones for granted.These both create a dangerous combination which puts us in a loop of sorrow, guilt & remorse in the aftermath of the havoc.

The Secret, a book by Rhonda Byrne speaks about the law of attraction which governs the Universe states that if we have unpleasant thoughts, they will attract more such thoughts & ultimately they will lead us to encounter a moment of havoc.

All I can request everyone reading this is to please understand how beautiful their life is & how much damage anger can produce. Those thunders & storms of sorrow & anger will subside eventually but what will remain is a pall of silence & silent tears of remorse.

 

Of love & Facebook

I was introduced to the concept of real & virtual when I was Std 7 , Introduction to Optics,mirrors with real images & virtual images, since then I was puzzled with the concept of virtual & real & often wondered what distinguishes them. Then in my late teens when I entered the arena of social networking through the long forgotten Orkut, I slowly realized I had a virtual life apart from the real life in which I had my family, friends & studies. Infact everyone who was on Orkut had a virtual life, with  fancy display pics, fancier self descriptions & there was another option of Relationship status which could be Single/Committed/Married or blank for people like me.

Then came the God of social networks, Facebook. Like my friends, I too joined FB, doing some research initially to know the difference between Home & My Profile :P As time passed by, people fell in love & happily declared it by going from "Single" to "In A Relationship" on FB. With a sense of joy, the friends & well wishers of the person liked it & poured their best wishes & <3 through comments. Yet the sad part was when the person went from "In A Relationship" to "Single", there were :( & what happened??? in the comments, #trulyhearbreaking for the person as well as the world.

Then there was the notion of  FDA (Facebook Display of Affection ) which was synonymous to PDA ( Public Display of Affection ) in real world.The golden rule of FDA states that if you are in love, then you must flaunt it #BIGTIME on FB. The love could range from photographs to :* to songs to ohhh sweetu, i love u baby!! on the beloved's wall with the entire world liking it & filling in comments like Awww!! , So cute, God bless you guys #HowSweet :)

Then there were the underdogs, the kind of people who kept a low profile, who were in love but  were uncomfortable with FDA.They had blank Relationship status & basically did not indulge in FDA.They were sneered at, by the crusaders of FDA. Comments like "Your love is true only if you keep posting cute things on your beloved's wall" & "If you guys are not keeping your relationship status as "In a Relationship", then you are not sure about the Relationship in the first place " were hurled on to the underdogs & they were mocked at.#TrueLoveIsProportionalToFDA.

The there were transitions like "In A Relationship" to "Its Complicated", "Single" To "In An Open Relationship" , "Its Complicated" to "Single". Wide mouthed, the world gaped as the love between two people rose & sank like the sine wave in the tides of heated arguments on FB walls to exhuberant displays of passion with cuddled pics & well..lets not go there :P. #TidesOfLove

Then came the really nice feature by which we could not only know the Relationship status but also the profile of the person with whom one was Married/Engaged/In a Relationship with.#SomeSeriousStalking.

I recently read in a book that " The Greatest compliment one can give oneself is to declare 'I am open book'". The same can be applied to FB with a slight modification that goes " The Greatest compliment one can give oneself on FB is to declare 'My relationship with XYZ is an open book' " . 

Years after Std 7 , I am still confused about what is real & what is virtual. To express one's love for someone can be the greatest gift , one can get.Yet categorizing love into a specific group, letting the world  know what you sweetly whisper in your beloved's ears, constantly being in the apprehension of what exactly category is one's relationship in & then letting the whole world comment & like it is something which is merging the real & virtual.

The problem of merging real & virtual is that it is a one way process.Once it is merged, distinguishing the real & virtual will be impossible & one will be lost somewhere in middle.#Lost&Clueless.

