Going offline

I have decided to go offline for 3 days i.e. after this post, till (at least till) 24-Apr-10 i.e. Saturday morning. All that I do after connecting to the Internet is check mails, check bank accounts, check share prices and check Facebook updates. There is no good reason to do this but I still do it everyday 3 times just because I have nothing else to do or at least it seems that I have nothing else to do.

I am not working so I don't receive any official mails. All my friends are on Facebook and we keep in touch indirectly, so there is no reason to check mails expecting to hear from any friend. Since I am not working, I don't get any salary, so I rarely use my bank account, so there is no need to check my account status thrice a day. Most of the shares invested in are for long-term so no point is tracking the prices everyday. That leaves Facebook updates.

Ah, Facebook! well, involuntarily I am getting addicted to it and it is really not easy for me see that the rest of the world is hunky dory, what with all the vacation and birthday party pictures all over and I am the only one who has nothing to do, not even a decent camera with which I too could take some new pictures and post them.

I know the real problem is something else and somewhere deep but let me start with going offline and not facing Facebook.

Haze

i move in a lazy haze
from morning to morning
not feeling the pace

i eat in a hurried haze
from breakfast to dinner
not knowing how it tastes

i work in a slow haze
from mailboxes to speadsheets
not seeing what they display

i live in a unknown haze
with people all around
not hearing what they say

is it something to do with the cough syrup that i take?

new year, new life

Happy new year 2009 to everyone (if anyone) visits this space

So its new year and coincidentally I am beginning a new phase of my life. I have quit my job and have not decided what I would be doing next. I remember once I said to my mother that "I would never quit my job without having another one in my hand". I guess no can predict what decisions one would take under given circumstances and situations.

This is the first time since September 1996 that I would be truly "jobless". I do plan to start working "part-time" or "freelancing" however it is very difficult for IT professionals in India to find these kind of opportunities. So today I am completely blank about what would happen or what I would let happen to my career. There are many reasons why I quit my job and I am not comfortable with the uncertainty that I have chosen for myself however at the same time I am in high spirits as on 17-Jan I will attain freedom from the corporate world

So this post is basically about the things that I would like to do once I am elevated to the "stay-at-home-mom" status.

Most of these fall under the regular chores however in the past years I never got the time to do these at my own pace so I am sure I am going to enjoy doing them.

1) Clean all wardrobes in the house and mercilessly throw away all clothes that are old/unused (except my soft, worn-out "Sleep-ins" nightdress, dark blue jeans that will never fit me, all my sleeveless dresses which I have never worn, cute woollen dresses of the kids, all baby pink and blue dresses, socks, bibs bought at Mother Care, Baby Shop etc. and the endless list of clothes that I have carried with me through the multiple houses and cities that I have moved :-)
2) Organize financial papers, bills etc.
3) Clean the store-room. This time I resolve to throw away the carrom board which we never use.
4) Organize audio-video cassettes, CDs and DVDs. I am sure I am going to listen to "Saath-Saath" at least 3 times while doing this.
5) Take a look at the few plants that I have in the balcony and mend them
6) Download photos from camera to laptop and shortlist some for printing
7) Download video recordings from the camcorder to laptop
8) Create a weekly kitchen plan
9) Practice 45 mins of yoga everyday
10) Walk for 1 hour 4 days a week
11) Play with the kids for 1 hour everyday
12) Sign up for a music class
13) Make a new friend. I haven't made a good friend since my college days.

Google, I am lost

I have not been able to access "Google" from office since Wednesday.
You think "big deal, uh!" ?
But trust me, it, is a "BIG DEAL".

Today I tried accessing Google for searching the below and much more which I cannot recollect.
1) Qantas airways website
2) Testing parameters
3) Mumbai Airport Website
4) Checklist for home renovation
5) Wikipedia (Can you believe? I search for Wikipedia URL also through Google)

And when every time Google took me to the "We're sorry" page, I didn't know what to do.Didn't even think of typing the likely URLs in the address bar and just giving it a shot.I did try Yahoo, MSN and Altavista but then they are not the same as Google. My eyes are so tuned to the Google website that any other search results do not make sense. I realized, Google has turned me into a handicap when it comes to finding stuff on the Internet.

