About Kids...

Kids…I love them. But I think it’s just convenient to say I like kids when they are other people’s kids.

No…I am sure, people who have their own kids are happy to have them, but I feel having a kid is a huge responsibility or as Db would like to put it…the ROI (Return on Investment) is very bad.

I do want to have my own kids at some point in life (donno when though), but I am not sure if I can handle the responsibility it comes with. But there are times when I look at other people and feel that I could have done a thousand times better than them. As I told Db the same day, it’s been a while that I met a kid whom I found sweet.

We went for one of Db’s nephew’s 5th b’day party this week. Now, I come from a nuclear family, I have never got to seen so many kids together. Here there were too many kids, most of them seemed to have both working parents.
Now, I believe there is a very thin line between pampered and spoilt, mischievous and ill mannered. Like I feel, I am a pampered kid but I was never spoilt, mischievous but not ill mannered. I remember Bhai and me to be quite well behaved as kids.

These kids were spoilt to the extent that they refuse to speak Hindi or Oriya even with the elderly people in the family, yell at the guests whom they have never seen before ‘Ae…you get out of that sofa, I have no place to sit!!!’…while their parents watch and smile in silence ‘Awwwww my baby is cho chweet!!!’
The kids had all kinda firang names, who believe that speaking, yelling and swearing in English is kool. They refuse to listen to their own parents. Now, what will they grow up to…a confused generation, who would probably have an identity crisis.

I mean...I have nothing against speaking English or beahaving like firangs, but I have a problem when they say ‘I don’t speak my mother tongue’. Even my Oriya is not great, I was brought up in Rourkela, which had a more cosmopolitan culture, and also Oriya was not mandatory in our school then. We got to speak our mother tongue only at home, or within the family and relatives. Despite of the fact that my father is a renowned writer in Oriya literature, me and Bhai have only got a descent knowledge in Oriya. But that is not something we are proud of, nor are we shy to speak in our mother tongue. That kinda shows your upbringing.

I really don’t wanna have a kid and bring him up this way, so that he grows up to a confused individual, and unable to identify himself among any group, American or Indian. I want to bring him up so that he/she can adjust himself in any group, with family he can be as pleasant and charming...mischevous okay but not ill mannered, and yet can be at par with the kind of friends he mingles with.

My first blog from my new office

Now this is my first blog from my new office.

Being a bank, they have some real serious security procedures. Too many passwords…way too many. To set up the minimum no. of passwords to let me access the internal sites and internet took good one week. But my software installations are still on its way, so you see I haven’t got much to do.

Though I am yet to check out the code base, yet going by the technical documents given to me, the project is hardly any challenge. We used jdk 1.5 earlier (planning to upgrade to jdk 1.6 soon), hibernate and springs, and ajax and rich faces in my earlier project…but here they work with jdk 1.4 and JDBC…that’s it!!! So you see, technically its pulling me back to where I was 4 years back. Since this is the IT division of the bank, there isn’t any competition from other servicing companies. So people take a chill pill here.
So it’s not a good feeling at all…kills your enthusiasm.

I have to wake up at 6.45 every morning, contrary to my earlier schedule at 9 am. I have to walk to the bust stop, a 15 mins walk from home, two times a day. I can’t manage to sleep a blink on the way, in the bus. I reach home around 7-7.15 in the evening, saving hardly 2 hours compared to my earlier schedule.

So am I complaining???

No I am not.
Hmm…well let’s just say, not yet.
The reason being the team and the office. The office is the coolest I have ever worked in.
People reach here between 8.45-9.15 in the morning and leave at 5.45-6.15 in the evening.
It’s a good change to find non-frowning faces around.
The team is a bunch of mad caps (most of them), but an otherwise fun loving team.
The HR and Finance are very friendly, and the managers are friendly and enthusiastic.
The food in the IT mall is great…so I gotta watch my weight again.
I walk quite a lot all day, so might lose all that I gain at the IT mall.
The tea at office is very nice, and needs no coupons.
It’s nice to work in a carpeted office after a long time.
They have 13 holidays all though the year, my previous employer had only 9.
I have *Drums roll please* 32 leaves in a year, out of which 26 are mandatory, meaning they are not to be carried forward to the next year. With all my provious employers I had 18-20 leaves per year. Also getting the leaves approved was a huge pain in the neck. Here they are pretty flexible with the leave system.
I have a personal IP phone at my disposal, at all other places that I have worked earlier, 3-4 people used to share one phone.
I can carry my I-Pod inside which none of my previous employers allowed.
There are quite some short term onsite travels here, to Egypt, Paris, Russia among other places (yipeeeee!!).