The journey of a 90's kid

Being a 90's kid has a great charm in itself. We grew up watching Shaktimaan , Alif Laila , Bournvita Quiz contest, Mahabharat, Surabhi , Malgudi days , Om Namah Shivay , Jai hanuman, drank Complan wanting to be a Complan boy/girl, had a fairly simple gaming experience with Super Mario, Battle City , Alladin etc. The cartoons that we watched were also innocent like our minds, Duck tales, Silly Symphony, Talespin, Captain Planet,Alladin etc. 

We spoke to our parents in our respective mother tongues as tiny tots and not in English.We didnt know what pizza & burger meant until we reached teenage. We had fairly simple clothes for us in the markets ranging from frocks & skirts for girls & pant - shirt for guys & also jumpsuits for the elite ones :P Most of us didnt nag our parents to wear only this dress with this hair band or shoe coz most of us I believe had only school shoes to wear outside. PS Not because we could not afford other shoes mostly because fancy shoes of our sizes was not easily found in the market :P

The music of that era is also eternally beautiful. I remember my father's happy face when we had bought our first tape recorder. It was giant, almost covered our entire rack in the living room.My mom made a beautiful cover for it in white wool.The 1942 ,a love story's tracks, Akele hum akele tum, Baazigar, Darr, Nadeem Shravan's music had found a inseparable place in a stair case like cassette holder beside the tape recorder.

That was also the time of Real Greeting cards. Real as in paper :P. My mom has a fond collection of a huge bunch of cards & letters which we got from our near & dear ones on new year, birthdays , anniversary or simply just like that. We used to smile & giggle when we used to go through them.

I had the first taste of burger & pizza in Hyderabad during 1997.Rs 10 for a chicken burger from Citizen Bakery near our Apartment where my mom would take me if I did well in school tests or just if she wanted to see me happy. We used to have pizza very rarely on occasions like my parent's anniversary & it was almost luxury :P.  The fond memories of me & my parents roaming on bike through the streets of Hyderabad are so special especially after my father would return home from office tours & we would start. 

I also saw the first computer during that time when my I visited father's colleague's home. The desk top, I was so thrilled to see it. I remember having played Pac man & Minesweeper in it. There was a type writer in our home & we had a TV too, in my mind I had the picture of the computer as a combo of TV & typewriter with a small mouse :P.I used to read happily about ENIAC, EDVAC, Sinclar, Pascal in Computer text book  back then :)

That was also the era of pagers, mobile phones & digital diaries. I remember my father's senior in office carrying a pager & mobile phone when he had visited our place for dinner. The mobile phone was of the size of a small papaya i believe.As a kid I was so thrilled to see it that I demanded my parents to get both of them for me. Kiddish obstinacy. I remember my grandparents gifting me a toy pager & toy mobile phone that said "Trrnn Trnn May I help you" :P when I pressed a particular button.So happy I was that I carried it everywhere with me hoping to show everyone that I too owned a mobile phone.

The first laptop I saw was in 1998 when we visited an acquaintance's home. It was the size of a suit case.The display was a bit hazy i think.Spellbound was all I was when I saw it. I wanted to touch & play around with it but stopped coz I saw the angry eyes of my father embarrassed due to my behavior before them inspite of him stopping me.

When we shifted to Odisha, every evening we had relatives visiting us. Its because there was no addiction of serials , no complexities like today's work life, no social networking sites & no multiplexes or malls, so the best way people thought of spending their leisure time was through visiting their kith & kins.

Then time passed. We got our first computer but my mom didnt weave a wool cover for it this time.My father got a mobile phone but his calls from office on it substantially increased too.Our first laptop came but it was mostly used by my father for MS Office.Our relatives visiting us also decreased as the elder ones had become older & hence reluctant to visit & the younger ones were too busy with their work.

There were also some puckered eye brows when we visited people during the time of their favorite daily soaps.Burger & pizza had become a staple diet. The social networking sites had arrived & writing a Happy Birthday on someone's wall was much more simpler than sending greeting cards & letters.

The things which had caught my  delight in the 90's were all there in my home in 2000's yet I think somehow the element of wonder had faded away with time. We have latest apps from our Smartphones that can help us call people for free yet its so strange that the number of people we want to call & talk for hours are reducing day by day.