And the last line on their "We're sorry" page says "We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google". Are you joking? I will be accessing your URL every 10 mins to check "just in case you are back". I have so much to search.

To my lost comrades

I lost touch with some when I moved from one place to the other due to my father's job, with some after school, some after college, some after changing jobs, some after changing cities, some after fights, some after misunderstandings and some just like that.

With some,I lost touch gradually and with some others it was abrupt. With the ones I lost touch gradually, initially we exchanged letters, then phone calls and emails, then just emails, and then the silence.

Most of them are just a email/phone call away but there is still a very big distance in between. Not sure what that distance is about and why it got created. I guess, its just because people move on to newer places and hence new people.I do hear about them once in a while, sometimes from group-mails , sometimes from someone's orkut profile or sometimes from some new friend.

Sometimes I do feel like getting back in touch but then I know that things won't be the same again.

So, this post is for all my lost comrades-I am glad we met,talked,listened, laughed,cried, fought-made up-fought, helped, ignored and much more.

Life would not have been worthwhile without you guys.

Goodbye X

31-Jan-2008 will be my last working day at X (my current company). I have been with X since 2000. I have worked for another company before joining X, but X has been my first job in the true sense. The rich experience at X has shaped me into a good professional. I have had my share of issues with X, however deep down I know, I have a lot to be happy about, thanks to X. Today as I sit and think about the few issues that I have had, I realize that the issues are almost neligible compared to what I have gained from X in the last 8 years.

I am going to miss being part of X, I am going to miss ...

1) The "brand X" - I have been enjoying the "Brand X" for the last 8 years. Wnenever I told people that I worked for X, I would more or less get these responses/expressions-
Older generation - "acchhi bacchi" (proud)
College going -"wow!"(but she looks so "non-corporate" kinds)
Friends, "well, okay.."
Relatives "uh! so what"
Strangers "okay" (so she must be worth something).

I am going to miss the "brand X" a lot.

2) The "speed of operation" at office - Being in this company for 8 years, I know the processes in and out, I know from whom/where I can get what information. I know the right channels, the right people who can help me. This has increased my "speed of operation" tremendously over the last few years. So I got to spend more time in adding real value to the work rather than
getting stuck in the operations.

I will miss this "speed of operation" - atleast till I achieve the same in the new company.

3) My employee number - after I joined X, the company added more than 50,000 employees to its rolls, so my employee number shows that I am an "old timer" at X. Some people in the company admire that while others think of us oldies as "jerks who cannot get any other job".
But I always took pride in being one of the oldies at X and I would definitely miss that.

4) The beautiful campus, the sprawling lawns, the facilities, the huge library,the very efficient support systems and staff.

5) Bulletin Board - Definitely the saviour of my "bench" days. Though I have hardly contributed to it, I have spent a lot of time reading movie reviews, jokes, poetry, matrimonial ads, general discussions and most importantly the fights :-) I have immense respect for X for providing such an open platform for expression of ideas and feedback.

I will miss being part of such highly intellectual and creative group of people.

Although I will not be an employee of X after 31-Jan-2008, X will always remian "my company".

"Library" of plants

"Plants Library" - I saw this advertisement on my way to work today.
What it means is - library of potted plants from where one could rent plants. rent plants? Although an interesting concept, I found it quite weird. Why would someone rent plants? Just to decorate their house?Renting plants just for decorating and changing them after some time somehow does not fit in my scheme of things. I am neither a great lover of plants nor a great gardener, however when I do pot a plant I somehow get attached to it, it becomes a part of my home. I cannot give it away just like that unless my balcony is overcrowded or the plant is not doing well.

I fail to understand what satisfaction one would get by renting a plant for few days and then replacing it with the next one. It may satisfy the eyes for some time but what about the satisfaction of seeing a plant that you potted grow to its fullest potential.

It may sound stupid to some, but to a certain degree I feel the same about books. I usually buy the books that I read and very rarely borrow from the library. Along with the words in the book, I enjoy the smell of the new book and the feel of the fresh pages.

Did someone say, there is a "library" of sarees too? Sure, only if Shabana Azmi, Satya Paul and Shaina NC are members :-)