Changing...

Over the past few days, my perspective is changing. To life and the way I live it. I did a thinking and comparison of many things in life. I started with the changes that have come over me during the past few years; and the difference seemed shocking to me. The difference - I used to read a lot, hang out with friends past college/office hours and over the weekend also, explore new things, keep in touch with friends via phone or meet them, watched a lot of movies, and also used to take out a lot of time for only myself.

But now, my life has become kind of planned I'll say. Earlier each day was different. Nowadays, I know what my tomorrow will be and how I am going to spend my weekend. There is nothing NEW. The reason - once I became busy with life and work, I just chalk out the plans and try to stick to it. There is no time to experiment or even think of the life I was leaving behind.

The interesting things I do in my life now are my crochet, gardening, baking, and spending time with my husband. Though these do give me pleasures in different levels, I miss the pleasures of the things I am not doing now. One step-at-a-time, I am planning to keep adding more enjoyable activities to my life. As a matter of change, I have already started reading. Though I do not have that pace I had earlier, I am slowly trying to catch up. I am reading Twilight. And hubby is also travelling over the weekend. So it seems like I am going to have a lot of time to myself. Let me see how much I can finish.

Back after a Break

After a gap of almost four months, we went to Kerala, two weeks back. It was a well-deserved break for both of us. We have been away from our families for a long time and yearned to be with them. And it was really good to be back home.

The climate was not too good but still, it was not as hot as last year. It kept raining as and when the temperatures rose. The nights were usually cool. During the day, we kept travelling, visiting relatives, and just roaming around. We went to Trivandrum, the beaches, the new shopping destinations, and of course, had a lot of tasty food.

This visit, there was something new - there is a baby in the family! My husband's brother and wife have a baby girl who is just four months old. Cute right! The baby is really adorable. She is extremely pleasant and always active, doesn't cry at seeing new people or even when woken up forcibly from deep sleep! That's how I love babies to be!

Unexpectedly we had to extend our trip for two more days, but I was happy that I got to stay with my parents during that span. My Mittu is doing great. He is enjoying the sun, the rains, and the blossoms all around him.

So that was one small, yet good vacation we had :-)

4 years back...

Four years back, this day, I started off my career as a Technical Writer. I still remember how nervous I was! But to my luck, I had two of my colleagues joining along with me then. So I never felt left out. We were a batch of around 15 new joinees - all freshers. Within no time, all of us were good friends. Our training spanned over a period of around a month and then we were sent to our respective departments. Joining the documentation team made me nervous again. But soon, we were able to gel with the team and work. And there my career took off well documenting, learning, and reviewing. I spent the first one and a half year of my career at SunTec. It was in Trivandrum, the place where I spent some of the best years of my life. Well, when I had to leave the place, I was indeed sad. I left behind some really good friends.

Then I came to Bangalore and joined Sasken. The experience here was rather a different one. Lot more of professional and skilled people. What took me by surprise was the 50+ member team, which was very huge compared to the 10 member team at SunTec. I had a tough time remembering all the names. Timings were flexi, writing styles were different, cubicles were welcoming, and I got some dear friends. Within a short period I got adjusted well to the place and found myself adapted to this big team. I enjoyed the time I spent at the Bommanahalli office. Then our office location shifted to the Embassy Golf Links Campus. It was here that some of the good things happened in my life. I got married, took to crochet and other itty-bitty crafts, got into a good project and so on. But slowly things started changing at the office. We started seeing a steep increase in the number of people quitting from the firm. The number dropped down drastically over a short span. Though there were chances and small initiatives for revival I had decided to move on. And that's how HP happened to me.

Its just a week of being at my new office and I am settling down.

Home Alone

Its raining heavily outside and there is no power. I seem to be the happiest person now :-) Except for me and Mittu, there's none at home. I have kept the doors open and the cool breeze is blowing in. Gleee... I am enjoying it. The system has a lil more of power left in it. Hope it will let me complete my post today. And now I am wondering what I should write about. Hmmm.... Still wondering!

