Preparing for the big day..

Hmmmm… so the big day is fast approaching….

Preparations are on the verge of reaching peak for both the families….

All orders decoration catering etc…placed…..

Almost all jeweray bought…or ordered….

All the sarees and other cloth shopping ….done….

Invitations… work in progress….

Still a lot of things pending…. Transport….DJ… and a lot of other small small things….

Someone has rightly said….. "Ghar pahave bandhun aani lagna pahave karun" (roughly….."Building a house and getting married are two things that you must do on your own to get a feel of expenses…" )

For my parents it a little easier since they are doing it for second time…. But for Deepa's parents, it is first wedding in the family…. So a few more troubles…. That too for the girl's side it is more complicated affair since almost entire ceremony takes place at girl's house.

To be frank… I am yet to do any major work till now…. Since everything is contracted, it is not like past days when every member of the family had to work hard to make it happen. The only major activity is that of inviting people. And almost entirely it was taken care by my parents.

 

A raised gold price has hit the budget like anything. Certain things you just can not avoid. But I don't look at it as an expense, but as an investment for future. But the sudden expense no doubt pinches…

Another major shopping…. And of course biggest of them all was the cloths shopping. Apart from money what made matter more complicated was that none of us… neither me… or Deepa… or Hansini and Yogesh (my sister and brother in law) could afford to take leaves. So everything had to be managed on weekend when you already have too many other tasks lined up. Especially for me since it is a new job… and I need a long leave for marriage and honeymoon, I can not afford to take any leave before marriage.

As a result the entire shopping process went on for almost a month.

As I see around... everyone seems to be preparing to enjoy the event in their own way…

 

I am approaching of perhaps what is the biggest turning point in anyone’s life. A transition that was going on since a few months after engagement will finally be complete.

I will be entering a new phase of life… new relations… new responsibilities… new challenges… it all seems exciting and worrying at the same time… how will be the waters ahead? Calm or turbulent or stormy? Will it be a smooth sailing or a hell of rolling and pitching?

Lot of questions… no answers…only hopes….

And I am hoping for the best….

ParPraantiya….

Seems like all the fuss going on the “Par Prantiya” issue has gone down now.
Finally the court had to intervene. And again all the dirty politics going on as usual…
But frankly…. That was a real bad thing to do… I don’t think it is going to lead to “Nava Nirman” of Maharashtra in any way. If at al it does contribute then it will contribute in taking the state a few years backwards I think.

After the MNS people made all the north Indians move out of Nashik, it was none other than Maharashtrian entrepreneurs who suffered. I still remember a quote from one of them in Times of India.
He said he won’t mind and would happily employ Maharashtrian people, but they don’t want to work as hard and as dedicatedly as north Indians… and still they want higher salaries.

I think in one shot he tols the root cause behind the presence of all the people who MNS is now trying to target. It is nothing but simple basic funda of demand and supply.
All the jobs that these north Indian people do; if Maharashtrian people would have taken them up, then there was no need of these people from outside here. It is only because we are not ready to do these jobs which we think are of low category that the people who are willing to do those jobs have come to this city.

We prefer to stay unemployed and then cry about other people coming and taking up out jobs than to try to take up available jobs. Every society needs all the roles to be played for its smooth functioning.
We need Doodhwala… we need SubjiWala…. We need the fruit vendors…. We need the Taxiwala… we need sweepers… we need Lundriwala…. BhelPuriwala… all these are as essential ingredients for the society as are doctors and engineers and clerks.

But we have a certain mentality set…. We want only the higher category jobs…. We don’t want to start our business…. That’s why all the Guajarati’s and Marwari’s thriving in the city.

This reminds me of one more thing…. What is definition of “Par Prantiya” ? why only people from Bihar and UP are being targeted? Why not Guajarati’s, South Indians , Bengali’s?
Are the not outsiders? Are they not eating up on jobs of Maharashtrians? In fact these people are in the areas that are of interest to Marathi people like High profile jobs and businesses etc.
Instead of them... the poor people from Bihar and UP are being targeted. Those poor people who starve sometimes…. They sleep in footpath to make sure that they send money back home to their family. Instead of learning and picking up the hard working tendency and dedication from these people, they are driving them out for no fault of theirs.

