Don't Ignore Those Warning Signs

This is my first entry to Indiblogger's "The Moral Of The Story Is...." contest in association with Colgate. Check out My Healthy Speak Blog.

It was past midnight. All the everyday noises of domesticity had died down some time back. First the pressure cooker whistles that announced that supper was ready had fallen silent, then the clanging of pots and pans as housewives washed up the dirty vessels of the night had quietened, the soap opera on the neighbours’ TV had finally shut up; then the voices of men, women and children discussing the mundane details of their day had ceased as people gradually surrendered themselves to the night. I could hear a street dog howling in the distance and the lone tak, tak of the night watchman’s stick as he went on his rounds, as the 10 year old me sat chewing on her pencil – like I had been doing for the past hour.

“If Mala had 25 apples and Raghu gave her 10 more….” The words were starting to swim before my eyes. Arrghh! Why did maths have to so difficult!? Tomorrow was my maths exam and I had hardly finished studying half the syllabus. I still had to work my way through algebra and geometry and graphs and what not! My dad was looking at me, waiting for me to figure out the solution, but after a 10 hour work day, I could tell that his patience was wearing thin.

I was not a bad student but this was a common scenario at home before each of my maths exams. First, my mom would try to teach me. After I had used up all the reserves of her strength, my brother would chip in. After I had irritated him too, my dad would try his best. And after a sleepless night, I would walk into the exam hall dreading every minute of it. Once I had finished the exam I would feel elated – Done. No more maths till school reopens. Yay! And then of course, when the results are announced I would wait with my heart in my throat and eye the top scorers with envy.

My best friend Aruna, who was also my neighbour, was a maths wizard. Maths exams were a piece of cake for her. While I would be breaking my head, she would have finished prepping and would be happily lounging around in front of the idiot box – and the next day she would be all bright eyed and bushy tailed, while I looked like something the cat dragged in.

Maths was the only subject which I tried so hard – and yet didn’t do too well. The funny part is my dad, my mom AND my bro are bankers! But no matter how much hard work I put in I could never get my head around maths.

My feelings were exactly the opposite for my English exams. I always looked forward to getting my hands on my English books during my vacations and I would read all the books before school started. I waited eagerly for the English period and was thrilled when the exams came around. I loved writing long essays and was ecstatic when my papers came in with “Very Good!” or ”Great Job!” scrawled on it with red ink. When my English teacher praised me in front of the entire class, I had a wide grin plastered on my face the whole day.

I guess those were the earliest warning signs; but as it so often happens in life, I failed to notice them.

Warning bells are ringing!

Eventually it was time for me to choose my stream of study in the 11^th standard. Well, what was there to think about? Everyone knew that the Maths & Science group was the best. There was huge competition for it and Engineers and Doctors obviously had the brightest future. Did I pause to think if this is what I was interested in? Yes I did. And a little warning bell went off in a corner of my mind – Are you sure? It asked. But I pushed it out. Afterall, if all the bright minds were taking up maths and science then it must be the right thing to do, no?

And so life went by. Only, it got much worse. I could hardly pay any attention in class. Maths and Physics and Chemistry did not excite me – they simply bored me out of my mind. I found myself day dreaming with the page of formulas staring at me. I went for tuitions and my mind wandered away. Science group students face so much pressure that the weekly Sports period and - horror of horrors!- English period was almost always taken over by either the Maths or Science teachers. But I had to get high marks. My friends were all doing well and my brother too. They were constant comparisons and statements like “Look at him! Why can’t you study like him?” So I tried, somewhat half-heartedly.

But here and there were a few rays of sunshine. My poems got published frequently in our school’s magazine. Every time it happened, I pinched myself to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming.

Anyway, even if you aren’t Sir C.V Raman, hard work pays off to an extent and I managed to get a decent score in my exams. I appeared for various professional courses entrance exams too – but all with a niggling thought in my mind. Do I really want to become an engineer or a doctor? Is that what I really want to do? What about everything that you hear about following your heart? What about chasing your dreams?

BA English Literature beckoned me. I secured admission in a leading Arts college. I was among the top performers in the class and a bunch of us were chosen to attend a specialized course in English. I was thrilled. When many of the other girls bunked classes and sat around the cafeteria chit-chatting I was happy to be in class – listening to my lecturers talk about the classics. I savoured every moment of it.

