Some small random instances of my Journey...

(1)
"Mom, Please come here. I need to call XXXXX.. You know they will start blaming me for either not talking to them till now or for why calling suddenly !!!"..
It was some day in July and I was packing my bags to travel to Stockholm and was making calls to all the relatives as Goodbye.. You know How it is in India when you are going abroad for the first time!!
I being not so Social animal (Not Social at all) always get blamed from the relatives of being Shy (when I was kid)... Silent (When I was in college), and now Rude (As I got some good job and earning well), but the point is that I was making calls to relatives as a Goodbye. So I called them and here is the conversation.
" Hi.. How are you ? This is Shruti.. "
(Wait for the explosive questions....)
Other End -- " Hi.. I am fine. How are you and all there ? what's going on ? So glad to hear that you are going to Stockholm. Going alone ? Ohh... good that you took the opportunity. I thought I should call you but you called great !!!" Other end was overwhelming on happiness more than me..

I was still in shock after getting such positive response from someone who always criticized me for not calling to them !!!!
And I thought this is what you get if you are going abroad, the response from people changes so rapidly. You certainly become somebody from nobody :)

(2)
Date : 27th July, 2018
Time : Between 10-11 AM
Place : Gamla Stan, Stockholm

If you are little familiar with Europe whether, This is the best time to visit Europe and Gamla Stan is the top tourist attraction point of Stockholm. It is the Old town of the City. I was at the best place at the Best Time.... Looking for nearest Bank branch !!!! Almost tired of Google maps navigation which was making me walk walk and walk in that 1 km perimeter since last 30 mins. I saw people enjoying the whether, drinking, dancing, cycling and I was asking them Do you know where this Bank is ?? I understood the difference between  living at a place and visiting it for the first time. But I was successful in my mission and found my destination after almost 45 mins though it did not serve my actual purpose.

(3)
Date : 16th November, 2018
Time : around 4 PM
Place : Bus stop near my house in Stockholm

I was eagerly waiting for my bus to the Airport, it should have come by this time. This is Sweden, Trains/Buses/Flights can never be late. I was super duper excited to go back to India for my Sister's wedding. I almost lost the hope that my leaves will be approved but the miracle happened at the last moment and I was dreaming about going back and meet my family. Actually I wanted to go there and share my struggle stories :P. At last the Bus to Airport came at 4:05 PM which should reach to the Airport by 5:15 pm and I can catch my flight of 7:45 PM to Delhi. The moment I sat in the Bus, I felt the sense of greatest achievement.. Shruti yes you did it!!! Finally after all the odds, You are going to India. Yippe Yippe Yippe type dancing was going in my heart :)

Time : around 5:10 PM
The bus was in some traffic jam. 2-3 passengers went ahead, they discussed something in Swedish with the Driver and got off the bus with their luggage. I was a bit scared and checked the distance to reach to the airport and I really thought Google maps is not at all correct as it was still showing 45 mins. At 5-30 PM, I finally asked someone that why it is taking so much time and got to know that there was some accident happened on the road and so whole traffic was blocked. And they were not sure how much more time this is going to take !!! I was in state of shock.. because we think everything is perfect in Abroad but it is actually not. Checked the options of taxi but there was only one way to the airport so taxi, bus, cab would take same time :( My mind was blank, I closed my eyes and thought of all the dreams again in my mind which might not become reality now. That moment I cannot describe. I was going for the first time from Sweden and normally I should reach to the Airport before 2 hours for International flights which was not possible now. I googled airport contact number and asked to get me to Air India helpdesk. I got a call center number of London Air India and tried to connect on it. For next 15 mins, I was in queue on the call. That was the time when I actually did following things :

1. Checked for Next available flight to India which was on Next evening, 
2. Made up my mind to spend the night at the airport, 
3. Convinced myself to believe that I am going to miss my next day trip to Jaipur which we planned for only one day :(
4. Thought of anyone who was not happy with my leaves and secretly prayed to God which has landed me in this situation

Finally I got to a call center operator at 5:55 PM and I asked him what is the time Check in counter will be closed ? So it is generally closing before 1 hour of Flight departure. I felt so relieved at that moment as I still had 45 mins for Check in. The next thing I did was closed my eyes and played Devotional song on my mobile. In next 15 min, Finally I reached to airport, took my bag and actually ran to the check in counters. So I was not late but was the last person running to the immigration, boarding and entering into the flight. Sitting in the flight, I was in a state that is it a dream or I actually made it with tears in my eyes. Finally I checked my whatsapp where I messaged to my family that I am going to miss my flight and will update as soon as I reach to the airport, sent them the next message --- "God is Great... I made it :)"

