A milestone crossed

As I sat down to write the invitation for my 30th birthday party (yes, I had one...a good one), there were several things that were going through my mind. On one side, there was the apprehension about what this new decade would bring with it, while on the other, memories of the 10 years that just went by, played in my head. The dread was setting in and so was the excitement. By the time I had finished writing the senti invite and the parody of a follow-up to it, one thing became abundantly clear to me...I was never going to be able to choose one over the other, and at least for the 9th of June 2010, it was going to be a heady mix of fear and anticipation.

So many things happened over the last ten years (considering they constitute one-third of my life, hardly a surprise) that it is difficult to really mark out anything particular and let go of the others. Most importantly, I became a qualified engineer and a manager in the last decade, which also witnessed, amongst other things, my first job, first love, first heartbreak, the adventures of MBA, my first car, a death-defying accident, big money...the list is endless.

In fact, after the rather quiet teenage spent in the safe and sheltered environs of my maternal household in Patna, the 20s were when I really became independent. From learning to cook for myself to mastering bikes (despite the accident, I actually rode them well) and cars, I was much more free with myself, much less encumbered with what repercussions any act of mine would carry. The mindset changed from a shy, small-towner to someone who has been there, done that. The attitude became full of confidence, so much so that it became a trait that marks my personality today (or so I would like to believe).

Things evolved and so did I, forming my individuality, letting go of imbibed traits or holding on to them and making them my own. There were a lot of imperfections, lot of apprehensions, instances where I was down in the dumps and others where I was right up there. All this, however, will probably happen in the coming decade as well but maybe not as frequently. At 30, I would like to believe that most of the attributes that were to shape my character are already in place and while there would be additions and deletions, they will be few and far between.

So what do I expect of the coming 10 years? I don't know really, except that additional responsibilities will come in, the family shall expand and new relationships formed, it will be time to take the plunge and leave the cushion of a well-paying job, and at the same time, get hold of and enjoy the worldly luxuries for my family and myself. I don't want to wait for the 40's to come for me to get to all this and make all these decisions. I just hope that I am fortunate (as I have been over the last 10 years) and strong enough to stick to plans and make this most important part of my life really sing.

Back again

I had almost given up on the blog after what happened last time I tried to write something. There was also this thing that is popularly called writers' block that I had hit and I hardly knew what to write or even had the enthusiasm to try finding out things that were interesting enough to recount to those who still read this space. Habit, however, as they say, is a leech and so I am back here with yet another update. If I offend someone or something by what I write (both here down below or anytime in the past or future), I am unconditionally apologetic but that is the best that I can do.

So, what have I been up to all these days? Let me see, I have watched a lot of movies for a first. Unfortunately, none of them have excited me enough to want to write a review. Whether it is the idyllic Ishqiya or the message-heavy My Name Is Khan, the thought-provoking Up In The Air or the different Karthik Calling Karthik, or even the visual marvel Avatar, I may have liked or disliked them but not really loved or hated any of them enough to warrant a blog post.

Holi just went by and was awesome because Papa and Mummy were here to celebrate it with us at the new house (this is the first Holi here). They are here for another week or so and plan to go after Papa and I go to watch the inaugural IPL (Indian Premier League) cricket match at the stadium on the 12th. The times when parents are home are such blessings, one looks forward to going home from work and spending weekends out of bed with so much more enthusiasm. Priya, my sister, does manage to keep me on my toes even otherwise but hard as she may try, poor thing can never match the impact that Papa and Mummy have.

Life is chugging along just fine and I am in one of those phases of mine where even if I am not really excited about the way things are going, I am pretty content and that, I believe, is more than half the battle won. I like my friends, am reasonably stable financially and do not hate my work even though I have form and content issues (more content than form, if you know what I mean)

Work, as I said, is getting slightly complicated with the mid-work-life crisis showing its face yet again. As a practice so far, I have not spent exactly 22 months with each of my previous assignments, 22 months at Infosys, another 22 at Kotak Wealth, Delhi as a Relationship Manager, and as you may have guessed by now, I have completed 22 months in Mumbai at Kotak Wealth. So is it time to start something new (as the logo of Shoppers Stop, the company in which my sister works, says)? I am not too sure but what I am sure of is that I need to be prepared for some tough questions from both sides during the upcoming appraisal.

Appraisal reminds me of something Jassi (colleague and dear friend) showed me this morning. It was the status update of a friend of his related to appraisal which pointed to the dialogue of one of the few classic Hindi Film Industry's comedies, Andaz Apna Apna. The dialogue goes like this (and reads beautifully if the context with which you are reading it is the appraisal process):

bbbbba .... bolna kya tha chup kara diya
unka ek ek sawal, mere do do jawab
sawal ek ... jawab do
sawal-jawab...sawal-jawab...sawal-jawab

chupppp...lambi khamoshi