But nobody could understand it. This is India. When thousands of people are vying for an Engineering seat why would anyone throw it away for an English Lit one? Whoever heard of such nonsense? Only dumb people who couldn’t get admission into any other branch took up Literature. It was an absolute waste of time. It won’t take you anywhere in life.

Or so my critics said. My instincts warned me “No, they are wrong! Stick to your decision!” But I ignored it – yet again – and spent four mind-numbing years, earning my degree in B.Tech IT. The first year I was also elected as the English Representative of my class but I was so relieved when the last day of college rolled by.

No more Java, no more C++, no more Data Structures & Algorithms, no more Digital System Design, no more Digital Signal Processing, no more maths, no more numbers, no more calculations…. But wait! I had a job in an IT company. Great! Air-conditioned offices, a big fat pay cheque at the end of the month, overseas travel and the pride that comes with introducing myself as a “software engineer.”

But you know that inner voice that sometimes just refuses to leave you alone no matter how much you threaten to punch it? Well that voice kept popping up now and again – warning me. “This is not what you are meant to be doing,” it kept insisting as I tried to design a flowchart. “What are you doing here? Why are you still here?”, it kept questioning as I took the late night cab home. “Why are you chasing a mirage when your destiny lies somewhere else?” it repeated when I was stifling a yawn sitting in a client meeting.

And just as that tiny little cavity which you neglected to get filled gets bigger and bigger until the entire tooth is eroded forcing you to fix that long pending appointment with the dentist, one day the voice grew too loud to ignore. I resigned.

The moral of the story is...

Have you ever had a bad tooth that was troubling you for a long time? And finally when the dentist fixes it, you tentatively test it out. You run your tongue over it gingerly and take a careful bite. Voila! No pain! Everything is perfect! A wave of relief washes over you. You sit back and enjoy the ice cream.

So, what is the moral of this looonnggg story? If you know what you want in life and if you know that you can be good at it - then don't ignore those warning signs. Believe in yourself and go for it. I traded in my settlement money and did a Journalism course. Today I work with a women’s magazine and I love it! I might not make as much money as in my previous job but this work motivates me and gives me complete job satisfaction. And it urges me to dream new dreams – maybe write a blog post and enter a contest like this one… maybe write a book, someday? Who knows, if only I had not ignored my warning signs maybe I would have written one already!

Suits: A Woman On Wall Street

Suits by Nina Godiwalla is a racy story of a young woman who finds that the values and principles that she believed to be important are at loggerheads with those that the world deems to be essential.

I really enjoyed this book. Suits is a semi-autobiographical book written by an Indian-American woman who is just starting out on an exciting and challenging corporate career at Wall Street, NY. To me a good book or even a good movie is one which I can relate to, a story in which I can maybe see a little bit of myself or characters who reflect a facet of myself however minuscule it might be. That is the main reason why I don’t enjoy the current trend in Tamil cinema, where every other movie is set in a rural milieu. While such “offbeat” movies which are in fact, rapidly becoming mainstream ones might actually have a good story and talented actors, and I can of course understand the situations, I cannot put myself in their place, I cannot see myself as one among them. Now why am I talking about movies when this post is about a book? Silly me!

So in Suits, despite the fact that I am neither Indian-American nor do I have a high-blown corporate career nor am I by any stretch of imagination a finance whiz, I could still identify with the protagonist. I “get” what she says. It is an engrossing tale set in modern times and talks about what Nina had to face at her workplace on the prestigious Wall Street. By being an immigrant as well as a woman, she turns out to be a minority within a minority. Her saving grace is that she is almost “Americanized” with her looks and her accent and so although she escapes a vast majority of the discrimination, she still witnesses it being directed at more “fresh of the boat” colleagues.

While I do agree that one does need to blend in and not stick out like a sore thumb, the whole atmosphere described in the book is dead set against anything or anybody who can be considered different. The mantra practiced is Conform, Conform, Conform! Add gender discrimination to the list - if you are a woman who dresses stylishly, you’re a bimbo or if you are too social, you’re just all-talk-and-no-work. When I was working in the corporate sector, I guess these issues did exist somewhere below the surface. When people talk about sexual or racial harassment in offices, most of us might think, “Oh but I wasn’t harassed at all!” Well good for you and I must say that I wasn’t either. But one cannot deny that undercurrents were present nevertheless.