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Here my point is that I myself got to know that Life is not at all a fairy tale here as it looks from India. We think that going abroad and living there is a Dream coming true but the actual experience is totally different. It is mixture of Good things and Bad experiences specially when you are fighting alone.
The snowfall at -13 degrees looks pleasant and dreamy from your hotel/home window but it kills when you realize that you need to go out to get groceries for Next week... :) So you wear 4-5 layers of cloths and it takes 20 min to go to the store at 400 meter distance (which is actually 6 min away as per Google Maps) because you need to walk like penguins on the Icy, slippery roads. You take a cartoon of milk and other 20 mins to open google translate, go to every corner of the store and translate the Product names from Swedish to English to get a small packet of Butter. You are looking for Baking soda and end up taking a full pack of Baking Powder because Google translates it as Soda (This actually happened)!!!

These are small incidents which gives me some Life long learning Gems but I would never say it is BAD to be here :) And I am ready to experience this more.... 

The CORPORATE Culture ... - Measures, Metrics and Results

After a long interval of almost 3 years, Have been reading and reading my own Blog to motivate myself and realise that I CAN ALSO STILL WRITE.. :P

Well well.. Since past months and years, Have been trying to Write a lot many things but I have decided finally that this will really get Published rather than going into Drafts :) So wish yourself All the Best if you are going to read this folks..

The title itself reveals the topic, The Corporate culture where every single thing is measured by Metrics, Percentage, Revenue and Resources. Every resource including Human is measured with Utilization benchmarks set in a particular System far away from Humanity. Here are few hidden meanings of the Corporate Keywords :

• As a Fresher, when you are entering into any Organization, full of Enthusiasm. Your plans and dreams are to change the Organization UPSIDE DOWN... :) And you are asked about your Preferable role/profile in which you would like to Work. -- Now, this is the time when you are becoming 'bakra' for that Role. (rest is self explanatory for ppl who are already in corporate culture).
• Next, many times you are told that This is a BIG opportunity for you. -- This simply is because nobody else is ready to do that task.
• You can do it, come on. You are capable enough. -- Simply the work needs to be done as per their expectations and no one is going to help you.
• This is a very good Learning opportunity for you. -- Simply, you have to do that task from next time onwards.. 
• Hey, You are the Best to resolve such problems yaar. -- Every time for any/every problem, You are the one who will be called up to resolve and to blame upon it.

In corporate, It is more important to SHOW the Work rather than DOING the work. People will notice if you are spending a day or two in office showing off the work rather than completing your work in time and leaving. The metrics, graphs and figures speaks more than your actual work. Every damn thing doe by you has to be MEASURABLE.

A Human resource is Under utilised if 20-25 mails are not sent by him/her in a day for No reason and he/she is leaving on time. While A Human resource is Over utilised if more mails are sent (No matter what it contains) and they are roaming around after office hours spending the time sipping coffees and taking breaks. When Management has no choice, you are asked to perform more than your capabilities by giving Opportunities. And once you have performed well, you are asked to perform even better because others are not capable to perform in that profile and there Excuses are taken as Concerns. :P

Boss, You have no right to raise any concerns because you are Super Power. You are the Hero who is capable enough to complete all tasks on your own and setting example for others. And Thats why You keep on Setting examples everyday and night... :)

And the main punch comes at the time of results and Work Life Balance theory, You have created your dependency by not giving work to others and so you are Over utilised and your Work Life Balance is not proper. :) So true it is !!!!!  Actually you know what, Fault is yours. Why cant you involve others in your work, Teach them, give them a chance. (Yes and when they will ruin it, I am the one to rework and solve it and to take the blame... )

“Resources are hired to give results, not reasons.”

So at the end, You are not able to deliver the results and the goals which are given to you. If you are too good, it doesn't work If you are too bad, it doesn't work. So you have to be Moderate, Have to learn :

• Not to HELP others (juniors), who are part of your team. And if you are HELPING them you have to make sure they realise that How big favour you are doing to them by scolding and then helping :(
• Not to give favour to your colleagues who are your very good friends outside the office so that You are not questioned for Helping others out which is not part of your Work.
• To be quiet when any Injustice is happening to your team just to save your profile and upcoming promotion opportunities.
• To increase useless workload on Juniors just to prove that you have worked a lot in Past and what they are doing is NOTHING.
• To stop giving New and creative ideas because you have to be aligned...
• And many more GOOD things..