Did I ever tell you guys that I have stayed alone in a house for around three months? I don't think so. Well now I am reminded of that. It was during those three months that I completed my certification in Tech Writing. The house belonged to my friend's grandparents and they were in Singapore. So I got this ground floor of the house all to myself. And a wonderful doggy, Tintu, also. Ahem, ahem.. I did have to pay the rent. It was not free.

Staying at the house was indeed a big challenge. Though the surroundings of the house were well kept, the house was not. There were big rats in the kitchen, some frogs in the work area, and a lot of cockroaches. I used only a portion of the kitchen. I never got into the work area. There was a store room of which I had never opened the door of the fear as to what would jump out. The paint was peeling out at places. There were heaps of newspapers and old toys in a corner of the dining rooms and lots of dust everywhere. I kept only those places clean where I used. I was actually a bit scared to touch things over there.

Though the house was a bit old and shabby I must say that there were some things wonderful about this period. Tintu was a very good companion to me. It was tied just outside my window and it would keep sniffing and growling slowly. So I was never scared of being alone in the house. All alternate days I used to bathe Tintu. Though she didn't like it much, she never misbehaved with me. I must tell you that I never had a pet dog in my life and Tintu was the first dog I ever gave a bathe and considered it as my pet as well. I am indeed a person who is scared of loneliness and darkness. But now I wonder how I managed to stay there all alone. Some nights there would be power failure and I would lay awake the whole night. Another thing about my stay here was that I started cooking alone here. I used to prepare coffee, rice, curries, noodles, and certain other dishes which I never dared to share with anyone else.

At this house, I had a lot of time to myself. I could watch television till I wanted to, on holidays sleep till I felt anymore lazy to sleep, and write, read, or just be lazy around. In a way it was good. Now I am wondering why I didn't learn crochet then. I had all the time in the world then. Some evenings loneliness attacked me. This was when I would feel homesick and sad. But I was able to overcome all those things.

Some nights when it rained over there, I would keep the windows open and enjoy the platter and small drops alone in the dark. And that same feeling am I getting now being all alone here! I must say, at times its good to be alone also. But not always. My husband will be home any moment. So now the waiting starts...

Enjoy your day!

Treasured ones...

We always treasure some people in hearts. Be it somebody whom we see since childhood, or one we saw only once in our lifetime. It gives us immense pleasure at times simply just to think of them.
I have few very good treasured friends and people in my life. And guess what I either communicated with some of them today after a very long time. This is actually giving me lots of joy. Know not why!
A roommate for a year and a half, who was always a great friend as well. But time parted us and put us in two far locations. Its been more than an year since we met. Some incidents in the meantime, seemed to test our friendship. And to an extent we failed in the test. But today after a long time, I had a pretty long chat with her. It seemed as if, we were never too far. May be that's the feeling when you speak to a true friend. :)
Since childhood, me and Raji were together. Our growing years and overgrown years (;-)) we spent together. But somewhere when life took the serious turn we were thrown on the two sides of the path. This kept us a bit far from each other. But our liking and sharing was always there. And now she is about to get married soon. And after marriage, I have heard, nothing is nomore the same. :-( Sadly I realize, she would now on lead a busy responsible life of her own, and me mine own. But still both of us would treasure those wonderful childhood memories! :)
A few more friends - scrapped and mailed all of them today. Feeling so happy that I am rich with good friends - though far! :)

Things I miss badly

I miss all these:

1. Trivandrum
2. My room at our home in Kerala
3. My cousin, Raji
4. Reading
5. School Days
6. My friend, Anupriya
7. SunTec
8. My hostel, MTTC
9. College days
10. And what else I don't know

What I feel I must actually do at this point of time - Keep those memories fresh and start building new ones.

Missing Life Terribly - Memories

College days were not so remarkable for me because I never attended my classes. Very rarely did I attend classes. Going to college was the thing I was least interested in. But I did really enjoy the three years at the hostel. During the first year, we had a room on the first floor. It was a room for three - Arya, Rejani, and me. We were quite a good gang. From the first day itself we gelled well. All good in bunking classes.