For instance, in one of my project teams I happened to be the only woman. So when the guys headed out for a smoke break with the manager or bonded over a drink – what was I supposed to do? Even if I drank or smoked, could I just go and join the gang? And everyone knows that informal communication and information does occur during such bonding sessions – which I would probably be losing out on. Or when someone cracked a sexist joke or passed a distasteful comment on some woman walking by however harmless it might be, how should I react? Should I just laugh and join in the fun and be “one of the boys”? Or should I show the fact that I do not appreciate such talk at the risk of sounding too prudish or too stuck up? Or should I just fake indifference?

Apart from these issues, Suits also talks about the pressure and stress of working in a highly competitive environment, which is blatantly focused on making revenue and coming first in the rat race, than ethics or morals. While those on the outside, might only notice the flashy lifestyle it is a fact that many workers face emotional breakdowns as they are unable to handle the constant overload and the isolation that accompanies a life of almost zero work-life balance. As Nina sees herself gradually being swept away by it all and turning into one of “them”, she is forced to take a relook at her dreams and ideals.

Along the lines, we are also offered a glimpse of Nina’s home and family life, right from childhood. Her Parsi family sounds like a typical middle-class Indian family, or maybe even any immigrant family bent on working-hard and saving money for securing their children’s future and hoisting their own dreams and hopes onto their kids. And we see the little girl in Nina, who wants to prove – to herself, to her dad, to the world – that yes she can do it, she can fulfill all those expectations, that she is worthy of their love and admiration. These chapters contain some of the most heart-warming and humorous incidents in the book. And in the end, it is also her family that stands solidly by her and keeps her sane and grounded.

Nina says that when she was writing the book, she wasn’t expecting anyone to read it. Maybe that’s why she manages to tell a honest story, dil se.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

An old published review of mine.

Directed by David Slade, the third part of the Twilight movie series based on Stephanie Meyer’s novel of the same name, stays as faithful to the book as possible. Of course, many still consider the book to be superior to the movie, but then that is almost always the case with books which are converted to celluloid.

Interested? Please head over to Women's Web to read my full review over there.

Have you watched this movie? Share your thoughts with me!

Supporting Social Change

I guess that by now most of this blog's followers would be aware that I have switched careers from IT to Journalism. I had the opportunity to interact with another such person, who has switched from being an Engineer and has gone on to become the Chief Editor of The Alternative, an online platform that focuses on social development in India. If you are interested in learning more about The Alternative's initiatives and plans, please head to Women's Web, to read my interview with Aarti Mohan.

I'm Famous!

Image Courtesy: Dreamstime

Ahem! Ahem! I've been posting a lot of my published work like features, reviews and interviews over here. So after after writing about and interviewing other people - finally here is -* pampara pampara paaaam!! * - my interview! If anyone of you would like to know more about the face behind Abstract Admissions, please feel free to give me an ego boost and head to Women's Web over here, where I blow my own trumpet and talk about me, myself and moi!

On the other hand, if you do not want to know more, well don't worry I understand. (I soooo do not! Hmph! Go away ;-))

Adding A Pinch Of Spice To Our Lives!

Image Source: Show Me The Curry

I have already written about my interest in watching cookery shows here. And I had also mentioned that Show Me The Curry was one of my favourite shows.

So understandably, you can imagine how excited I was to interview the two lovely ladies, Hetal & Anuja of this very show! It felt like a fan getting an opportunity to talk to his/her favourite star! The interview went very well and if you are interested, head over to Women's Web to read about it there.

Shutter Island: Intriguing

Shutter Island, a psychological thriller is yet another captivating work of art from the Martin Scorsese stable. Based on Dennis Lehane’s eponymous novel, it begins with US Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) along with his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), arriving at The Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane, on a remote place called Shutter Island. They have been assigned to investigate the disappearance of a dangerous inmate.

Interested? Please head over to Women's Web to read my full review over there.

If you have already seen the movie, do share your thoughts with me!

Indigenous Books For Children

Image Source: Tulika Publishers

I am a big fan of reading and think that it is essential to inculcate the reading habit from small. Creative stories, eye-catching illustrations and a regard for the local environment are all synonymous with Tulika Books. Head over to Women's Web to read my  interview with Sandhya Rao, Senior Editor of Tulika and award-winning children’s writer here. 

On Teacher's Day...