Which makes you a 'Perfect Corporate Professional'.

“The company may have captured their minds, their bodies and their pockets, but that doesn’t mean it’s captured their hearts.” -- Stan Slap

Don't Overestimate - I, Me and Myself

               If you think every person coming into your Life is wrong then you should look at yourself and ask - Do you think, you are right every time?

               Firstly, it was just a status update on FB then I thought a little bit n started writing whatever came in. So, this question will always be answered negatively. How can I be wrong? I have done so much for them(family/friends/he/she), still they don't value me. These are the words of the Ego which lies inside us. I can never be wrong. Every time I get hurt, its all because of them/others. They should behave the way I want them to be at the time I want.

              Nobody thinks that they may get hurt because they don't understand the situation properly or may be because of over expectations. If you say, I don't expect anything from anyone so that I can't get hurt then I am damn sure you are lying. And you are pretending not to expect because at some point of time, you are already hurt by someone in your life :-). But Expectation is a decease which increases if not fulfilled.

               Surprised! Just think of this: You expect something from a person and its not fulfilled, result - you are hurt. And then may be you expect from another person and think 'No, he/she will never hurt me. He/ She is not like previous person.' So you increase your expectations. Lol.... and the next result - you guessed it right, one more time. And this time in a new way. [This is something really strange thing to understand but human psychology, i think]

               This thing happens to mostly those who always proudly pretend - I don't care. I think they have fear that if they won't say this, they will get hurt. But in either ways, they are not special human beings, so they silently expect  a lot and obviously get hurt. So don't pretend to be different and speak up. At least, others will know what you want them to be. And if you can't speak then stop blaming the world. It's not their fault but your so called ego that is responsible for your situation.

             Ohh... Enough now. You are feeling sleepy I guess!! Actually, I never edit my posts. Just write it once and then bang.. So sorry for that. Don't expect too much now ;-) and ya, I expect a small comment from you

Being Professional......

               "Big dreaming is free but to achieve them, you have to pay BIG prize."

               Well, nothing new or strange in this thought but only a little bit of experience I can say. As you can see, this blog is coming after a long interval. I will not give typical excuse like I didn't get time as that's not true. But yes, one thing is there. In last February I was in Coimbatore, In March I was in Bangalore and in April It is Ahmadabad (Gandhinagar) till now. So this reverse A(Ahmadabad), B(Bangalore), C(Coimbatore) has made my mind unstable so I could not write anything which is publicly and blogly(its my self-made word, don't check dictionary) accepted.

               Ok, enough of excuses. So here the thing is this professional MNC job is making me 'deadly' professional. As sometimes I observe myself and think 'Oh... once upon a time I was also living Life!!! I was reading good books, playing my guitar, watching TV, also writing blogs and lot more...'  And I don't like this 'was' replacing 'is'. Many people think what's new in that, this is true life. You have to do all these things for money. You are in a TCS still why you are crying like this? Yes, you all are right. I have a good job with a good salary but my mindset is little different. I always follow 'Do what you like' policy in life till now. And I don't allow anybody to force me to do a single thing. And that thing I am not able to follow now. In office, mind is concentrated on work but heart deviates it 'what are you doing? where is your favorite music? your guitar? that incomplete novel? endless things.....I want to do and I won't say I don't have time for that but in that time the Liveliness and the joy of doing my favorite things is missing.

               Now you will say 'Enough yar, its frustration nothing else and it's same for everyone.' I agree but may be I am used to live my life on my terms and conditions that's why these things are affecting me more. May be I am wrong but this is the meaning which I feel about being a good Professional. Its like -
Life become so Numb....

               Anyways, Congrats if you read this whole blog and thank you for reading thoughts of  a freaky mind. Do comment something which is motivational. Need it. And if you are frustrated by reading this, do read my blog 'LIFE - Let It Flow Endlessly', it will help you.... :-)

First Ever Book Review

                   "Good Job Shruti!!!". For the first time I got such a compliment in Life Skills class for presentation of a Book Review. As many people know that in this whole world the thing which threatens me the most is "The Presentation". So I was very surprised and happy by this compliment. I read the book "White Tiger" by Arvind Adiga and wrote my own review on that like a critic for the first time. Here is what I felt about that book.

