Bit about me...

Before you proceed reading further, I would like to flag a small disclaimer.

There are chances that your brain might react as it normally would when subjected to some Anu Malik type of music when you read the paragraphs that follow… The reason being, I had posted something similar as part of what I now call as my ‘had blog’. However, considering the gravity of the incident which I shared with you in my last post, I have taken the liberty to assume that you might just not have read it before and thus, posting it again…

Not a very long time ago, a couple of months since I procured my Bachelor’s degree to be precise, me and my dad were not in talking terms or shall I say, my dad was not in talking terms with me. As obvious as it might look at this juncture, let me assure you that the reason for such parental hostility had nothing to do with the genuineness or rather the lack of genuineness of my Bachelor’s certificate or the stream which I passed out from. It actually lay in the fact that after experiencing a brief phase of unemployment and being occasionally taunted for doing awaaragardi with my lafange friends, I took up a job at a call centre… yes, a BPO as it is fondly called.

Now, apart from the obvious fact that I had gained a rather inebriated version of the American accent, following which my grandma accused me of challoing a chakkar with a firang ladki and my brother offered me the role of an autistic horse in his school puppet play, I had a difficult time understanding this sudden indifference towards me... and it’s not that it really mattered to me, well at least not for the initial few weeks. The freedom and money that my new job brought along helped me think like a rebellion, like an outcast. I had begun to drift away…

But then, zor ka jhatka dheere se laga… and I soon began to realise what just might have irked him. You see, my dad, a teacher by profession, had spent most of his teaching years watching his students scoring percentages which on any given day, outdid the number acquired by adding all possible digits on my report card - including the roll number. (Okay, I might have exaggerated a bit here… I mean not the roll number and perhaps not my English marks as well. I could have explained you the reasons behind these exemptions, but that qualifies for a separate post altogether… So, more on my school going escapades later).

Most of these kids would eventually grow into responsible young adults and take up flourishing careers… aur fir milne aatein hain ghar par thank-you bolne… like as if, the fellows who’ve designed the ICSE 10th boards syllabus took hints from the guerrilla warfare training course or something.

My dad had perhaps thought of something as such for me as well. He might have wanted me to do something that he could remember and feel proud about. I had disappointed him to two accounts... academically and what I thought back then, professionally as well.

Many things happened during that phase of my life. Lost some old ‘friends’ because I had become a ‘call center waala ladka’, made some new ones at my new workplace, lost health… thanks to the night shifts, caught upon a few things which were not necessary… Amidst all this fun, I had enrolled to a local coaching class and had begun preparing for CAT and then SNAP (more on that later) as well.

As I look upon those days now, I see myself grappled in a different kind of fear… fear of being unidentifiable, fear of being looked down upon, fear of being called the black sheep of my family, fear of being quoted as a bad example... and perhaps, most fearsome of all, the fear of letting someone down again.

Lekin, bhagwan ki duwa se, things soon started changing for good. I started bringing home a few performance awards… which as it must be mentioned here, was my first up-close and personal experience of being a legible award recipient. Few months later, I finally put my headset to rest for good and boarded the Neeta ‘Express Volvo’ bus to Pune, to embark upon the journey of earning myself a diploma in management from a well-off B-School… Two eventful years (more on that soon) later, I completed my post-graduation and found myself a job that my dad could reason with. He now doesn't leave an opportunity to quote his friends and fellow students how (apparently) well am doing it… though I know for sure that he is as perplexed with what I do in office till date.

Acha abh yaha tak padh liya hain to let me take the opportunity (pata nahi kya opportunity hain ismein… lekin aise bolte hain English mein), to flag another disclaimer.

I do not wish to admonish those who work in call centres. Nor do I say it’s a bad job. I personally learnt a lot of things while working there… like the importance of one’s own hard earned money, the gratification of helping someone in need, a bit of taxation and some corporate world ke taur-tarike… and yeah, made some great friends too. All I am trying to say is that while I worked there, I realised what my family expected from me, and soon, what I expected from myself.

There comes a time in your life when we have taken too many things for granted, too many hours wasted and too many opportunities unseen. But sooner or later, the sand begins to sink under our feet and we are hit hard by the fact that what we always believed was us… was nothing more than a reflection of the hard work done and goodwill earned by our guardians. I learnt this back then. You might have learnt this in some other way, in some other manner. It doesn’t matter how you've learnt it... all it matters is how soon you've learnt it.

Chalo bahot philosophy ho gayi… Time to hit the sack (its 1:45am at the moment) … Take care, go bless and have a nice weekend! Bye! :)

Second Innings

There, all set!

I've finally completed what I like to term as 'Reengineering my Blog' ... Okay, to be frank with you this just a lame excuse for starting all over again, thanks to not being able to blog as frequently as I initially promised myself that I would... *sigh*

The motivation of doing is strongly drawn from a humbling conversation with one of my good friends... Before I divulge the contents of this life changing conversation, let me promise you that I the words you are soon about to read have not been doctored &/or mollified in any manner whatsoever… each syllable is kept intact, presented in its original form…

Me: "Dude, India *beep*ed the Kiwis… we won the test man!"

Friend: "Yeah I know! We got them by the *beep*ing like a *beep*ing *beep*!! It’s been splashed all over the net… people are blogging like crazy!"

Me: "Aw, c’mon dude, it’s been like eternity since we won a test abroad!! Isn’t that worth expressing in words? I mean, why the *beep* would I have a blog?!"

Friend: "It’s actually the first in New Zealand since 1976 and I wasn’t speaking of your… wait a second. Holy *beep*!! You had a blog too, didn’t you?"

Me (mentally): I had a blog? I had a blog? Since when did my blog become had?

It then struck me that if a close aide had no whereabouts of my blog, it was almost criminal to keep even an iota of hope with the rest of the literate, blog-happy population…Thus, driven by this rather scary realisation (and the fact that I had a good 2 hours of free time in office), I stepped on the task of refurnishing my blog with a whole new interface, new title and a new purpose... In addition, I’ve also promised myself (real promise this time, sacchi waala) that I will try and blog religiously & at a reasonably decent pace...

Let’s see how this works out this time… Till my next post, ta! :)