Life and its friends

Hey have I told you about a very dear friend of mine. This buddy is known to me since the time I opened my eyes and has been a constant companion ever since, seeing me through all the highs and lows; sometimes cheerful, sometimes down but always interesting with twists and turns, I can give this buddy any name although popularly called Life by everyone around. Now Life is not my only friend, for if you make friends with Life and chose its company then you must accept the other friends and relatives that Life brings along

Although Life has many friends but my favorite of them is Hope. Hope makes Life look better, colorful and more positive; I like him so much so that whenever I am with Life I always look out for Hope. Needless to say Hope is someone who brings smile to my face and I always try to never lose sight of Hope

Another friend of Life is Destiny. Now Destiny is very unpredictable and has couple of close relatives, who although look similar but are a lot different; they are popularly named as Surprises and Shocks. I like Surprises very much, he is so exciting, thrilling and joyful, I bet you too will adore him; but then his sinister companion Shock can crop up from nowhere and cause misery for no reason. I have told Life many times that I do not like Shocks at all but then Life is philosophical, if I love Surprises I should also be resilient to absorb or atleast withstand Shocks

Life also has other friends, one of whom has become an almost constant companion of mine. Many do not like him and some are even scared of him, but this guy has been with me for so long that I do not enjoy anyone else’s company now. His name is Loneliness and although very boring, he is truly loyal; when everyone deserts you trust this guy to be around, always. Loneliness and I have had many long conversations, the good thing about this guy is he always listens and you can count on him for long companionship

There is another friend of Life whom I do not like at all and have complained to Life about him many times, Life tells me he does not come around often but the ugly thing is when he does come it invariably gives a body blow. People call him Disappointment and no one likes him; infact they hate him with a capital H for he comes mostly unannounced and is an expert in spoiling the best plans but then its not easy to escape him, for in one way or another he tries to make his presence felt

If I hate Disappointment there is another guy I love no ends; I always yearn for his company though this guy eludes me often and doesn’t come by as much as I would like; he is called Excitement and is damn fun. In happier times I have had some of his company and keep telling Life to bring him along frequently but sadly more often than not, he leaves as quickly as he comes

Lastly Life has these twin guys who look identical and perpetually follow each other, they are called Success and Failure. Strangely both of them are always behind each other, you see one of them and start grimacing or jumping when suddenly other jumps from behind and takes the other’s place. Next time around I should be discreet for neither for them lasts long, they just keep coming and going one after another

But amongst all these friends I like Life only the most. It has different colors, moods and amazing variety which can leave you dumbfounded but then one has to love Life. I love him, do you?

Work and workplaces

I do not blog about work too often, infact can’t remember if I ever wrote about it before, but off late its only work which has occupied the prime space in my mostly non-descript life so I am entitled to rant off a bit now. Work or rather work life can be a tricky affair; its certainly not the sole determiner of existence on earth (although it provides rozi roti and in my case daaru too) but if things start going wrong here, it can suck big time. During my almost 8 years of work life, in which I worked at four places I have had a typical learning curve having made blunders aplenty but also been lucky to work with some good (and generous) souls

My first job was in a small rickety place in one of the by-lanes of Safdarjung in Delhi, needless to say this was not a proper workplace and I was here only for a short while but this place certainly never lacked excitement. Being the only male in office I overheard many gossips and also witnessed catfights (and as usual never understood the many flirt signals I received); it was here only that I first came across blogs, which were not so much in vogue back then in 2004, and understood how one can build another buddy group online

My next workplace, which was in a way my first real job, taught me many hard lessons of professionalism and also how things can go wrong by having an illiterate boss. I was caught in a dirty cross fire between the people I worked with and to the lady I reported - it was obvious no one respected her for she was a classic case of corporate ineptitude. This female was a lesbian, chain smoker and used to work as an office secretary in McKinsey before joining this company as HR Head! Being a fitness freak she was supremely athletic and diet conscious, always had the most fragrant perfumes on and loved her pomeranian so much that she even had the dog’s photo plastered on her wall; in short she was a true blue bitch who would have fired me had I not quit one year down the line. However one good thing about this job was the workplace was truly young and sexy with free flowing Bacardi and smoking babes around, something I have missed ever since leaving this place in 2005

My next workplace, where I worked longest, was a retired man’s paradise. This World War relic company was so laidback and had so many white hairs around, that at times I felt I was working at an old age home. My first one and half years here were absolutely terrible; again a dirty bitch as a boss and even the office area used to stink with rodents and mice making guest appearances from time to time. I was so much in despair here that frustration used to be visible large on my long face everyday; what with a workplace so archaic and salary so shamefully low I myself wonder how I survived there. However the last some time I spent there was not so bad; I had a Good Samaritan of a boss replacing the old bitch who was deservedly fired and towards the end of my tenure things started getting better before I left to move out of Gurgaon and India for good

Now coming to my present workplace where I have been for two good years now. To be honest this assignment is nothing short of my dream job – international location, fatty pay, independent handling, big role etc but it also brings with it its own share of challenges. Having no exposure to sales organizations before I had to learn many tricks of trade here and although the job was fairly challenging I did come out with flying colors during my first year. However even the brightest of colors tend to fade over time and over past couple of months I have started feeling the heat a wee bit too much. Last week I was questioned by the big bosses in Dubai what I am doing here or rather what I have done here; not very pleasant questions to answer especially when appraisals are due next month. The pressure or rather the strain has been so enormous that at times I have even forgotten to eat and except for the last weekend have been mostly sleep deprived. Now that my honeymoon here is over, its time to fight real battles but hey am not ready to chicken out yet