Working on a Holiday...

How does it feel when you are working while others aren’t??
How does it feel when only you have to get up early and go to work on that day while the rest of the family is still sleeping ?
How does it feel when you are on your way to work and the roads are all empty?
Pathetic isn’t it?
You fret why did you join this company.
You curse why has your boss not called the day off,
You think of the “other options” you had left to join this company (and that other company has an off today)…
Why??

All of us love holidays let it be kids, college goers , working professionals or even grandparents. If you ask someone what is that they look forward to in that week – their quick reply will be weekend.When we were kids we used to have summer holidays and by the time we recover from that long holiday we have one more coming up ie; dasara holidays , then Christmas , new year . Infact we don’t even mind study holidays. The cycle continues. Then we have national holidays varying from Gandhi jayanthi , Independence day and so many other important events. And there are also these unexpected holiday due to bandhs , some major politician died or the weather is bad .And the joy of getting an unexpected holiday can be overwhelming.
We all love it.

Why do u think people love offs so much?
Do you think we really celebrate Gandhiji’s birthday or attend the republic day parade?
Do we join a group on a protest during Bandh?
Or do we mourn the death of some ex-prime minister?
Then why do we need the day off?
The reason is very simple most of us are always tied down with work that we don’t get time for ourselves or our loved ones , so when they declare a holiday we can utilize that time in doing what we like. We can catch up on the movie which was released last Friday, or try out the lunch buffet of the popular restaurant in the city. We can also sleep and sleep the entire day. Or we ladies can catch up on the monthly parlor activities . We can visit our grandparents , relatives or hang out with friends or go shopping. We can do absolutely what we feel like and there is no boss to monitor your task or ask your daily report.We feel happy . We are doing what we like and not what we are asked to do.

Infact we all should take a break from our work at least few times a year and go on a fancy whim maybe a outdoor adventure ,a long holiday or just stay at home and relax . We can give our mind some rest .The traffic , pollution and the stress of work can be forgotten for a while . And also have a look into our personal lives be with our parents , spouses , friends and Check the damage which our day to day schedule has done and do some repair work .We must work towards getting back the Zing in our personal lives.
We work to have better lives and what if we have everything other than a better life?
The purpose is lost..

So let’s learn to live and enjoy every bit of things.
From the time restricted breaks to the long signal waits. Look around , check out the chick sitting in the next auto ,read the hoardings (companies spend so much on advertisements!) , Think of the whole traffic as a big Maze and try to find your way out and so when you reach your destination emerge Happy , not sad!
And why?? Because prime ministers don’t die every other day (And Mamta Banerjee won’t hold a protest every now and then..)

Cheers
Neetha Acharya.

Do you think Angels still exist?

We have grown up reading fairy tales since childhood. For girls it was the Cinderella , Peterpan, The little mermaid and the guys loved Superman , He-man, Batman etc .We used to be so fascinated with these fictitious characters that we just couldn’t have enough of it . We would watch them in form of cartoons were there used to be these whole host of shows dedicated around these Super heroes varying from Captain Planet, Chota Bheem, Power Puff girls, Shaktiman etc .Plus there were also stationary, T-shirts , Toys around their theme. We would love to Dress like them in fancy dress competition - girls in the beautiful Cinderella Gown and the guys with the underwear on top of their pants in case of Superman costume.

We loved them.They were our heroes. Any act of theirs would inspire us to do the same. I have seen my cousin stand on top of the bed and scream Im Shaktiman ! We believed in Magic . We believed in Santa Claus irrespective of our religion. We believed that If we eat spinach we could Punch like Popeye. We believed in fairy god mother who would do anything we wish for. From punishing the neighborhood bully chotu , Passing us in the badly performed Maths paper and also get the toy which we spotted last night.
We believed in Miracles. We believed Angels exist.

But what happened to all our beliefs as we grew up?
We stopped believing them .We realised that miracles happen only in books or movies and not in real life . Eating spinach can’t make you punch like Popeye in fact you will break your hand if you try such stunts. It’s your parents who place the gifts below the Christmas tree and not Santa. And no one comes to your rescue all the time , you have to learn to battle it on your own.

But what we failed miserably is to pick up those subtle hints of the angels around us.
We dint realize that angels still exist.
They may be in the form of your friend , your lover , your sibling , your favorite uncle or even your cute little pet they make you feel special.
They will be willing to go that extra mile just to see a smile on your face.
They will watch that annoying chick flick movie with you just because U like it. Or go at 11 in the night and buy DBC (Death by chocolate) just because you are craving for it. They will wake you up in the morning before mom starts scolding why you are sleeping late or wait till you come home and lick and jump all over you in case of a Pet . They might take you out partying just so that you get over the breakup or gift the Calvin Klein jacket which you fell in love with in shopper stop.

