Is it so difficult to be Sniff and Scurry?

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.

Change is and has always been the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. But how many of us are brave enough to come out of our comfort zones and be ready at any moment to give up what we are for what we might become. Generally when things/ routines get monotonous, the human mind naturally gets accustomed with that way of life. We are so carried away with the comforts and the luxuries of the current that we fail to observe the changes happening around us. This is the general human tendency. But, in today’s world where things are changing with accelerating speed, how far will this state of mind (of that of “Hem”) let us survive? It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one more responsive to change. But we must admit that it takes a lot of courage and determination to release the familiar and seemingly secure and embrace the new. Most of the times, it’s not that we are afraid of change or so in love with the old and familiar, but it’s that place in between that we fear….It’s like being between trapezes.

Idenappa ivalige yenaithu? Sudden agi istond heavy doses kodtiddale andkotiddira?

Actually, this whole thought process was triggered from the anticipating developments in my life, both professionally and personally. Two main things that I have decided to do in this year put me into this thought. Because both of them require me to come out of my comfort or the so called “familiar” zone and accept new things. When we talk about change there is a cloud of uncertainty and the associated risks that contributes to the underlying fear within us. This is exactly what I’m going through right now.

First thing is about changing the path of my career to achieve what I have always dreamt of. I have always wanted to manage not managed. I want to be a leader in whatever field I choose. In this direction, I decided to move ahead and get into leading, managing projects kind of roles unlike the ones I’m into at present. Oh man, past few days have been a roller coaster ride in my mind. At this moment, I’m not sure where this will lead me to. But then, making or breaking, all lies within me.

A bigger change/ bigger risk is awaiting me on the personal front - the decision of choosing a life partner. This is probably the most difficult decision making situation I have faced till now. This, at this moment is still a big question mark and the biggest uncertainty for me. This will probably be the biggest risk of my life. But I love taking risks. It is always good to have a thirlling and challenging life.

All this actually inspired me to revisit Dr Spencer Johnson’s book “Who Moved My Cheese?” Today, when I was going through, It seemed to be reflection of what I’m going through now. If not Hem, I have till now been a kind of Ham. It’s just that I need to make up my mind a little bit and push myself in becoming the likes of Sniff and Scurry. What say? I just could not resist quoting these from the book here:

Change Happens

They keep moving the cheese

Anticipate Change

Get ready for the cheese to move

Monitor Change

Smell the cheese often so you know when it is getting old

Adapt to change quickly

The quicker you let go of Old cheese,the sooner you can enjoy New cheese

Change

Move with the cheese

Enjoy Change!

Savor the adventure and enjoy the taste of New cheese

Be ready to change quickly and enjot it again and again

They keep moving the cheese

In a nutshell, nan thale chitra vichitravagi chitranna aagide. You may probably not be able to find a more tastier chitranna than this J. 

Happy New Year 2009

This note comes to you all, to wish you a marvellous start as the year begins.

Hope that all your dreams come true, making it truly a Wonderful year for you.

Au Revoir 2008

At the onset of New Year, my warmest wishes to all of you. Let the coming year be a glorious one that rewards all your future endeavors with success.

New Year is no doubt a time to celebrate and welcome the new year with new hopes and aspirations but it is also the time to celebrate the beautiful memories and forget the regrets of old year. This post is my attempt to bid adieu to the year gone. It’s a reflection of my life in 2008.

Thankfully for me 2008 was not any repeat of the roller coaster ride of 2007. It was relatively a good year with mixed feelings and experiences and lots of memorable events. Here’s a glimpse of hits and misses in 2008.

Hits –

1. To start with was the Project Star Award that I received. It is a one of those quarterly recognitions given by our company for outstanding contribution to the project. 

2. One of my very good friends, Deepthi came down to India with her daughter and husband. The last time I had met her before this was at her wedding. I had never got a chance to meet her thereafter. Soumya and I visited her at her mom’s place. It was a pleasant reunion I should say. 

3. Up above the sky and Down on the tracks 

There has been significant amount of travel in the past year. 3 trips to different places with different set of people. Outings, trips, as we all know, means new experiences, new friends and loads of adventures and experiences… 

Atlanta Trip:

It all started off with my official trip to Atlanta in the month of February. Initially, when I was asked to go on a short trip to Atlanta, I was a little skeptical about it, thanks to my boring first trip to US. But then considering the state of mind I was in, at that moment, I badly needed a break from the usual life. I accepted the offer with the anticipation of finding the much needed break and should I say, lucky me….it turned out to be one of my most memorable trips…both within and outside India. Thanks to Monty, Rajesh (my new found friends) and others who made it a memorable one. Though it was a short trip of one month, there was not a single day where we felt the boredom. I should say wonderful weekend plans and perfect execution of it was the key to the success of the trip. To summarize our weekend trip around Atlanta, traveling in Marta trains (the public transport there), our cooking experiments, tennis, basketball in the hotel and of course how can I forget the breakfast at Residence Inn - Scrambled Eggs, baked potatoes, French toast. Overall loads of fun along with a good experience at work place.

Team Outing – Nature Nirvana

The next was our team outing to Nature Nirvana, a resort amidst the coffee plantations of Chikmagalur. This was probably the first overnight trip we had in our team. It was peaceful, stress free weekend for all of us. We kind of forgot all our tensions, worries amidst Mother Nature. Infact it worked out to be good platform to know about each other in the team. The cycling, badminton matches, all the “school days” games that we played in the bus, the musical chair, campfire, the so called “barbeque” :-) and the wonderful food and hospitality of the resort in charge – all these and many more made it a wonderful trip overall. 

Friends Get-together – Matheran Trip

The travel story ends with the trip with our NCJ Gang last month. It was one of our friend, Lalitha’s wedding in Lonavala. All of us planned to take sometime off from work and make the best use of this trip. For me it was the long awaited reunion as I had missed one of my other friend’s wedding earlier in the year. It was good to get together and have fun with friends. Everything in the trip was fun and exciting. The dance on the day of Sangeet, the marriage, lots of food, the trek to restaurant on the tracks, our adventures with finding the restaurant, the long walks thereafter and the return journey. But, the jackpot goes to Ashwin for his mesmerizing dancing :-) his jokes and superb sense of humor. Overall a good trip for all of us after a long time. 

Misses – 

1. The major share of the unfortunate events goes to the nasty accident I met with around the same time when Deeps was here. Some technical problem in our vehicle and fell down so badly that I had to get around 25 stitches and 15-20 days of rest to get back to normal. Actually it was the first ever major accident I have had in my life. Well, at one point this fact made it a very exciting experience for me :-). 

2. But then the sad part is the side effects it brought along with it. I had to miss Deeps’ daughter’s Namakarana ceremony. I lost another chance to meet one of my other friends, Vani. 

3. I also had to miss one another friend, Venky’s marriage, another chance missed of meeting our NCJ Gang. But this was somehow covered up by our Matheran trip. 

Well, otherwise it was business as usual.  Quite hectic week days in office for most of the year… It’s only from the last month that I’m kind of relaxed. But then, as long as I have friends like Shakthi and his team (Monty, Jags, Rajesh, Sampath, Pavan) office is never a burden or stress for me. Thank you everyone for being there. 

This was pretty much my life in 2008. I hope to have a more exciting and eventful 2009 and I wish you all the same.