     

                   First of all, I don't like this book as it's flow is not generating interest to read it. It is written as first-person narration by Balram Halwai, a self described entrepreneur in Bangalore about how to become successful. The basic plot of book is very simple. Balram Halwai is born into poverty. He gets a boring job as a driver for a wealthy family who treats him very badly. This thing leads Balram to kill his master Ashok and after killing him, he runs away to Bangalore with Ashok's money. It is in form of seven letters to Chinese Premier Jiabio who is scheduled to visit India. By this story, Balram wants to give him an idea about the Real India. Part of the story involved being a driver to a rich family in New Delhi where he learned that success often involves corruption, cruelty and different set of rules. It proves the saying that

"The truth, as it begins to emerge, is as shocking as it is fantastic."

                    Balram Halwai is the White Tiger and anti-hero. He begins his journey from the rural 'darkness', a world of landlord and escapes to 'light of cities', it is into a world of masters and servants. The sentence he wrote is "Once I was a driver to a master but now I am a master of drivers."

                     He has wrote many sentences to criticize Indian politics and to state the difference between The rich and The poor in India. He wrote "Free people don't know the value of freedom that is the biggest problem." He also says that "The poor dream all their lives of getting enough to eat and look like the rich, but what the rich dream of?" "Losing weight and looking like the poor." The writer  showcases the reality of Indian politics and poverty in villages very nicely.

                     As Arvind Adiga is an article writer, the style of his writing also repeats here which makes most of the parts uninteresting and story line is not properly maintained also the flow breaks many times. I felt that the story line is good but the writing style of Arvind Adiga as a hard-core narrator increases the length unnecessarily. It makes it 'a thesis on Indian politics' covered by a short story with a good start but confusing end.

                 Another weak point is that there is a long description of Balram's family in between the story which is of no use. Balram kills his master and after that point, there is no story related to Ashok;s family and how Balram safely escaped. In spite of all this, the story suddenly shifts to Bangalore without any obvious reasons and comes to a confusing end. It contains more of political criticism and explanation of every situation with fewer characters and dialogues.

                  Gives the feeling of 'Slumdog Millionaire' movie which won Oscar prize because International readers are more interested and feel very amazed by knowing 'Poor India, Dirty India or Real India, Corrupted India' and so they gave Oscar to such movie and may be Booker to such book. Being Indian, we all are aware of all these situations and scenarios, so I could not find anything new and interesting in this book.  At last the moral of the story may be 

"Listening is the best exercise in order to become Successful."

To get along with 'The Change'

                 So finally on 5^th December,2010, I entered to a place where I am going to spend the next three months for training. Actually real training was started when I got my joining letter. When I came to know the word ‘Coimbatore’, for 1-2 hours I was feeling something awkward but after wards I made up my mind and with blessings of God I got the strength and courage to come at Coimbatore because at a moment I was ready to leave the job as I have never been away from my home for such long period of time. But finally I am here and here is something about Coimbatore.

                       Firstly, I am an outsider here so from that point of view, I found this city very nice and peaceful. I must say people here are very much helpful and kind towards us. And the most attractive thing about this city is its variable climate. Here you can get Sunshine in morning and in evening gray rainy clouds takes over and feels like winter atmosphere in rainy season. You have a beautiful scenario of Mountains spread around in every direction from terrace; it is a pleasure to watch such natural beauty.  I felt like a stranger for first week as it is new place with new people and above all, new language which is totally out of my reach. Because here you can read only prices in some restaurants which are in English, the items listed are in Tamil so that is the funniest situation. Most of the time, we can communicate in English and Hindi which is helpful. One more thing is that as time passes, the feeling of being away is decreasing instead of increasing which I am finding strange. But may be the city has something which attracts and feels like home. So overall I love this small, sweet and peaceful city. Feels Good!!!   

                   I do not  miss my hometown or my family too much as I always talk to them by video calling. And I have also got too many too good friends here so I spend 'masti' time with them everyday. The change which I feel after coming here is that so many things I have learnt about life rather than regular studies. I came across different kind of people, observed their nature and lifestyle and took good things from that. But one thing I have noticed here is that More or Less the old habit of  'showing off to the society'  is here too. People wants to be too good, too smart and too knowledgeable on front off others. I am not much used to handle these kind of things so I found it strange rather than difficult but now I handle it and also learnt to enjoy the thing. It is really great fun!!!   