Only a “Bhaiya” can sell fruits during day and then sleep on the same hand cart out in open during night. I respect them for this hardworking ability.
They have done nothing wrong by coming to Mumbai. They are also Indians and they have full right to settle in any city they wish to.

It also reminds me of my days as a “par prantiya” when I was staying in Bangalore and Hyderabad. By strict definition and by the current MNS rules…. Even those people could have driven me out. And I think Raj should also keep in mind that now Maharashtrian people are also settling down in other states. What will happen to them if other states decide to give tit for tat?

Again some days I ago I heard a person saying in train that ever since Laloo became railway minister fe filled up entire railway with people from Bihar. I will say… why Suresh Kalmadi could not do the same for Marathi people when he was in the ministry? We don’t pick up opportunities and then we cry when someone else picks them up.
I think the old saying that termed Marathi people as crabs who are happy pulling each others legs... still holds true….
We won’t to do and we won’t let others do….

End of an episode….

After all the chaos for past 3 months…. I got rid of Infosys and I finally joined Lehman.
It was a roller coaster ride I must say. A nail biting finish till the last day.

I still remember the first encounter with Lehman while I was in Hong Kong. Initially also it did not go well. My mobile connection used to give troubles. Once or twice the call was dropped in between. Sometimes the interview team used to inform that they were not able to connect at all.
Finally somehow the first round of interview was over. I was not T all satisfied with my performance. I was not expecting any return call from them and started thinking about other options

But somehow, the interviewers had seen something during interview that I had missed out.
I got call for a second round of interview. This time I was well prepared. And as expected, the interview went well and I got an offer too. I was expected to join within a month. With leman ready to bear any payback that may be required, this looked like a sure thing.

Till now everything was fine. I submitted my resignation letter asking for a release after a month.
At this point the real story began. There was no response for the resignation mail. Initially I got a call from my top management to discuss the things but after that what followed was complete ignorance. No commitment on the release date… no comment on handover of activities…

Frustrated… finally I threatened to stop working on the project if I was not given due attention. Only after this, I got a response giving a date after nearly 2 months.
I decided to use the salary payback option. There was one more bad news in store for me. The documents had the payback clause at the discretion of the company!!! My bosses chose to use it immediately and denied me that opportunity also.

Frustrated, I walked out of Hong Kong and came back to Mumbai. I was expecting that this will have some impact. But there was none.
I escalated the matter to still higher management as well as HR…. as a result I got a call where I was threatened in indirect terms about disciplinary actions and all.
On the other hand I got calls from other senior mangers making all sort of promises so that I stay back.

On the other hand Lehman team was also getting frustrated at the entire episode. They finally decided to break the ties and revoked the offer.
I decided to go ahead with resignation and vowed to quit Infosys even in case I did not find a job for a few days. The hunt started again.
Fortunately I got another job. So I went ahead with resignation.
This was how my 4+ years stint with Infosys ended. I never wanted to end it the way it happened. I had started my career there and I had grown up professionally there. I Always wanted to end it in a graceful manner but alas!!!

A few days before my joining date, I again got call for Lehman!!! This was to be a fresh round of selection. I decided to try it once again. Results were as expected. I was given another offer and this time there were no restrictions.

This effectively marks end of my first career episode…. I am back in Mumbai…. A whole new game has begun….

I have learned...

The period since last November has provided me with a lot of learning experiences… not in a good way really but still they have made me a little stronger… added a little more confidence…a little more value…. Personally as well as professionally.

My first job switch… first separation process has taught me a lot. I has promised something to my new employer based on the word of my immediate superiors. And when the time came for action… the higher ones refused point blank. Even option of buyout was refused.
All pleadings… begging went in vain….finally frustrated, I threatened to go on leave if I was not paid attention to. That time I was told in plain words that I will not be released as expected... when I escalated to still higher authorities… the HR simply called up to threaten in indirect words…everyone took side of the manager who refused to release me.