I am an adult now, a happy one coz technology has made my life so easy & smooth. Yet the old world charm of the 90's keeps luring me to go for a time travel :P Hope the 90's kid in all of us stay alive & be the same always.

Of Life & Death : A Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh

I have always been fond of rains.Especially rainy nights, I feel they have so much to say. My perfect setting would be a cozy bed, warm blanket, a good movie or book on a rainy night #Paradise on earth.

I have never been a movie buff.I love movies but the kind which touch the subtleties of life, the intricate emotions,which convey so many hidden meanings which take me days & even months or years to comprehend.Sometimes I believe I was wrongly born in this generation,where my friends are so enthusiastic about IPL & Iron man.Where they wish to see movies that give them a thrill, a high, & sadly I belong no where there.

My idea of life is taking time to smell the flowers rather than running so fast that we end up stamping all the wild violet flowers that quietly smiling while we were on our way.Slow music gives me peace, books like the Monk who sold his Ferrari give me a purpose, shows like Rendezvous with Simi Garewal intrigue me as I get a glimpse into the life & times of the bold , beautiful & powerful yet movies didnt have a profound effect on me even though the 11 Movies in my laptop are my all time favorites and I carry something with me from each of them.

Then suddenly around 3 weeks back while I browsing through youtube, I stumbled upon the movie Nouka Dubi by Rituparno Ghosh.The movie left me spell bound.The lyrical way in which he portrays the complex interconnections of four lives woven with love,separation,pain,angst & sacrifice set in the backdrop of beautiful Rabindra Sangeet & Bengali culture made me crave for his movies.

Rabindra Sangeet & classic Bengali movies have a special corner in my heart due to my Thani who was a gifted singer & an avid reader of Bengali literature & a movie enthusiast.Memories of me, dadu & Thani cozying up together for the classic Bengali movie every friday night at DD Bangla are still fresh in my mind.The last movie we saw together was Pather Panchali by Satyajit Ray, the story of which I had heard from her when I was a 5 year old.

My reconnection with my happy childhood memories of Bangla movies during Nouka dubi led me to search for Rituparno's movies one after another.

In Utsab, he portrayed a dysfunctional family set in the backdrop of Durga Pujo where at the end everybody realizes that happy families need not be perfect always. 

In Titli, he beautifully brought out the emotions of a mother-daughter where they fall in love with the same person, getting through tinges of jealousy & finally being there for each other when they go through the pain of loving & losing.

In Bariwali, he displayed the profound sense of loneliness when we meet people for a transient phase & that pain which engulfs us when they leave us , makes us lonelier & miserable than ever. I guess it somehow showcased his own loneliness where after his parents died one after other, his brother left him, he struggled with his sexuality & felt lonelier than ever.

In Shubho Mahurat, he emphasized that revenge is not a means of achieving peace & at last we become the consumers of the poison which we try to inflict in others.

In Memories of March he himself personified melancholy, teaching a lesson that the essence of love is accepting people just the way they are without being judgmental.

In Abhoman he expressed love to be eternal,not bound by age,it can happen to anyone anytime & that is what makes love beautiful.

Chokher Bali &  Antarmahal were visual delights,the beauty in which he portrayed Rabindranath's works, resurrecting them in the most beautiful way that they could be brought back to life.

And as I kept watching his movies, I fell more in love with the profound lessons he had in them for me.He has made me smile,brought tears & above all given me the warmth like a loved one.

The day I got the news of his demise, I was in office and it was raining.I felt pained,sad , very sad as I was waiting for many more valuable insights of life which he could have given me.It was a similar moment when I had seen Thani in that cold & quiet condition.The only question that haunted my mind then was "How could this happen when we had so much left to share & laugh about?"

That moment the same question  crossed my mind again after a period of 5 years.This time it was Ritu da, the soul who was bound to me by the threads of life & learning. May your soul reach those beautiful places where you took me & many others through your thought provoking & eternally wonderful movies ! You will be missed dearly !