Image Source: www.sxc.hu

Teacher's Day was always celebrated with great enthusiasm and fan-fare back in school. No classes were held and we students put up plays or shows to entertain our teachers - for which we would have started rehearsing all by ourselves, weeks back! It was a day of fun for both the students and the teachers (hopefully they didn't get bored to death watching our shows!).

I think I got enamored by the field of English, Journalism/Writing simply because I had such fantastic English teachers. Although I was not a topper, generally my performance in studies used to be above-average. I was always interested in English as a subject, but from my 8th standard onwards, I found my ideas, essays and answers being well-appreciated by my English teachers. Seeing those stars and congratulatory stickers stuck on my answer sheets made me glow with happiness. And I guess that it was then that I started believing that I was actually good, if not great, at something.

I get so irritated when, on hearing that English was/is my favourite subject, some people remark, "Oh why because it was easy is it?!". Well, the answer is a big, fat NO. Firstly, in my school, we had quality English teachers - not people who simply made us learn everything by rote, but rather women who cared enough and were passionate enough to take the trouble to explain the intricacies of the language and who helped me realize, recognize and appreciate the beauty and depth of both prose and poetry. They took the time and effort to awaken a genuine interest in us. What can I say? They succeeded! I still remember my high-school English classes, poems and lessons we were taught, with fond memories and today I can confidently say that I have taken up Writing as a career, because of my awesome English teachers. To be more specific, two of the most loved English teachers were Ms.Nandini and Ms.Soans - I'm sure that no one who studied under them will ever forget them!

I was fortunate to be educated at one of the leading schools in Chennai. But there are so many young children who do not have access to basic education - thereby building their entire future on a rocky and unstable foundation. All teachers are always special for the role they play in shaping the dreams and ideals of future generations, but the teachers who reach out to such disadvantaged children, definitely deserve a special mention. This is a story of one such teacher - Mangal Madam, associated with an NGO called Colors. Head over to Women's Web to read my article on her here.

So who was your favourite teacher? What do you fondly recall about him/her? Please share with me! 

Salt: Pulsating

Phillip Noyce’s Salt starring Angelina Jolie in the title role of Evelyn Salt is a power-packed movie to satisfy your thirst for action thrillers. The story revolves around an undercover CIA operative whose already dangerous double-life gets even more treacherous, when she is accused of being a Russian agent on a mission to destroy America.

Interested? Please head over to Women's Web to read my full review over there.

Have you watched this movie? Share your thoughts with me!

Smitten By Saris!

Do you like saris? I think that this quintessential Indian attire is one of the most sensual and feminine outfits for women. Although they can be pretty daunting for someone who isn't used to it much, who can refuse that an elegant sari adds to the beauty of a woman?

If your an Indian, chances are that you might have stepped atleast once into a Nalli showroom, while on your sari-hunting trips. How has this reputable company evolved over the years and what are it's plans for the future? Meet Lavanya Nalli, President of the Nalli Group as she shares her vision and mission with us! Read my interesting interview with her at Women's Web over here!

Sa Re Ga Ma!

Music plays a big role in almost all our lives. It has the power to take us back in time to look back at our cherished memories, to cheer us up when we are sad, to encourage us when we feel depressed or to inspire us when we feel discouraged. Many of us wake up to the sound of music, get ready while listening to music, tune in when we travel, continue listening even while we work , turn up the volume while cooking or doing other chores and some of us are even lulled to sleep by music. We have specific songs for our friends, for special occasions, for our better half and even for ourselves!We often feel possessive about it thinking, "Hey that's MY song or Our song!", no matter that we had no part whatsoever in creating the song in the first place!

But how many of us have actually attended an Indian Classical Music concert? Do we even watch or listen to such concerts without changing the channel? Indian Classical Music has such deep roots and a strong history backing it and yet not many of us are enamored by it. Why? Is it not packaged and marketed well enough? I remember that Doordarshan always used to carry some sad music performance all day through if there was any kind of national tragedy. Or during festivals, a classical music program would get slotted to be aired very early in the day, when quite predictably viewership would be pretty low.

Are Indian Classical Musicians getting the recognition and respect that they deserve? Is Indian Classical Music reaching the youngsters of today and making an impression in their lives? Ms.Aishwarya Natarajan, Director of Indianuance - an artiste management and concert programming company as well as the proud recipient of the British Council's Young Creative Entrepreneur Award in the field of Music shares her thoughts on all these and more. Read my interview with this star newsmaker at Women's Web over here!