                   As everybody knows, I follow 'Happy Go Lucky' strategy everywhere. I mean Live totally in Present,  Never to worry about tomorrow's test and Little bit of planning to perform good. As I admit sometimes this 'Lucky' goes more 'Happy' then she should be so the result are reflected in some tests. But still I think If God has put me in this situation, He must have thought of the solution to get out. So I have no need to worry about the next day or even the next minute. And this approach has been very useful to me in Life because People generally miss their family and friends when they get tensed or when they are in problem, this makes them weak and also they lose their self-confidence to overcome the situation. I never take tension about anything or any small or big situation in Life because I believe that every problem comes with a solution as 'No Lock is made without a key, you just have to wait for the right time and the right key.' Here many people find my strategy surprising as they say,"'How can you be so calm and relaxed? It is about our future." I always reply, "I think my future is not totally in my hands. So I honestly do my best with dedication and never worry about the results. Because I have done work of my part, I have no control over what goes on next so I don't waste my time thinking about that. so I always Be Positive and chill!!!!"  

             So I know I should not do this but still I am advising you to Be positive in every situation as this thing has helped me a lot to adjust and to cop up with the changes which I felt after coming here..... :)

Living Music.........

Ah.. the name itself tells the whole story. Well, actually it is not logically right to write about Music because there is notihng new in that. Almost No introdution, no description as well as No ending. (#nowplaying ‘Raag Banke’) But still It is a topic on which we have endless descriptions as well as there is always something new and refreshing in every song.

Well for me and many other people on this Earth, Music is Life (not like life). Music is a thing which you can enjoy even if you don’t have any knowledge of that. Simply music creates every emotion of your life and sometimes it gives you some new unheard and unfelt feelings which are impossible to describe and unforgettable. As some songs are cachy while some are always touchy.

Music is really magical because It is amazing how only 7 notes can generate thousands of emotions, which changes our mind, mood and sometimes whole Life. (#nowplaying ‘yaadein title – female version’). I am not writing this article because I have a very good knowledge of Music. Actually Every time I get a new song to hear I feel ‘Oh.. I haven’t thought music can describe this in such a beautiful manner.’

Thanks to our Bollywood music directors I can say We have a lot more variety of music types and songs then Hollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood, or any other ‘wood’.(#nowplaying ‘Tera Mera pyar’). I can say this because the song I am listening now, the very beautiful song by Neeral Shridhar and Sweet voice of Falguni pathak – the ultimate duet ‘Tera Mera pyar sanam’..Wow.. wordings are amazing as well as superb music. Only Bollywood can have this type of combinations of English+Hindi lyrics. Also we have many other songs of these kind of fusion lyrics like (#nowplaying ‘Ek Din’) My dil goes hmm.., Vacancy, Meow, and the list goes on. This songs have english and hindi lyircs and are not evergreen great but enjoyable. And the latest is ‘Tumse hi Tumse’ from ‘Anjaana Anjaanni’, It has some nice english lyrics in between the song which are beautifully composed.

I don’t have a very high knowledge of Hollywood music and Hollywood bands but this is because Our music has never given us that feel of something missing so that I have to find out for other music. (#nowplaying ‘Payalein chhunmun chhunmun’) But I like all kind of music if it is good. Evergreen Kishore Kumar songs, other retro songs, Latest songs, 90’s music, Michael Jackson, and sometimes other good International music too. Listing out here is impossible. But still I can have some most favourite songs of mine which are always there in my playlist and I never get bored of listening them. For example I love the background tabla music of ‘Aye Hairate’ from ‘Guru’ and also the beginning part of ‘Baras ja’ and also the song which is I am listening right now ‘Payalein’ from ‘Virasat’ by Udit Narayan. What a slow, sweet evenly flowing emotions!!

So more discussion about some most loving songs will be in next part.(#nowplaying ‘Kabhi na sukoon aaya’) And this article will not give you any knowledge about Music. So there is nothing more interesting in it. But still If you like it, Do comment.

Ok, now It’s 1:30 AM. Time for last episodes of repeat telecast of ‘Rishta.com’ on Sony Tv which I want to watch (for last time L). So Good night to all. (#nowplaying ‘Chhaya hai jo’)