And I am saying this because I know one such angel in my life too.He is a sweetheart . He can just understand why I am upset without me explaining things. He willingly sacrifices the chicken leg piece just because this glutton likes it. Listens patiently to the hours and hours of nonsense. Never says a word even though I give a huge sermon every single day on why he should give his Bullet off. Doesn’t mind driving down 450 KM one way just because this idiot had not got ticket in the last minute. (Read my 2 blog- Travel ) He makes me feel special.
He made me believe Angels exist.

He is my Best friend , my chaddi dost.

There are angels. They are amongst us .If we look around carefully we shall find so many of them .

And Become one too..

Note to my Angel: "If people dont believe in Angels ,
Probably they haven't met you :) "


Regards
Hellz angel ;)

What am I doing with my Life! –PART 1

There are so many times in life when you get that Feeling –low sensation for no specific reason. You will wake up one morning and think what are you doing with your life. You browse through the newspapers see that Obama is making a second Asian trip , Nandan Nilekani is the Head of UID project, People are vouching for Rahul Gandhi to be the next prime minister etc etc. You feel worse ,your emptiness deepens. You think Why am I not there? Am I going in the right track ? Will I ever be remembered? But most importantly -Will I figure out what I want to do in life? …..and countless other questions. You go haywire, make telephone calls to people whom you call friends , loved ones. When they ask you “what has happened ?” .You say “I Dunno” . You talk to your dog (If you have one) in that sad tone and tell him how less taxing his life is and he doesn’t have to worry about anything in life. You sulk over the dosa your mum prepared .In simple words you get Irritated for Nothing . I am sure most of you have gone through these symptoms at some point in our lives .And have no clue how this feeling possesses us .
There is no name given to this disease surprisingly .
So what do I call it?
Just for now let’s name it FLM (Feeling Low Moment).

How do you overcome it?
Hmm there is no specific cure as such as it works different for different people.
I am a regular victim of this disease , I experience it every other day.
Initially I would go berserk and make the people around go berserk too.But slowly I am beginning to understand the good effects of it .It forces you to think about yourself which I feel most of us don’t do. We get so caught in the monotony of life that we get carried away with it like flowing water. We are comfortable doing that one thing which probably has been followed for generations and refuse to set apart from the crowd.
We are scared of failures and the humiliation which we may face in case things don’t work. But what we fail to understand is that the ultimate joy is doing what you like .
And I realized that if you follow what your heart truly feels you will have lesser bouts of FLM.
It will reduces substantially.

But what if you still have it……
You can probably help me write part 2. ;)
We can figure it out together.

Regards
Neetha Acharya

Stuck in a wrong job.

I used to roam around the office like a prisoner set free,
Excuse would range from Nature call or going to the pantry,
“Which process you belong to?” People used to ask,
Coz most of the times you could find me doing no task,
My most favorite haunt was the valuations bay,
“Why don’t you join our team?” their manager used to say,
Time & Again I would keep going on a break,
I had lost count as to how many I would take,
And if you find me sitting in my seat,
Probably I would be tapping to the radio beat,
A Dark cast fell and my place got changed,
All of a sudden this free bird got chained,
Right behind me sat the “distributor of warning letter”,
And my manager to the left made it even better,
So my Glorious days of freedom were coming to an end,
And it was high time all my sinful practices I would mend,
The Satans had set some faithful to keep an eye on me,
Any form of cleverness would attract a warning to thee,
God! If you are listening why don’t you set me free?
And Put me in a place where I CAN BE ME ! :D

PS:And to all those inquisitive souls ,I no longer work here. I went on a long vacation within days of me quitting the job. And currently I am working elsewhere ,an Advertising firm and I am kinda enjoying it , I won’t say it’s the best , but I can see that I am somewhere on the path of finding what I am in search of.It might take me years or probably months, coz Apple doesn’t fall on everyone’s head. :P

Regards
Neetha Acharya.

Travel

How many of you book tickets to your hometown in the last minute?
How many of you end up getting the last seat or the one on top of the tyre ?
Or worse no ticket at all?
Trust me You are not alone.
You are reading about one such individual who religiously books the tickets probably few hours before the journey or even better once I reach the bus station. The bus guys look at me as if I have stolen their kidneys when I say I need a “single Ladies seat” minutes from its departure. After glancing through their now updated internet account, they say “One seat ide madam , matra last seat".
Do I have an option? I curse my luck that the Tatkal train ticket is still in the waiting list .Checking one last time my PNR status , I board the bus with all the baggage .My first hurdle is resolved , at least I got a seat .But there are many more to come.

If you are wondering what other problems one can face, may I remind you that we ladies always love to carry extra baggage and I am not proving the statement wrong .I carry more than 2 bags most of the times, all thanks to my sweet lil grandma . She makes a point to obese my bag with all the “seasonal edibles” varying from salted mangoes, homemade puliyogare gojju ,chutney pudi and zillion other stuffs. I chant a silent prayer that my co-passenger is travelling light , but Murphy’s law has its say. I barely find a place to stuff half my luggage , the rest half I squeeze in someone else’s baggage space. After adjusting the bags and my jeans as its directly proportional to me bending , I park myself on the seat.