Of rains & view from a window pane

Rains are nature's way of expressing romance I feel.It is when the sky & earth are overwhelmed with their feelings for each other that they touch each other through rains.It is just like a warm embrace which we give our loved ones when we fall short of words to express our love for them,the sky and earth,never getting to meet, embrace each other through rains.

My earliest memories of rains are during my summer vacations in childhood when me and my brother used to have race of paper boats through the little stream of water along the verandah of our family home in Khurda. My brother had a habit of running out to the open whenever there was lightning instead of staying inside home as he thought lightnings were God's way of taking our photos like the camera flash :P Vivid memories of him running out of the room to smile at God's flash while his parents saying Aye Aye Come back ! :D The other happy memories are of the delight I used to get while watching the world from the window pane of our car when it used to rain. I used to be so happy that I wrote a poem titled it also way back then.

Then there was the period of adolescence.Rains gained a new dimension apart from paper boats & giggles.

There was a tiny element of something called Romance entering my imagination. Movies, songs, poems & books like Ruskin Bond's novels had created an element of romance with the rains which I shyly identified with.This was also the phase of school hoildays declared just because of incessant rains.Yet along with the happiness of "Rainy days holidays" I dont know why I longed to enjoy the rains.

The drizzles & downpours during school have left behind so many memories. The table by the window in the library which allowed me and my friend  to sit & have our chit chat while  reading books & enjoying the rain. The delicious taste of the  "Dahibara Aludum" prepared by Nidhi bhai,who used to sell it on a cycle just beside the school boundary wall.Having it just after the rains would add an extra element of taste to it. The "Sawan Barse Tarse Dil" song from Dahek which my friend used to sing as we roamed through the corridors of our school.The cycle races between friends along with the thrill of the slippery rain soaked roads. And finally the mysterious element of Romance soaked in me while listening to my favorite songs on the walkman watching the rain through the window of my room. It is the rains which helped me sow the elements of love in my adolescent heart.

Adulthood came & brought a lot of realities & complexities with it too. Some of which we accept, some of which we know & some of which we pretend not to know or accept.The rains were still there but the way I saw them had changed in a way. It no longer was just about wonder  & love. It was the feeling of letting out everything I had inside me before those who mattered to me.I got this habit of crying shrouded by loneliness whenever I was emotionally upset by anything. Tears had become my emotional outlet.They epitomized rain for me sometimes.

A few days back when I was returning from office, it was raining.I was without an umbrella. The tiny cold droplets of rain touched me.I looked up, amidst the hustle bustle of Bangalore traffic & people, I felt as if  a dear old friend had just greeted me.I smiled & rushed towards the bus stop.The bus stop had a gulmohar tree under which we waited for the bus.The amber street light above the tree made the droplets on the gulmohar leaves look like tiny decorative lights.It was a delightful sight as if my old friend had decorated the tree for me. After so many years I experienced the similar feeling of delight like I had in childhood.I smiled & wondered how these years had passed by.

As I boarded the volvo bus, I was happy to see the window seat vacant.Its was as if my old friend was lovingly asking me to sit there.I sat & looked outside the window, people were running around, some giggling,some so frustrated.The drops were settling on the glass window & slowly meandering downwards. I had put my headphones on & the song was "Sawan Barse Tarse Dil". I could not help but smile at the perfect moment. 

There were couples on bikes adding the element of Romance too, holding each other, not bothered about getting wet as they had each other. Rain soaked roads, trees, people & the view by the window which delighted me so many years back.All this  was there for me, a perfect way in which the rains brought together all that I had missed in so many years. 

The next morning I woke up , the rains had stopped but I was still lost in the happy memories the rains had drenched me in.Life is beautiful. Cheers to life !

The day I ran my first marathon

Life is the process of continuous self discovery.This line has been created by me through years of influence by movies,books & moreover life itself.We never know what we can, until we just go ahead & do it. And the feeling after it is just beyond words.