Initially Trivandrum was new to us. Slowly we learnt the places. The first thing we did was to take a membership at the University Library. Every alternate Saturday, we would leave from the hostel with permission to be at the library. Within five minutes of reaching there, we would return the books, issue new ones and leave the place. Rest of the day we would spend in discovering the favourite spots of Trivandrum. Films were another great means of timepass for us. During those three years we had watched almost 70% of the films at the theatres over there. Our other hostelmates used to make fun of us saying that we were the Encyclopedias of the Trivandrum theatres. Good food was another weakness. Zam Zam at Palayam was a favourite pick. Arul Jyothi, Prime, and Azad were a few another hangouts.

During the second year of college, one could find us in the evenings at the Trivandrum Museum. We used to idle our time sitting on the benches, shifting from one to another, as the sun went down. It was a bit later that we discovered the Kanakakkunnu Palace. It was a quiet place as compared to the musuem. It had an open air theatre and widely spread out places to sit. It was less frequented by people. It was one of the places I used to go when bunking classes alone. Sitting idle over there for hours itself was a great feeling. I just loved the ambience. In our final year, when we had to prepare a script for our short film, we chose this place. We were a gang of six girls and two boys. When all were bugged up preparing the script, the boys took out a cigarette to smoke. A few of the girls including me tried. I failed miserably at it.

By the end of the second year, I took a membership at the British Library. For the next three years, I used to spend hours over there. But now I guess its closed down. It was around the same time that we had to do our internships in the Print Media. I was lucky enough to get in the Trivandrum bureau of the Indian Express. My roomates were doing their intership at another bureau at a different place. So for the one whole month I was alone in my room. I discovered a lot of things during this time. The internship at the bureau was interesting. I would work till noon and then roam about the city. When I was shifted into the editorial section, it was more interesting. I would sleep till 10 am. Then have a look at the newspapers, read a book, have lunch, take a nap, and leave for the bureau. The editorial desk started functioning only in the evening. I actually had very little work. Once that was over I would leave the place. But it would be dark then. It was interesting to walk through the streets, the wind blowing briskly, and all alone. Wow! I miss that. And yes, I had special permission granted at the hostel... ;-)

The final year was quite difficult. We realized very soon that everything would be coming to a still. The final video project was the only entertaining thing left. As mentioned earlier, we were quite bugged up in making the script. The group spent a lot of time together. But we were actually looking forward to this assignment from the first year of college itself. Not because of our interest in filmography, but out of the interest in the monetary gain involved. We could extract quite huge amounts from our parents in this name. After all its an academic project! We conducted the shoot for two days. Editing was what followed next. The editing would get over only at midnight. Only three girls and two boys would be there at the studio. We had no transport means of our own. We would walk through the roads till we found an autorickshaw. Those were the carefree days!

Now its all over! 10 - 6 at office. To bed at 12. And then the same routine. Nothing else. Perhaps thats why I say "I'm missing LIFE"!

My SunTec - my first job

While making this post, I am having a chat with an old colleague from SunTec (my first company). Well surely this invokes a lot of memories and nostalgia. I still remember the first day I reached SunTec's corporate office for the initial round of interview. The office was located at a place Kuravankonam (Trivandrum). We were actually going for an interview from the institute where we underwent our Certificate course in Technical Writing. We had a little difficulty in finding the place. But when we were in front of the office all apprehensions were gone. It was more of a big house with a big lawn and lot of woodwork.

We were taken inside the building. This was the first time I was attending an interview, but I was not tensed or nervous. Because I had no expectations. I didn't even know the company profile. We were taken to one of the conference rooms. I still admire the buildings and paintings inside SunTec's corporate office, with all those yellow dim lights, and wooden staircases with lots of carvings on it. While we were all getting set, a lady from HR (she left SunTec the day we joined) came and distributed the written test question papers. We all took it so lightly and happily completed it. It was a bit quizzy. Once that was over, she left with the papers and we were all chatting and loafing around the place. But after the first round, when a few were eliminated and asked to go home, we became a bit serious. That was when we realized that this was no silly affair. And somehow, Narayan, Arun, and me were taken as Technical Writers at SunTec. And yes, that was my first job, my first step into the corporate world.

