Life away from family and friends - in pune

There comes a time in life when you need to take up responsibilities, be away from people you love and just try to find a life away from home, just to make your life and career. and it becomes even more difficult when all these things come into your life all of a sudden, without any prior warning. the same thing happened to me on March 30th, 2010. when i was enjoying my training period at patni computer systems, having a good time learning and enjoying with friends, when one by one all of my friends were getting placed in projects. and it was finally my turn.

I guess everything was planned out before hand because i think everything happens for a reason. maybe the day i got the news that i had to go to pune the very next day for my project was in itself an indication that it was high time i took things seriously and got out of my comfort zone. i was always dreaded by the thought of leaving my family and friends, living in a completely different place, away from the comport of home, mom-made food (read: home-made food), and things i was used to. living in a different place, with new things and people to adjust to, having to take care of myself on my own, was something i had never thought about. but i really had to think about all these things and even start planning as to how i was going to handle them from the very next day.

Its only when we are far away from people that we realise their importance. I have heard this line so many times, but now i see its actual meaning. Gossip with friends, home cooked food, meetings and funny moments spent with loved ones mean so much more when you are away from them and reminisce the moments. Even though mumbai is just 190 km away from pune and it takes just 3 to 4 hrs to reach home, you still don't get that feeling of coming home to family on weekdays when the end of a long, tiring day at office finally allows you to get back home.

But i am lucky to have roommates who are just like family. Office gossip, whining about our PMs and TLs, cooking food, laughing over stupid jokes and people, watching tv, sharing our feelings about life, career, family etc are just some of the things we do. Life in pune is different though. The weather's much better, canteen food is just fine, but you really get a good feeling when you cook with your roommates and find some common things which connect you with people around.

Like when i meet a mumbai person, it really gives me a good feeling, thinking that i am not the only one who has been sent to pune and that there are many people like me. It somehow makes you feel at home. and the best feeling you get is when you reach mumbai and your family is waiting for you at the station. :)

So even though life seems tough at times, what with project work, TLs and PMs keeping a watch on your activities and ofcourse family having lots of expectatons from you ! i guess its all worth it. because if staying away from mumbai and family can teach me how to cook (which i knew nothing about earlier), it has to be something really good. :) and i am sure it will make me a better person, help me value my loved ones a whole lot more and learn how to be independent and take care of myself.

I miss my family and friends.:)

Me and Patni Computer Systems

like any student fresh out of college, i too had lots of expectations from life. i wanted to get into the best company, get good pay and have lots and lots of responsibilities. i also wanted to be the one who was totally in control of things and give my best to the job. lets rewind back to that day (18th september, 2008) when i had my interview scheduled at patni computer systems. it was an important day for me, because not only was it my first ever job interview, but it was also one of the days when i had a close encounter with a really huge company (with branches in almost every part of the country) . i had always heard of the saying, "butterflies in the stomach", but this was also one day when i could actually feel it all happening to me. as youngsters being swarmed by professionals, all of us got a new sense of freedom and confidence that one gets when he/she enters the professional field. though our interviews went really well, no one knew what was to happen in the future. to preserve the memories of "our entire day" at patni, we took loads of pictures and also enjoyed the canteen food which was amazing.

coming back to this day when i have settled well in patni (its been a month since i joined the company-18th december,2009) and happily undergoing training, i get a feeling of nostalgia and happiness when i walk around the area where our class had taken the pictures and admired the infrastructure of patni. the feeling is still the same, the excitement and hopes from life remain the same, just the responsibilities have increased. i realise that i have actually accomplished some of the things that i had set out for.

i have got into one of the best companies, will be getting my salary soon, and i have got the responsibility of proving myself in this fast-moving and competitive business world. with lots and lots of confidence, honesty, intelligence, smart work and focus, i am sure ill do very well in this big, bad and wonderful world of patni. but for the time being, let me just enjoy my time and learn things at my own pace. :)

friends from different walks of life

friends are the people with whom we can share things, blabber about our day, crib about life, cry, laugh, criticise, blame, share happiness and excitement....people whom we can fight with..we find frnds in all walks of life....some remain in our life throughout, while some bid goodbye wishing us good luck...some best frnds are there with u for every important moment...be it ur bday party at school, ur 1st job interview, ur 1st call letter, ur 1st big important exam, ur gossip sessions abt ur 1st crush, ur 1st day at the job...the list can go on and on...and these ppl can be anyone...need not be ur college frnd..can be ur sibling, ur mom or dad...and u can practically meet them anywhere in this world..can be even ppl u meet online...or a person who became ur frnd wn u were all alone during an important occasion..a family function where u made frnds with a girl who was equally bored..:)