You can picturize me as a thinker.I love slow pace. Analyzing,pondering,wondering,reflection,contemplation etc are as natural to me as breathing.I love to devour classic movies, interviews of people who have had it all & stories of people who have lost it all too.Writing,painting,music,poems,reading are like the wheels of my soul which keep me going. Enter sports & I am distraught.

My early school memories of sports days reminds me of running races in which I would finish last.My classmates,teachers cheering me to reach the finishing line & I panting my way through. It was not that I was frail hence lacked energy, I simply didnt like sports. Without sounding boastful, I want to say that like all other human beings, the aspect of my life in which I failed disinterested me. So slowly & steadily my relationship with sports of all kinds faded & got lost in oblivion.

One of the first things I heard about TCS after joining as a trainee in Trivandrum was "Fit For Life", a novel initiative by our CEO Mr Natarajan Chandrasekharan or Chandra as TCSers fondly address him.It was a simple concept, as you join the software industry, instead of turning into a sloth bear, run & be fit and for every kilometer you run, TCS pays some amount for charity.So it was aimed to ignite two things, first an urge of physical fitness through running & second an approach to generate the amount for goodwill that TCS would donate for charity.

Though the concept made me happy, my aversion for sports didnt decrease. So throughout the training I just avoided going for "Fit For Life " sessions citing my overburden of project work, weakness, health issues & blah blah. Yet deep inside I had the haunting sense of failure that I would never be good in something as simple as running.

Enter TCS Bangalore.My project team insisted that as freshers we register for the World 10K Marathon at TCS Bangalore on 19 May to get a feel of Fit For Life.Reluctantly I registered for the 5 km Majja run, sub consciously thinking that I would make some excuse & not turn up for it.

And the day arrived & to my own surprise I decided to run the marathon, putting on the TCS jersey,cap ,wristband & runner Id, me & my friend boarded the bus at 7:00AM.The volvo bus was filled with fellow TCSers all with the same look.I felt a profound sense of unity in us, smiling at each other, strangers yet bound together for a purpose.

The Kanteeveera stadium was bustling with energy.After getting ourselves stamped with "TCS 10K Marathon" we entered the gallery.The entire TCS crowd was waving TCS flags, shouting & cheering.All were smiling to each other.It was a proud moment.

Then to all our surprise, we saw our CEO Chandra joining us in person in the gallery.The entire crowd burst in joy.We all moved to greet him as he was shaking hands with TCSers yet sadly I couldnt reach him Then we had the announcement that Majja run was about to start & we were to go to the stadium race course.

The feature of this year's marathon was that it was headed by the ladies of TCS. Yes & I was a part of it.Thrilled , i held the TCS Flag as all of us started the run.Just as we were about to leave the stadium, we saw a familiar smiling figure across the railing cheering us,yes it was Chandra. I ran towards the railing & smiled at him.He smiled and extended his hand for greeting.That was a miraculous moment of my life.Greeting the CEO of TCS.He smiled & told us to keep running.

That was a moment of awakening.I felt that it was planned by the universe to discover a side of mine I had never met before,that of a runner.All charged up , me and my friend started running, we ran , we walked , we saw people running for causes ranging from public safety to child labor to street animals. We ran & walked alternatively , halting in between near the dance stages watching people dance in exhilaration.

The biggest observation I had of a marathon was the spirit of the people who participated.A marathon is analogous to life I believe, people run it in different paces, some slow some fast, yet they are happy that they are experiencing it.There is no competition, no hurry, a group of strangers heading to a common destination bound by smiles & a common purpose.

So the moment I completed the marathon.I had a profound sense of fulfillment.It was not just because I had completed the marathon, it was because I had completed a part of me that was incomplete for so many years.

To my readers, Our lives are an event of infinite possibilities, all we need to do is transform them into our realities :) Cheers to life !