For one month we had to undergo a training on the product. It was at the Knowledge Solutions Centre at Vazhuthacaud. The training rooms were quite large and nice. Sitting and listening to 'God knows what product' for 4-5 hours and then a 'hands-on' session. Literally speaking, they were boring. Thanks to the others in the batch, that I cleared the final presentation. My favourite hobby was playing Soltaire. Though the trainings were boring, we were a good batch. I enjoyed the lunch breaks when we went out for lunch. Our tea-breaks were more enjoyable. The pantry was on the roof-top. Somedays when it was cloudy or raining, having a hot cup of coffee over there was perhaps more than what we could ask for.

A month later, the training was over and all were allocated into different teams. We, the technical writers, were to move to the Technopark. In the beginnings, the place and people seemed quite alien to me (infact, to them I seemed more odd.. ;-)). But over a period of time, everything was normal. I felt myself a part of the team. Work went on well. Aswathy and me, we always had confusions during our lunch time, over what to choose. Perhaps, we gelled well in terms of food :-) Celebrations, meetings, trainings, all went on well till I decided to leave the place. Now I realize how much I miss everything. Though I have lots of opportunities and freedom now, I miss SunTec. I don't know whether I would ever choose to go back. But still - 'first job is always special'. And SunTec is really special to me.

Things I thought would never happen in my life

I never thought that these things would happen in my life:

1. Stay in a boarding school
2. Get into the marchpast team
3. Get curly hair :-(
4. Be notorious during my high school ;-)
5. Study in North India
6. I would change into somewhat an "introvert"
7. Own a two-wheeler at the age of 17 (Never thought that I would learn to ride also)
8. Have a great admiration for my Physics teacher
9. Not get into the usual engineering or medical streams.. :-D
10. Do graduation far from home, in such a reputed college, and stay in a wonderful hostel
11. Gain a wonderful friend - Anupriya (Though I don't contact her frequently... ;-))
12. Travel without tickets in trains
13. Start reading and writing (Consider the field seriously)
14. Be so attached to Trivandrum (I disliked the place first)
15. Earn a job at the age of 21 (Working at the Technopark in Trivandrum, I consider it an achievement)
16. Get some good colleagues from SunTec
17. Learn to cook chicken (The taste factor is not still accurate)

May be the list will grow. But as of now I remember these much. Some of these unexpected moments gave me immense joy, while some disappointed me too. Well anyways, whatever happened, I am happy for what I am now... :-)

The Trivandrum British Library

The British Library at Trivandrum was one of my favourite hang-outs in the city for a period of 3 years. I became a member of the library in 2004. I made several re-thinkings on whether to join the library or not, simply because the membership fee was Rs. 600. Whereas to join the Public Library or University Library, one needed only an amount within Rs. 300. After several calculations and budget revisals, I became a member of the British Library. In those days, I was still doing my graduation and 600 Rs meant a lot. The ambience was the aspect which attracted me the first. After being to the college and university libraries, where the racks, books, and reading rooms were not cleaned for years, British Library was a welcoming one and indeed looked like a library.

The first day, I wandered around all the sections and finally borrowed three fictions. In the beginning, I found it difficult to adjust with the library. The period for which a book could be borrowed was two weeks, after which it was to be renewed. I usually lost track of the date and ended up paying huge amounts in the form of fine. But gradually I picked up the habit. I started gaining a lot more interest in reading. I always made it a point to visit the library twice or may be thrice a month. I started loving the place.

The following years when I had to renew my membership, I never gave it a second thought. Even after finishing my graduation, I was in the city and frequently visited the place. The British Library was the place from where I picked up the habit of reading intensely. I never borrowed the CDs, browsed through the kid's section, or used the internet connection over there. Always felt there was lot of time left for that. But alas, they closed it down... :-( This was something that hurt me the most.

I would say that it was one of the few libraries in Trivandrum which maintained all the aspects of a good library - the ambience, a wide collection of books, friendly staff, etc. It was really bad that such an institution had to be shut down. My membership has expired and I have moved out of the city. Need to look out for the British Library over here!