So it’s kinda great, except for the everyday travel to office and the technology I am to work with. I will certainly try to find out some good projects around and see if I can get through them.

Second Happy Walla Anniversary...

Db: So you are a housewife now.
Me: Howzzat??? I am gonna start my new job on Monday.
Db: So what??? You are not on anybody’s payroll for the next two days, so that makes you jobless.
Me: But these two days are weekends.
Db: So what?? You are not paid for the next two days, so that makes you a housewife.
Me: Big deal!!! So what if I am a housewife for a few days.
Db: So behave like one.
Me: As in????
Db: Make me some good food, mere pair dabao, meri sewa karo.
Me: Huh!!!
Db: Nothing doing!!! For the next two days you have to behave like a housewife.
Me: Okay.
…Dal is getting so costly these days, and all Gobi’s in the market are damaged….what do I cook?? …My friend nam got amazing diamond studs last week, you haven’t given me a single piece of jewelry in last one year,
…The neighbors next door got a new Honda City, we don’t even own a car.
…Nam went to Srilanka for a vacation on this New Year, you haven’t taken me any where ever since our marriage.
Db: ??!!!!??
…. Your Mom called yesterday, wants me to visit the temple everyday, who has the time for all this. Grrrr!!!
…Your siblings are not doing well in their academics, lemme tell you, I am not going to take their responsibility.
…When are we going onsite?
…This house maid bugs me so much, get me a new one.
…Take me to a movie…Shahrukh Khan!!! I am bored…take me shopping.
…Why are you with your laptop, talk to me!!!
…Where are my Saas Bahu serials.
Db: Okay…I lose. Don’t you dare ever leave your job, work till you retire.
Me: **GRIN**
Let the madness never end. Happy Anniversary Love!!!

NB: Since this is my blog, I prefer to write about only those arguments that I happen to win, which again happens once in a blue moon. But my blog is my business…so Meri Marzi!!!

I'm calling it quits

Today is my last day at office
I had finished the farewell mail sending business late in the evening yesterday, so that my clients at US get a chance to respond back to me. My team held a small farewell get together for me, and they gave me a nice surprise, a huge TWEETY BIRD as a gift to me. So all z been well here.

But I am not feeling sad or guilty while I leave today.
Despite of the fact that my managers have been facing the music because of my resignation. My clients were extremely unhappy with my resignation, more so since another key member also resigned with me. It's also come up to the extend that my clients are reconsidering the contract they have with my employer.
My clients have been ever so sweet with me. I not for my employer, I do have some kinda camaraderie with my clients. My team here was very pleasant to work with. Less of team mates and more of friends. For sure, the best team I ever got to work with. That's one thing I am surely gonna miss.

But somehow it does not matter to me. Not anymore...
May be because I firmly believe they did deserve this, may be because life has taught me to be selfish...or may be I am just, plain and simple, happy about it.
I know that once I get my relieving letter in hand at 3.30 in the afternoon today, I am gonna run off in top gear, without even looking back once, even if calamity strikes. If tomorrow I have to join back here for some reason, I will think (1000 X 1000 X 1000 X 1000) to the power 1000 times before I do that.

Finally when I went to meet a few people before I left, they all greeted me with a congratulations first, and then an all the best...and I completely understand.

And right now I am just waiting for the clock to strike 3.30, so that I can just get over with it all. Monday I am starting with another company(yes!!! No break for me), hoping the management there wouldn't be as bad as here, and hope the team be as good as the one I had here.
And puhleeease gimme some simple work there, nothing too difficult, for which I have to stay too late at office.

And before I call it quits, I would like to say farewell to all those who I leave behind, in our national language अलविदा कमीनों !!!