Memoirs of ILP at Trivandrum : The Panorama Part 1

There is a certain phase of life when one does so many things that when one looks back, its almost like a movie, your mind speaks to you like a little talkative child, excited & gleaming with joy.When I joined TCS and got Trivandrum as my location for Initial Learning Period, little did I know that I would do things which I never thought I would.

Here are the events which are memorable during my time at Trivandrum,something I will cherish forever.

1) Hill, Waterfall & Sea: I have climbed a hill, been to waterfall through a forest with slippery rocks, surrounded by leeches all of this wearing lady like slippers.Yes, slippers ! The all girls trip to Ponmudi with the beautiful drizzles & greenery of Kerala, dancing in the van, walking through clouds, drinking mountain water,eating hot biriyani in a restaurant surrounded by clouds, slipping through the rocks to go to the waterfall, helping each other, almost crying with the dread of leeches yet emerging out victorious and playing in the stream water.Towards the end our driver surprising us by taking us to the beautiful Shankhamugam beach. Hill , Waterfall, Beach   all in one day.Mother nature couldnt be more kind ! :)

 

2) Saving Bruno - One day , coming back from the lab in the evening, me and  my friend Soumya found a little puppy helplessly running here and there amidst speeding vehicles.Being avid pet lovers , we both have a very special corner in our hearts for dogs. We can go to the extent of saying that dogs are better than most humans.Seeing the little one moving around scared, we couldnt help but go and hold him in our hands.We started talking to him, mostly the pet lovers can relate to.We asked him where his mommy was, when the guards told us that his mommy was no where to be found.

 That moment Soumya said that if we leave him here, he might die.We decided to take him with us, take him where? TCS Executive hostel strictly forbids animals in the premises.Yet we decided to take him with us.We named him Bruno, I still remember me & Soumya holding Bruno and running.We got muffins for him from a nearby Maggi shop, which he happily ate.Beneath our happy smiles was the fear of where we would keep him. On reaching hostel, the guard told us we couldnt take Bruno in, our hearts sank.We started pleading  before the guards. Nothing worked. Lastly I went to the Mess staff to get some milk for our Little Bruno. 

There are times when you feel God is present, just next to you.It is a moment of miracle,the Head Chef of TCS Executive Hostel heard about Bruno while I was getting food for him.Seeing my tear filled eyes , he decided to meet Bruno, and after meeting him, he decided to take Bruno with him to his home.Yes, those hands which prepared food for us everyday decided to be the guardian of Bruno.Me and Soumya were overjoyed.We thanked him through our happiest smiles.Bruno was sneaked in to the TCS Executive Hostel where he was the center of attention of the entire staff.From the roads to the home of Head Chef , Bruno had made quite a journey !

Tears rolled down our cheeks.I realised for the first time I had tears of joy :) Life truly is beautiful !

Snapshots from Hell : A Review

Ever since I came to know that TCS Bangalore library doesnt have fiction books, my heart sunk.I am an avid reader and fiction books have been my favorite.I mean I have nothing against books titled "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" & "How to Instantly Influence People" etc etc but I believe human mind is so intriguing that it cannot change itself by books that step wise tell it to look at things or develop a perspective.

The most powerful books that truly leave an impression are the ones in which we live the life of the author in the book.These books make us ponder on a lot of things that we would miss out otherwise.

One day wandering through the book shelves of TCS library , I came across a book titled "Snapshots from Hell" by Peter Robinson.Delighted to see a title that differed from topics like SAP FICO, JAVA Complete Reference, Performance Appraisals, I reached out and opened the book. The introductory note said this book was about the experience of a poet in Standford Business School.I went ahead and issued it.

The author was the former speech writer in Ronald Reagan's office when he took a sabbatical and went ahead for MBA at Standford hoping for a life with money and happiness ever after.Set in early 1990's, this book talks about the MBA phenomenon where the smartest people go to a business school, from diverse backgrounds ranging from Banking to Civil Services to Army, all with common idea that they would win the world after MBA. Almost 2 decades later I feel nothing really has changed.

