Taking the U-turn ...

Well, I wonder why our past always seems more glorious than the present — typical human psychology? I wish I could go back to school and college! I wish I could go back to those days when I used to dish out a blog every month!  I wish I could relive my first year at ADP and re-experience those days when I'd wait for Mondays as  office was great fun!  It’s crazy how times change so much that we find solace in the past and forget the present.  

This time, I don’t really have anything specific to discuss—except to make the fact public that after high drama, suspense and mayhem, my tryst with ADP is all set to come to a graceful close. How much I'm going to miss looking at this logo every day! 

It's been over 3.5 years that I've left college—and I had no slightest clue that by the end of these 3.5 years, I'd have finished studying a bulky "encyclopedia" full of lessons—one lesson a day! 

Today, when I take a moment to look back at all the years I lived, the only void, I figure, was my four-year stint of engineering. I vehemently feel that I made a mockery of myself during those four years. There was a miss in almost everything – "making enough friends," "making the right career choice" and being “industry-ready.” It was no “Happy Days” for me at all!

It’s quite bizarre that I made "friends for life" before and after my engineering, but not “during” it.  Except for a few female friends, who are my best buddies even today, I didn't quite score excellent grades in “friendship” during my engineering.

This discomfort in me was “time bombed” with precision on March 8, 2010, the day my rendezvous with ADP began. And the rest is history!

I have no idea if I could really develop any technical capability during my stay at ADP, but the numerous encounters with a diverse set of colleagues at ADP taught me lessons I’d never forget. The most valuable lesson I could absorb from an important person, whom I met at ADP, was about “What it takes to be a ‘man’?” As a newspaper article I read years ago rightly mentioned, “Manliness doesn't lie under the belt,” I feel “manliness” lies somewhere well above the belt, somewhere in the chest—and right in the heart!

It’s interesting why we don’t associate love, warmth, loyalty and promise with “manliness”! Manliness is not about fathering children or about how many ladies you floor— but it’s “manliness” when you successfully instill confidence in just “one woman” that you’d stand tall by her even in the most unfavorable of circumstances. It’s "manliness" when you keep your promise and continue to hold her hand even when the whole world pits her against you. It’s then that you become a “man.”

With progressing age and experience, I understand the intricacies of family, siblings, friends and maintaining relationships more than I did before. I figure what is important and what is not, and also who is important and who's not. 

The growing interactions and experiments with people at ADP brought me to another remarkable realization that when "emotions" take the better of you—be it sorrow, hatred, anger, jealousy or even joy—you're nothing! Just nothing! In fact when emotions go overboard, irrespective of gender, background, creed, age and education—all of us stand in the same line. We act equally insane, equally obsessed and equally crippled .

With a whirlwind of these thoughts on my mind, I get ready to swerve “West” for my master’s. While I pack these twenty-five years of life into my three-piece baggage (Well, that's the limit Air India has to offer.) I realize that my 'hare' brain is being thronged by stray thoughts.  I call this a "U-turn" because I never wanted to fly for my master's. And that' s exactly what I'm doing now :P  Oh yes I'm tired being a run-of-the-mill Libran—confused, fickle, whimsical and unstable.


I've gotten ready to pay the exorbitant price of staying away from my family and close friends. “I miss you” would be an understatement for the hurricane of thoughts going on. So let me not say anything except for wishing each of you the very best in your lives!

I have no idea about when I’d make a return journey to Hyderabad, but it’s good bye until then!  

Love! 



Dedicated to “Automatic Data Processing”- the best thing that happened to me in these two-and-a-half decades!

My profound thanks to Sowmya and Ambareesh for getting me referred through “Pehchaan,” the internal referral process in ADP.

My best wishes and hugs to “Lazy Pay” members – Sreekanth, Mirza, Dhaston, Manjusha, Swathi and Lunch Friends – Surya and Pavan

My regards and wishes to Aaditya Mathur – I’ll always cherish the lovely times spent with you on floor, mostly “gossiping” :P  We've never behaved as responsible adults! LOL ..