conversations with frnds can be an hour long chat on the phone or can be a simple smile and a hi..it can be blabbering abt things or can simply mean being present for each other wn needed...u just need a connection with the other person to share your feelings, your emotions, your deepest secrets...frnds simply make u feel happy, make u feel cared for, and u think there is something good in life everytime u know someone is there...evn ur building's cutest kid can be ur frnd....i for one love to play with kids..u can go back to ur bachpan, relive all the cute moments...the same way, u can also have a good time discussing abt ur life with ur mother...like the way i joke arnd with my mom, dad, sister, and the way they advice me on things....

but sometimes the presence of a frnd is not important..since people have different ambitions and dreams, u cant always expect things to b the way u want them to b...times change and so do people..and u have to let go off certain people... bcoz if u lose people, u also gain more people in life...sometimes just the old feelings that u get back wn u meet a frnd are much more special than an everyday encounter...so catch up with ur old pals, share things with ur family, and also make new frnds....:)

things to do wn ur not in a good mood...

wn ur not in a good mood or are very sad bcoz of some reason(abt which u cant do anything) or if ur simply bored, do the things that u always wanted to, but didnt have the time....

ill first find out the reason behind my bad mood, try to sort it out...and if everything fails, ill try these....

• go for a walk with ur mom or dad and talk to them abt ur childhood days....
  
• play scrabble with ur family....
  
• dance....its the best distraction..
  
• enqueue ur favourite songs in ur music player...and sing along as loudly as possible
  
• call an old frnd...
  
• solve puzzles, crossword or play sudoku....
  
• watch a funny movie or clip....
  
• sit near the window and watch children play in the neighbourhood..
  
• play ur favourite kiddie games with kids...
  
• have pani puri, bhel puri or ur favourite road side food...
  
• get drenched in the rain...
  
• try to cook even if u know u cant...
  
• take an old cloth or mop and clean ur room..
  
• try an old dress that u had kept tugged in the cupboard for a long long time....
  
• gorge on food....all the good things like chocolate, ice cream....will surely make u happy....
  
• order a pizza....and have the whole thing for urself...
  
• read a good book....
  
• watch a dubbed movie (like the ones which r actually english movies but get played in hindi)....ull definitely have a good laugh...if its a regional language, its even better...
  
• watch a song on tv in mute mode, and at the same time increase the volume of a song playing in the radio...and see wt funny effects r created..
  
• take up some random topic and argue abt it with someone and then laugh over it..
  
• go for shopping, and buy something that u always wanted to have...
  
• simply switch off the lights, ur cell phone and go to sleep...

no mood is so bad that u cant change it...u just need to distract urself from the situation and ull soon be up and ready..as happy as u can ever be..

things that make me sad...

no matter how strong we might be in life, there are things that make us wonder how, when and where things went wrong between us and the people we love. For me, frnds are an important part of life, and these are some of the  situations that make me feel bad:

• when a best friend suddenly turns into an acquaintance...
  
• when chatters turn into silences...
  
• when there used to be a time when you couldnt stop talking to a frnd, and when now you both struggle hard to find some topic to start a conversation...
  
• when the same person who always used to wish you first forgets an important occasion...
  
• when the very number that used to be in your dialled list every day doesnt even find a place in your phone anymore...
  
• when a frnd forgets to give you their new number...
• when you can no longer call a frnd anytime of the day to just blabber abt life....
  
• when a frnd with whom you used to chat everyday appears invisible on yahoo, just so that you wouldnt disturb them...
  
• when a whole year passes by, and u wonder how u couldnt meet your frnd even though you both were in the same college....
  
• when its been years since you visited your favourite hangout (where you used to be a regular in your college days)...
  
• when you need to remind a frnd abt the very joke that binded u both together (just because they dont remember it anymore)...
  