Image Courtesy: Dreamstime

A Fresh Perspective & A New Approach

The downside of having a creatively satisfying job is that I don’t blog that often as I used to. Usually when I go for a short period of time without expressing myself creatively, I have this compelling urge to blog. But having that urge met by my digital publishing job as well as my travel consultant one (now, now, don't be jealous!), I find that I am neglecting my personal space over here. Obviously lack of new and interesting content translates to a drop in the number of people visiting Abstract Admissions. And let me be honest. I do like having many people - some whom I know personally and some whom I don’t – read my (brilliant!) thoughts, laugh at my (witty) jokes, nod at my clever (!) insights and generally appreciate this little corner of mine in the vast and ever-widening blogosphere. I get so excited when someone drops a new comment and I am thrilled to hear from someone about their opinion on my blog. In fact, sometimes it even surprises me that there are other people out there who like reading what I write :-)

So this being the state of affairs, I decided that my blog needed more focused attention. Therefore from this week onwards, I intend to blog regularly atleast twice a week. For maintaining this discipline, I thought of choosing a couple of particular subjects that I can talk/write about every week. I pondered over Tip Tuesdays, but frankly I really don’t know any great tips and I would probably be shelling out some rather lame advice which everyone already knows anyway. I thought of Sexy Saturdays, but well, let’s just say that my knowledge is pretty limited there too ;-) Whiny Wednesdays? Nah, I crib too much already, without even having an allocated day for my complaining! After bouncing around many such great (!) ideas I finally settled on two: Wednesday Wishlist and TGIF.

Wednesday Wishlist, as the name suggests is for me to share anything that I yearn for. (No, not just 3 wishes-that is only if you are a genie). If you think that I am being a spoilt, greedy and ungrateful brat, think again. This is where Thank God Its Friday comes into the picture. Every Friday, I am going to count my blessings and write about one thing that I am thankful for.

So there! With this new (to me) approach, I hope to maintain a steady blogging pace. This would help me in improving my writing skills and help you read interesting (Yes I know I think too much of myself ;-)) stuff! Plus it would help me live a more meaningful life by truly realizing how blessed I am and help you lead a meaningful life by making you realize... er, what are the things that you could possibly gift me ;-) Smart, huh?!

Image Courtesy: www.dreamstime.com

Dream Come True!

Yeah! So I finally finished my Diploma in Freelance Journalism. It is official. I am a certified and published Journo now! Pop the cork! Yippeeee!

Love to Travel + Love to Write = Travel Writing!

When I tell people that I am a freelance writer, many ask me “So are getting paid for that or is it just for fun?” I guess it really reflects the state of how most people view their jobs. You get paid for working not for having fun, right? Wrong!

If you know me then you also know that I enjoy writing as well as travelling. And now I found a wonderful way to club both together! Yep! I work as a freelance travel consultant/writer with a Bangalore based travel website called Mygola. It is a relatively new and pretty small company but I love it that I can work from home. And to answer the above question – I get paid AND I have fun! Isn’t that just great?! (Also I think that I can be a very knowledgeable geography teacher soon ;-))

Have you tried to google something and ended up with an avalanche of data which probably confused you and made you feel like you were searching for a needle in the haystack? Some people may not know the tricks for an effective online search, some might just not find it interesting to dig in and sift and sort thru all that information and yet some others might simply not have the time to do so. That is exactly where Mygola steps in.

Mygola is basically a travel website, where registered users can ask questions regarding their travel. And as a guide my job is to understand the traveler’s requirements, research online using the tools, tips and pointers that they provide, gather information and provide my suggestions and recommendations in a complete and thorough answer. What’s more I simply love the flexibility that Mygola offers me. I can choose any question that I would like to answer at anytime I wish to. Although once you have claimed a question you do need to answer it within 24 hours. There was a small test initially after which there were a couple of practice sessions and tutorials. After which I am all set :-)

So would any of you like to join the bandwagon? I must state here, that only if you like travelling and writing would you find this interesting and worth your efforts. If you do not like either, then chances are you may find it a little boring. But if anyone of you would like to give it a shot, you can do so by clicking here.
If you get selected then I get a bonus too! Yay ;-)

Okay so ciao! Am off to share my words of wisdom with a few travelers!

Image Courtesy: www.dreamstime.com

Dilemmas Of A Domestic Diva

I know a lot of people who are career-oriented and ambitious. But unfortunately, due to some weird wiring of my system I don’t fall under that category. So here I am – The Domestic Diva.