I had to stay back as I was contractually bound. My new employer was not ready to wait and revoked the offer they had made to me. May be my superiors had expected to retain me back by making me loose the opportunity. But by the time all this happened…. I had lost my interest…enthusiasm…willingness to work….goodwill and all…. I still pressed ahead with resignation and found another job…..
Now hopefully I will join there once this last torture tenure here is over in a few days.
I still think that even this time it is my right to get released… I still will have to fight for it. I think I will start that off tomorrow……

I have learned a lot of things during this three month long episode….

I Have learned that word of your immediate boss need not be honored by the higher ones. One should think twice before going ahead` based on word of immediate superiors…

I have learned that no matter how much hard work you put in your job… ultimately your extra work may be taken for granted.

I have learned that one should not really trust on what the logo or the advertise says… no matter how much one may be claiming to be driven by values…. It does not mean that they will actually follow that when it matters…

I have learned that If you work beyond your stipulated duty… management will not value that. No one will care for you in the end…

I have learned that a good employee so far “automatically” becomes undisciplined… ill mannered etc... the moment he put down his papers….

I have learned that a good way to curb attrition in your organization is to try to trouble and screw up as much as you can when an employee plans to leave the organization.

I have learned that not paying attention to an employee when it is needed is an easy way to make them frustrated.

I have learned that in order to get the top management think about you, you really need to talk about some drastic measures…. That too with much senior people in loop….
That way it will also attract some attention from otherwise non-attending HR people…
They will then call you up only to give some indirect threats…. And then justify their decision to screw up your career….

I have learned that quitting a job may not be as easy as it looks. You never know when all the goody goody talks’ turns into negative actions…that look towards retaining you back by making sure that you loose the opportunity….

I have also learned that if you have enough talent there is no dearth of jobs… even if one is lost you can easily get another one within a few days…

I have learned that in order to keep afloat in the competition you need to keep adding constantly some value to yourself.

More importantly I have learned what not to do with my subordinates when I will step into similar role few years down the line…. May be this was god’s way of preparing me for a higher role.

As I have always believed…. Whatever happens... happens for good…. Only time will tell what that good point is….

I am back !!!

I am back!!!
Back in India...
Back in Mumbai...
Back to my family... friends...
Back to my love...

Life has begun to rock n roll...
Ever since I am back from HongKong life has become like a roller coaster.
It is hardly a month, but already a lot of ups and downs... high and low...
A lot to write about... in fact major events...On the professional front... on the personal front... transition into a new phase of life.... a new phase of career... new horizons.... new opportunities....
it's so exciting...

This December has really been a happening month in all sense.
I sometimes feel it is because i suddenly got exposed to all this after a long stagnant period. it is very much like what happens when after staying in dark for a some time, we all of a sudden see bright light.

After nearly being isolated socially for around 10 months, all of a sudden i found myself surrounded by my loved ones. One can easily have a look at my posts from February till December... number of posts as well as content of posts... they all speak the same story... story of a workaholic person...who had nearly isolated himself from anything that was not related to his work... even people !!!

I felt this strongly when i attended a local sports event on weekend. i was really feeling uncomfortable for a few hours initially. It was strange feeling of being among so many people where many of them recognised me.

After initial disappointment disappointment over loss of good opportunities...and subsequent treatments i got from my company... there began a real good time.

Once the date of engagement was finalised.. and shopping etc began, before i realised anything; it was 30 Dec already!!

The main reason behind this was that me n Deepa , both were busy trying to catch up for "lost 10 months" of courtship..... So we made sure that we did not miss a single opportunity of being together... may it be shopping... or visiting to Siddhivinayak temple... or meeting each others relatives... or simply roaming around together.... all these activities were as much for the cause of being together as they were for the original intended purpose....

Along with all these major things in between there were some small but sweet events like party for Kapil's new job at Hyderabad. we met after almost two years.
Then there was another function for celebrating my sister Hansini's third wedding anniversary.

On the 30th of Dec came up the big event of my engagement with Deepa. This was something that was being planned for almost past 6 months but was getting postponed because of my unavailability at home. Once the function was over then on the next day we celebrated 31st at home with family. This too was my first celebrated at home after a long time.

Not one or two... many events packed in such a short time span...
and as a result...
I am back...
back into life....
and back on blogger too......!!!