• when a frnd doesnt recognise your voice when you call them...
• when you come across a good frnd, and the only words exchanged are "hey"....and "cu later"...
• when you can no longer crack the same silly jokes, bcoz you dont know what their reaction would be like....
• when you call up a frnd to share something with them, and eventually cut the call thinking they might be busy...
• when misunderstandings between friends increase so much that you cant solve them anymore, no matter how hard you try...
• when you can only remember the old times, and know for sure that those moments are never going to come back...
  

people come and go in our lives, and there are those people who dont even realise their importance in your life till they part ways with you. 

my junior college-sies..and my frnd vinita

last few days of one's time in college are very special for various reasons....be it bcoz of the times when v had bunked college, been scolded by professors, thrown out of the class, caught peeking into someone else's paper, or simply being reminded that we r grown ups and not school kids anymore. and its especially very close to my heart bcoz i have been in sies for the past 5 years...

and this makes me want to rewind my life and go back to my 1st day of college...

the very 1st day when i entered college, and searched for my class, when i finally entered my classroom full of students, abt a 100 of them.when i sat in a bench and made frnds with my neighbours..wn i was gradually starting to experience college life...wn a gal named vinita cracked a joke from somewhere....and i turned arnd and gave her a smile...wn the same gal became my best frnd soon enough...and we started roaming arnd in the entire college, passing comments at people, breaking test tubes in the chemistry lab, laughing during the rat dissection lecture in the bio lab...from talking abt our crushes, gossiping abt everything that we could lay our hands on....to not caring abt the people around us and just simply enjoying each and every moment of the 2 years in college..from traditional day to sari day, from laughing and irritating others no end...to our bdays....everything was crazy... 

i had experienced some of the best days of my life during this time, wn we used to wait to come to college just to see our common crush, talk abt our day, keep looking out the window and not hear a single word taught by the professor, lie at the drop of a hat and give random reasons when we were in the defaulters' list. v had so many similarities, from being huge fans of backstreet boys, westlife and blue, to having the common traits of being a big chatterbox, gossip queen..we could blabber abt anything for hours, eat at anytime of the day, and anything for tht matter..also not to forget the discussions on mahesh tutorials professors and lectures...also the cute sir...(hope u remember vinita)..;)

but having said that, there were also times wn i hated her crushes and thought they looked aweful, and laughed at her choice,and she also did the same...also, wn she tried to impress one of her crushes, and wrong connection lag jata tha...loll..(remember vinita?)....

hindi lectures and chemistry lab keedas cant ever be forgotten by us...wn the professor had caught us having lunch and completing our journals, all in the same day..

wn once a professor had given me an assignment (to write an entire hindi chapter) as a punishment, and since that day both of us didnt sit for that lecture evn once, till the last day of college..from searching for someone in the chemistry lab to running away after being seen by that person...lol..

and wn finally the results were declared and we were clueless abt wt to do after 12th...

just the fact that im in touch with only vinita and none of my other frnds proves the fact that we r still the best of frnds...although others r there in orkut and my yahoo frnds' list...no one can ever make me miss my college days...although we dont meet much,(bcoz of vinita's busy schedules..hehe:))..im sure we will always be there for each other wn its needed...people come and go in ur life,but some special frnds stay with u forever..and vinita is one of them...and hope im one of them in vinita's life...

crack it and typeracer....

today was supposed to be my day wn i would be going for my rj hunt event..i.e radio jockey....but it turned out tht it got delayed, and tht we had nothing to do....so we went for sudoku( an event in which i had won the 1st prize last yr).it was a bit tough, and i had clearly no hopes of winning..it really made me feel bad...to be frank made me think at one point that i didnt deserve the prize last yr...but, there r always better ppl than u....i went on to the next event-crack it..but, we had to wait for it to begin...so instead, we thought we would go for another event...typeracer, which will test ur typing speed....so i gave this test just to pass my time....then we came back to crack it...wherein u r supposed to bring out a story out of some pictures given to u, and explain how it is related to management, and wt u can dipher from it..

so this event was really good, where me and my partner, supam explained everything well...next, we went for some stupid "corporate gyaan" quiz...which was bad bad bad....hehe...

so, now we still had to wait for the results, so i decided to register for some other events....meanwhile, i saw my name in the 2nd place for the crack it event. and also for the typeracer event..but, didnt get a prize for sudoku......

hmmmmm.....i must say it was a v good experience....i presented confidently, said all the things tht i wanted, prepared the story really well, and supam and my jodi was the best...:)....well, i got to know wt i can do, and it definitely increased my confidence...:)....

but, i didnt get the sudoku prize, something that i had expected in the morning, wn i came to college....but, got a prize in these 2 events, for which i had no preparation, no idea, something tht i just tried for timepass....

well, sometimes things do happen unexpectedly, u win some, and u lose some...but, it is important to enjoy the experience....just to c how it turns out, and if u r capable of something...today, wn i think back i can rewind and see meenakshi sitting in front of the computer yesterday, even thinking once that she wont go all the way to college......she was getting bored....

and she was irritated wn the rj hunt was delayed... but now i can realise that something good comes out of everything...u just need to go out there and do something...:)