I do appreciate the fact that you all out there are busy saving the world from the aliens or educating today’s brats to be responsible citizens of tomorrow or playing dice with stocks and shares or simply writing software for the next model of the mobile phone that I am using now or even pretending to work and reading my blog (Ha! Caught you!). But on behalf of all the domestic Goddesses out there, I would like to state here that we have our own share of dilemmas too! Cynical? Well wipe that superior smirk off your face and read on mon ami(e):

Dilemma No. 4: Which idiot designs the cobblestone pavement encircling the supermarket to be sloping?!?!?! For those of you who know me, I am a poor little petite lady. I find it almost impossible to manipulate a shopping cart loaded with about 2 weeks’ worth of groceries against the slant of the land. It is an uphill task (pun intended) all the way! I step out of the mall and hang on for dear life to my cart, lest it rolls away and bangs into a car or worse on some unsuspecting soul. Recently I was pushing and prodding my way to the taxi stand without much success. A kindly Good Samaritan offered to help and helped me till the taxi. But while I was loading the stuff into the trunk of the taxi, the taxi driver blew his horn and turning, to my horror, I saw my cart rolling down the pavement. Dropped the bags in my hand and grabbed my cart. Thank goodness I was not holding onto the eggs basket! Sheesh!

Dilemma No.3: My nephew plays a game in Kindergarten called Wood, Paper, Scissors. Well I ask you- Wood, Plastic, Glass?? I am talking about chopping boards. Sometime back I was advised to use wooden chopping boards instead of plastic. But on a recent visit to a friend’s place, I saw him using a plastic one. He is in the catering industry and so what with him being the man in the business and all that, I posed this question to him. Isn’t a wooden chopping board better to use than a plastic one? Because if you notice on your plastic chopping boards (if you use one), there would be many grooves and cuts formed while chopping whatever it is that you chop. Which probably means that you add a few particles of the plastic too alongwith your chopped stuff, right?
Well turns out that all major hotels use plastic chopping boards-and what’s more they even have them colour coded-Green knives and green plastic boards for veggies, red ones for meat, blue ones for seafood, yellow ones for ready-to-eat things like cut-up fruits and so on. It seems that since wood has pores in its surface, juices/water from whatever we are chopping may seep in and the dampness would serve as an ideal ground for bacteria and germs to breed.
I am guessing that glass might be a good option-but then if you are endowed with butter-fingers like me, chances are you would break the glass AND prick yourself with the glass pieces too! Not safe! So finally I just decided to settle on wood anyway. I figured that with the high temperatures involved in the Indian style of cooking that I mostly do, all bacteria should be effectively destroyed. Better than eating plastic I presume.

Dilemma No.2: Can somebody please, please, please teach me how to use the can opener?!?!?! I have been trying to figure this out for the past couple of years all to no avail! (Shut up! I am NOT dumb!) Wahhhh!! Back in my childhood, we never had any can openers at home. I remember my mom holding a sharp knife vertically on the rim of the can, hitting it with a hammer and going around the whole circumference of the top of the can. If you lose your patience mid-way and try to pry the half-open lid-stop right there and don’t waste your energy. That approach hardly ever succeeds-you will probably end up with a bent lid, half the contents stuck within the can, not to mention scraping your finger on the serrated edges of the can. Trust me I have given blood all for a few yummy drops of Milkmaid. You got to go the whole damn way! Or they could just stop producing cans which need can openers and instead just manufacture the ones which can be opened by pulling at the hook on the top-like Coke or Beer cans…Sigh!

P.S: Hey BG, if you are reading this I remember that you had written something about this on your blog a long time back... But I couldn't find it now....

Dilemma No.1: This exalted position goes to the ubiquitous question “What to cook for the next meal?” There are innumerable cuisines around the world and a zillion dishes to make. I agree. I could cook that dish that I was thinking of trying out for some time now. Only I checked my pantry (or the fridge) and the one important ingredient for this particular dish is out of stock. Well okay…then let me cook this other dish-oh wait! Somebody (or the other) doesn’t eat this vegetable/meat. Fine then what about this one? Oh no! Not that! I just made that a few days back! Apart from all that, it should also be nutritious and healthy and tasty all at the same time, not too oily or cheesy, not too much of sodium, not too sweet, not too bland, should not require too much effort or money, should not be boring and repetitive, should be different but not too adventurous, should not contribute to the ever-increasing waistlines and love handles, should appeal to the eyes and nose as well etc etc etc!