My joy is short lived ,
Courtesy : Bed bugs .
In the last one year I have travelled in every possible bus and trust me every bus has it.They don’t seem to have enough of us , they wait till you fall asleep and then start attacking you, They are like these ex-boyfriends who pester you during unearthy hours. And I have tried all sorts of remedy you can think of- different kinds of sprays , concoction of Neem leaves smeared on the body , odomos , you name it I have tried it. But these bed bugs seem to have become immune to all these remedies as much as we have to our parents nagging.
They simply don’t work!

I try to live with it through the night and force myself to sleep but as fate would have it the bad roads begin. Ask Frequent travelers to Mangalore they can go on the entire day. Something called as roads are non-existent. The Sakleshwar –Mangalore stretch has more potholes than the craters on moon. I try to divert my mind by looking around and I spot a guy staring at me. I immediately adjust my top and check if everything is alright .(A normal reaction of most we girls ) I pretend to look elsewhere, but the insides in me is itching to look back just to check if the guy is looking . So I glance from the corner of my eye and check, as you might guess he is doing the same. I gave that blank expression and immediately look away. I think that this guy is staring at me and for all you know he might think the same too.

The time passes by and the whole adventure so far gets me worn out . My eyes refuse to stay open any longer and when I finally fall asleep the conductor announces Mangalore banthu .Rubbing my eyes I force myself awake, I search for a mirror in my bag and as usual I don’t find it , so looking through the glass window I adjust my hair and rub the chapstick through my lips carefully so that the peeping tom doesn’t see me doing these antics. My stop comes and I have to get down , I gather all my bags and have one last look at that peeping tom (he is still sleeping).
I have reached my destination. Mom has come to receive me .
She asks “Journey kash jalle?” (How was the journey) ,
“ Bad as usual”.
“Ticket pude book korka asile” (You should have booked the ticket in advance).
“Maaa , now please don’t start…..”


Some things just don’t change .
And most of us endure the ordeal rather than be a little organized.
You can call it Aaj ka generation ,Youngistan , Today’s Youth…

It reminds a old saying-

“By the time you realize what your parents said was right , you will have your own kids who will think what you say is wrong”!

Regards
Neetha Acharya.

Office Pest

How does it feel when u newly join an office and even sooner you realize someone totally dislikes you ?What will you do if someone tries every possible way to put you down while you are trying to adapt in the new surroundings? You try to carve a picture of yourself and someone just walks right over it. Upsetting isn’t it?For me , it Hell was!!

Having worked in various companies in the last one year It was a child’s play to disappear from this one as well, But strangely I chose not to.On the very first day me and my fellow colleague who happened to join on the same day were discussing over a plate of biryani where on earth we have landed. The picture portrayed to us and what actually was in store where not remotely close. For the starters It was an apartment , a 3BHK with attached Bath! And after a not so great induction which lasted 20 minutes ,I was put straight on job. The word training was non-existent as it had got over even before it began.
But surprisingly the work was not as bad as I had anticipated , I soon got a hang of it. But what I dint get a “hang-of “ was being with Carefully handpicked specimens who are such total antonyms . Here the male specimens are in severe drought. We have a ratio of 10 females against 1 male. I know it sounds like paradise for guys who are reading it , but for me its surely not! And to aggravate it even more there was this one specific woman who seemed to get some Orgasm putting me down every single time. What do you call such people? Rodent.

She dint spare any chance , you name it she has done it. In front of bosses, in front of colleagues I had it all. Initially I brushed it off thinking I was just assuming things but as days passed by it started getting worse . Now it was my turn to give it back but whenever I cornered her she got even more aggressive and started arguing more. She is a kind of person whom you will see fighting on the streets with another woman pulling the hair and god knows what other things for maybe 50 paisa.  I had to be careful and know my moves well, but being a novice I dint know the rules nor the previous Title Holders.

I had to do something, so what better than approach someone who is loved and adored by everyone in office. I thought I could get some “Tips” from her . I started watching all her moves , the way she talks and mostly the way she reacts to situations etc etc . I had to start somewhere so this was my Start . And in this whole process I learnt more than how much I did ,all my previous companies put together . Someone said “We are what we make of ourselves” . Now I realize how true it is. If you let someone walk over you , they sure will and won’t think twice to construct a bridge on top as well. It’s your personal choice whether you want to be malleable and succumb to it or confront it smartly because In the end of the day we have to deal with it, no matter whatever happens .
How do you do it? Honestly , There is no Right answer . Probably experience is the biggest teacher. Else we can always keep a pesticide for these rodents beside our workstations or even call CUPA. But again on an optimistic note these rodents are helpful , they teach things which you otherwise wouldn’t have bothered to learn or situations which you otherwise wouldn’t have dealt.

And if you are wondering what happened to the rodent in my life? She is leaving; perhaps she is on a mission to pester someone else. God save them. God bless us. Amen.

Regards
Neetha Acharya.