HP Mania

What is this whole craze about harry potter 7? or is it 6? I am not sure. I can Google and check, but who's interested in whether it is 6 or 7 ! Some HP mania cases I have heard/seen ...

1) My niece and nephew saw the latest released HP movie on the first day, first show. They got the latest book as soon as it was released and since they share the book they have reading slots defined for themselves, 2 hours each. While one person reads for 2 hours the other keeps looking at the clock. The book cost them Rs700 something, and the shop was selling the book as a package with some Rs200 voucher and something else, and they had to buy that if they wanted the book !

2) My son's friend, all of 8 years saw the movie with his 3 year old sister as soon as it got released. What he understood from the movie? some magical words that HP says.Now both he and my son keep repeating those words with a stick in their hand.

3) My husband's friend's son - all of 9 years.Finished reading 80 pages of the book on the day the book was released!

4) Saw some crazy fans on the television, dressed up like HP book's characters waiting for the book's release

Now I am wondering whether I am abnormal not to have read a single HP book. I have not seen any of the movies either, not even the one they keep showing on television.

Working for the sake of work

Yesterday I made a fool of myself. My boss asked me, "in which job band are you, C or D"? and for a moment I just couldn't remember the mapping of my role name to the job band letter. I stared blankly at him and said "I have forgotten that". You should have seen the look on his face, he just couldn't believe it and I could see that he was thinking "this lady is a jerk".

This might have happened to me because I am just out of an year long sabbatical and it was a totally different world out there. But forgetting one's job band? this is kind of extreme. isn't it?

Although this is extreme (and I hate myself for that response), many a times I have realised that I am not too interested in things like "how much salary hike are we getting this time?", "what is the percentage of performance incentive this time?" etc.

It is not that I am a non-ambitious person who comes to office just because there is nothing to do at home. I am a very ambitious person and have been performing "above expectations" all the years that I have been working. It is also not that I am not interested in the salary I get. In fact, like everyone else it is "more the better" for me too. But somehow I am not the one who analyzes every rupee/dollar on my pay-slip. It might be due to the fact that I am not the sole bread earner in the family and my salary is kind of bonus for us :-)

Whatever may be the reason and people may call this "being ignorant" but somehow I am not cut out for that.I work for the sake of "work". I work hard, love taking up challenges, enjoy my work and strive to deliver the best out of me. And then, what is my boss for? To give me the salary hikes and incentives I deserve.

It might sound snobbish but I guess my productivity levels are high because I do not take those 'n' number of coffee breaks to discuss "how much salary hike are we getting this time?" and then 'n+n' coffee breaks after the salary hike to discuss "this is not a raise at all, it doesn't even cover my petrol expenses" :-) No offence meant to people who discuss this or people who take coffee breaks, in fact they should continue to do that because, people like me, who are interested only in the crux of the matter are happy with whatever information we get when we overhear their discussions.

There is a flip side to not taking those coffee breaks but that would be another post.

For the first time

i had read many books before I first went to a movie when I was 14

i had cried many times before I first cried in my hostel room when I was 16

i had taken many long walks and many bus journeys before I first took a taxi ride on my own when I was 21

i had planted many plants that bore fragrant flowers before I first bought a bottle of perfume when I was 21

i had been looking at myself in the mirror for many years before I first went to a beauty parlour when I was 21

i had written many letters before I first sent an email when I was 22

i had plated my hair a thousand times before I first cut my hair when I was 22

i had eaten many plates of pav-bhaji and masala-dosas before I first had grilled fish with tartar sauce when I was 22

i had said "No I don't" many times before I said "Yes I do" when I was 23

i had travelled to many places before I first travelled by an aeroplane when I was 23

i had held many babies in my arms before I first held my son when I was 25

i had seen many sunlit days before I first saw sunlight at 9.00pm when I was 25

i had had many paneer parathas and pizzas before I first looked at the ideal height-weight chart when I was 30 :-)

Life changed forever after I did many things for the first time.