Okay I hear you say, "Well these are common to both the working and the stay-at-home women!" But then the working woman can always say "Well I am too busy to worry about such trivialities! I have to think about stopping the sky from falling down and the earth from caving in!"
On the other hand, what lame excuses could we domestic divas give?!?

So there you go! Now don’t you agree that the life of a domestic diva is as bad as braving rush hour traffic, handling pesky customers, uncaring co-workers, irritating bosses, ever-shortening deadlines, impossible targets and uninspiring projects!?! All I can say is ….. You’d better ;-)

Image Courtesy: http://www.dreamstime.com/

Published Articles

Movie Reviews:

Shutter Island

Twilight: Eclipse

Salt

Interviews:

Sandhya Rao: Tulika

Lavanya Nalli: Nalli

Short Story:

A Letter

Features:

More Than A Teacher

Love At First Sound

Fun Travel For The Older Person

The League Of Extraordinary Conwomen

The Sisterhood Of Philanthropists

Women In The Limelight 2010

Take Charge Of Performance Reviews

Dancing Across Cultures

A Crusade Against Trafficking

India:Confident & Optimistic

http://www.womensweb.in/blog/2010/11/15/76-gestational-diabetes-sweet-yet-bitter.html

Not my cup of tea!

Ladysfinger, or okra according to my internationally settled friends, is one of my favourite vegetables. Yet contrary to the old wives tale of ladysfinger giving one an aptitude for mathematics, I was-am-will be terrible with maths. It was the only exam (apart from Tamil) for which I used to sit up late, wake up early, cry buckets and worry myself into a fever.

So my family was justifiably surprised when I took up a job in Finance a couple of months back. Well if you know me then you probably also know that I am a software engineer and a budding journalist. But I just randomly saw this ad in the paper for a walk-in interview scheduled for the next day and thought I would give it a shot.

The interview lasted for approximately 2 minutes, as I had no clue about finance/sales/marketing and the interviewers had no idea about software engineering. Somehow I landed the job (applause!) and decided to try it out just for the heck of it.

I quote Chetan Bhagat here “It is bad news when you hate your job in the first hour of the first day of office”. I agree whole-heartedly.

I was supposed to sell car insurance as well as savings accounts to prospective clients. ME??!?? Car Insurance?!?? Okay I had about 1% knowledge of cars in the first place. There were only 2 kinds of cars according to me-big cars and small cars.
4 wheel drive? Didn’t all cars run on 4 wheels??!!
Saloon? Isn’t that a synonym for barber shops??

I went back home and cribbed my heart out to my husband. Aware that this was just the first of many similar-complaints & cribbing-filled-evenings, he said “Okay quit if you don’t like it”

But I had just blown away a good part of his salary to buy myself some work wear (just an excuse to go shopping!) and felt a teensy weensy bit guilty.
So I closed my eyes and conjured up my motivational image, namely mall-hopping!! Then I took a deep breath and decided to hang on for some more time.

Once training was over, I started selling-or atleast started trying to sell.
Here are a few samples of the conversations between 3 of us- My Mouth (MMo), Client(C) and My Mind(MMi).

MMo: Sir this is so-and-so from *******, regarding car insurance. May I know if you own a car?
C:Yes yes I already have credit card.
MMo: No sir not carddddd – am talking about carrrrr.
C: No no I don’t want car!!

MMi: Okay so you thought some random person would call up and offer you a car??!? Keep dreaming dude!

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C: You know, fortunately or unfortunately my wife’s name is also Anne.
MMo: Oh is it sir!? That is such a nice coincidence!

MMi: Did I ask?! Do I care?!??? Are you gonna buy this product from me or not?!!

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MMo: Sir, our insurance covers your car against natural calamities such as floods, earthqu-
C: Dear what happens here is not called floods-go to Pakistan that is what is called floods!!

MMi: Why don’t you go there and drown yourself?!??

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MMo: Introductory statements
C: Plleeassee!!! Pllleeaaseee!! Yahhyen huwlllo hsyawhulla Arabic?!?
MMo: Ok sir, I shall ask someone who speaks Arabic to contact you soon.
C: You don’t know Arabic?
MMo: No sir.
C: Why?!