While students like the author who were "poets" or students with minimal mathematical background had a tough time managing the calculations for subjects like Macroeconomics, Computer modelling etc, the "Non poets"  like the bankers, consultants and engineers happily & competitively sailed through them.The book is filled with interesting insights from the Standford classroom where sometimes Professors taught something that went totally above heads of even the brightest of the class, where students protested against mediocre teaching, studying hard for mid terms & end terms, competing , falling in depression, making study groups and slogging over case studies.In other words, It felt like just any other college.

The author states the biggest impact of Standford MBA was that it helped him develop a quantitative & analytical way of looking at things. Right from Organisational Behavior to Finance, each course made sure the students develop a perspective that is supported by numbers.Standford MBA students having numerous accomplishments were also normal humans  having strong egos,relationship hassles, worries about future, yet at the end coming together as a single group just like any other graduating batch.

The biggest lessons from the book were when the author describes two incidents. One, where the transition of students from rosy life assumption after MBA  to the extreme hard work during Business school to some landing a dream job at The Investment Banks while others struggling for jobs.It says that "While we all chase some things beyond our reach, crying helplessly, running restlessly , without catching a breath , it dawns upon at the end that there was no destination after all, it was the journey that was all that mattered."

Second was during a Marketing class when an executive with Procter & Gamble visited the classroom and discussed about a product they launched which failed miserably at the market. It conveyed a simple message "Its ok to make mistakes in life". Even big boys like P&G who hired the best brains made mistakes, so it was absolutely fine for mere mortals like us to make mistakes.

An awesome read! This book exhibits the journey of a person who joined an institution where he considered himself as a misfit but at the end discovered a side of his he had never met before.Hope I experience something like this in life :) Cheers to life !

Memoirs of ILP @ Trivandrum : The First Steps

There are certain phases in life when one feels like living an entire lifetime..It is  those phases which make you do things you havent done ever, meet people you never imagined of meeting and finally help you evolve into a happier person who has so much to cherish.

My Initial Learning Period (ILP) at TCS Trivandrum has been such an experience..an experience of a lifetime.Kerala is truly god's own country, the beautiful weather, the omnipresent coconut trees, the golden beaches, the still backwaters and finally the hills and waterfalls.On the way to the Executive Hostel of TCS , I was looking outside the car window, the mild winds blowing, the markets, churches passing by , I had the same excitement in me that I used to have as a child. It is the typical feeling of heartbeats going for a break dance.

Finally we reached the TCS Executive hostel.You can mistake it to be a 3 star hotel.Unloading the baggage, we moved towards the building.Happily collecting the keys we moved to our rooms.The rooms were awesome.I felt special  The journey had begun.

After a lot of Aaram , the time came to enter Peepul Park , the citadel of excellence of learning in TCS. It is the oldest training center of TCS and has created so many great Professionals who started their journey from there.It has an inherent sacred air in it.There are many feelings which cross one's mind at the dawn of one's Professional career.Carrying all these with me, I moved forward with a smile.

The induction began and we were introduced to LIREL, the core values of TCS. Leading Change, Integrity, Respect for Individual, Excellence and Learning and Sharing.As brand ambassadors of TCS where ever we go,we were expected to make these values inherent to us. It was the first time of my when I felt proud of being what I was. The main agenda of our induction was to make us aware that we were not just a big brand and the reason why we were ahead of others was because we lived our values.

It was a new beginning for me. A journey to develop a new insight towards life.Where coming late meant one was disrespecting the other individual by wasting their time, where being a master in anything was not enough as long as one didnt share the knowledge with others, where integrity and values was more than just doing business, where the aim was to elevate a customer's experience from satisfaction to delight.

There were also a lot of firsts, including having the very salary account, I Card which was our identity, stream of technology in which we would be trained and finally our base branch where we would be deputed after training.

It was a long day, but at the end, I had a sense of fulfillment and joy.The crimson hued sky of Trivandrum was embracing the evening sun but I realised I had just started with my new beginnings.