MMi: Because I do not need to know alllll the languages of the world!!!! Y don’t you know English anyway?!!!!

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MMo:Sir, did you receive the application form sir-I had emailed it to you a couple of hours back.
C: Anne I have a job here. I cannot keep checking my emails.

MMi: Okay then why did u ask me to email it to you, you moron!!

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MMo: Sir, our insurance covers your car against natural calamities
C: Okay so what if a cat scratches my car?

MMo & MMi: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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MMo: Standard greetings & introductions. So may I ask if you own a car sir?
C:………………………..
MMo: Sir? Are you there??
No response
MMo: Hello?
C: mmmm?

MMi: Wake UP!!!!!

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MMo: Standard greetings & introductions
C: See what is this? Early morning you are asking me about car insurance?!??

MMi: Okay if 10 AM is early morning to you then what do you call sunrise time? Midnight!?!??

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C: I want to open a joint account for my wife and myself.
MMo: Sure sir, can I have the contact details of both of you?
C: Why? Are you going to call her up and check if she is my wife??
MMo: NO sir, we just need those details to fill up your application form.

MMi: Why so paranoid!??

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MMo: Sir would you like to open a free savings account with us?
C: Madam I am a poor man. No money to save. If you give me money I will open the account.

MMi: Well if I had sooo much money as to distribute to random strangers I wouldn’t be doing this job would I now?!?

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I had actually wanted to note down the various responses from people but due to tight schedules I couldn’t and now I can’t recollect man of the notable ones.
Anyway after numerous clients, hundreds of calls, unrealistic targets , a monotonous routine and a realization that the only happy thing about this job was the paycheck-I quit. So here I am back to what I like doing best!! If you have noticed, there has been a gap of more than 2 months between this post and my last one. Hopefully I would be more active on blogger now!

Image Coutesy:http://www.dreamstime.com/

Mudhal Onsite Payanam!

One of my teammates is going onsite tomorrow for the first time.
Seeing him I was soooo reminded of how I was before my first onsite trip.
I almost saw my former self mirrored in him. It was nostalgia!

Generally for anyone in the Indian software industry, onsite chance is like a dream come true. After months of getting your Visa ready and being tagged as a ‘Travel Ready Resource’, after weeks of false alarms like “You may travel for so-and-so client next week”- finally you get the much awaited green signal - roughly 2 days before your travel date. Then everything is a flurry of activities.

Getting your tickets booked by the travel desk people, getting forex (and actually handling foreign currency for the first time!), giving treats and farewell emails and speeches, running from pillar to post for shopping anything and everything under the sun ranging from luggage-that-fits-into-overhead-cabins to sweets-that-my-onsite-lead-asked-to-bring , bugging mom to make all the podis and pickles on earth, frantic phone calls to anyone who has ever travelled abroad to enquire about “is it cold there?”,”do we get Indian stuff there?”
Your mind is in a jumble of last minute questions-did I take those printouts? Did I take a backup of my documents Did I surrender my mobile connection? Did I do this, did I do that…. Everything is one breathless blur!
And then comes the packing and weighing. Invariably it will be too heavy-then unpack and repack -Finally leaving behind half the things we had shopped!

Then voila! The Airport Debacle.
Friends and family all surround you and bid their au revoirs. Someone will invariably start sniffling while you are hovering between feeling excited about the whole thing and feeling nervous and worried about leaving familiar shores behind.

Luggage scanned, boarding passes in hand, standing in the never ending queue for Immigration check, security screening - And at last you step into the flight.
I always ask for the window seat-not because the view is great or something but because no one will disturb me to get up often ;-)
And I always pray that the person sitting next to me doesn’t:
1) Stink
2) Chatter non stop
3) Fall asleep on me
4) Stare sideways at every single action of mine

When at last the flight takes off after the preliminary safety precautions are announced and you see the city lights growing smaller and smaller, farther and farther away from you, when the cars and trees and roads have become tiny specks somewhere far down below, when you are lost in the clouds high above the world - it sinks in.
You are on your way! On your own!

Nobody is going to cajole you to eat dinner anymore, no one is going to tolerate your tantrums, no one is going to clean your bathroom or wash your clothes, no one is going to scold you to take medicine if your sick, no one is going to pay your bills for you, no one! Everything becomes your responsibility. It is up to you.
Fortunately or unfortunately you really are on your own!