The OutBoundLearning (OBL) at Gauribidanur introduced me to two more important friends – Vamshi and Joshna – They’ve been with me from the start of my applications till the close of my visa interview. My heartfelt gratitude for their outstanding support and invaluable friendship. Let me know if there’s a stronger phrase than “I’ll miss you.”  I’d certainly remember my 25th birthday party you guys have organized for decades to come! Thank you for everything!!

My other OBL friends – Anudeep and Sneha–I have equally cherishable memories with you. Good luck! 

The elixir of life ..

Twenty-four years, four months and fifteen days. No two seconds of this adventurous travel have been the same as every second kept changing. 'Change' has invariably been the motto of my life, the essence of it, the synonym and in fact the very definition of my life; a sagacious few, I remember, have remarked that the only constant thing in our lives is 'change.'

Over so many years, change has enveloped me. My school of thought, opinions, emotions, reactions, disposition, personality, my know-how, my language, habits, hobbies, priorities, my choices, apparel - all of them have taken turns to prostrate before this evangelist called 'change' and reverentially allowed themselves to be the subjects of this ecclesiastical conjurer who kept waving his magic wand and changing their shades time and again.

I confess that I've melodiously kept singing the change anthem every day and I lay fully engrossed in the change theater. But sometimes commonplace and everyday events, flick on new light on my rather obtuse brain, and persuade it to sink its teeth on a fresh fodder of thought.

One day, as I dexterously prepared extra-large morsels of sambhar rice and hastily threw them down my throat (for the fear of missing my train), Mom started off listing out her "Do's and Don'ts" for me once I reach Bangalore. Starting from 'Don't venture out into crowded places' to 'have proper three meals,' she recited her usual piece of poetry, as she normally does, each time I travel. But her 'travel prescription,' which I always dismissed off saying “Ma please, I know it,” this time, surprisingly struck me with an incredible quantum of impact.

Each time I moved out of town, the list of cautions my parents come up with, has been the same. Even today, when I go out for work in the morning, their list of directions are the same as what they used to be when I started going to school in 1991. Though I was content that my life kept changing on a daily basis, I somehow failed to appreciate the fact that my parents haven't changed an iota. Over the years, the warmth of their love hasn't changed and it finally occurred to me that the change theory isn't applicable to my parents.

Quoting another incident, during early December, my school, as usual made it to the list of top schools in India and ever since I read this piece of news, I have had an irrepressible longing to visit school and so I did. As I embraced my teachers and spoke my heart out to them on the day of the Alumni Meet, it pleasantly dawned on me that they still had the same measure of commitment and penchant for teaching as they did when I left school. Amazingly one of my teachers has been serving Little Flower for the past 47 years with the same zeal and fervor for imparting education ! Can you imagine that ?

My teachers perennially continue to be the pillars of this phenomenal institution and all of them are still with school, magnanimously parting with their life for the cause of education since decades galore. This unchanged glory and repute of Little Flower High School and the unchanged zest for excellence on the part of my teachers make me a proud alumnus of this divine institution. No wonder it still continues to be one among the best schools of India. The reason behind its roaring success, I firmly believe, is the unchanged morals and values it was built upon, 58 years ago.

Sometimes, not everything changes. And the moment they change, they lose their beauty and their purpose. I wouldn't want a change in the quantum of love my family has for me. I'd hate to see a change in the repute of my school. Just for a change, I don't want the comfort zone I share with a few old friends to take a beating.

I don't think I'd accept the sky and water turning yellow, the earth stopping its rotation, the sun declaring its decision not to shine - just for a change. Would you even afford to think of the consequences?

Taking this a step ahead, you'd realize that some of the most successful relationships in life are the ones that don't change. Relationships with parents, siblings, a few good old mates , most of the times, don't change coz the measure of emotions involved have grown thicker and thicker, reach the apex and finally defy any possible change. These relationships are immortal just like the sun, moon and the stars. They have no death, they have no change destined.

While these immortal relationships, despite occasional tiffs and misunderstandings, remain constant over the time, some other relationships undergo ‘change’ and fizzle out with time. And God knows the reasons why some are change-resistant and some others are not.

While it's totally true that you can't avoid a few fiascoes in relationships and every relationship,( be it changed or unchanged), teaches you something, I think I'd honor a relationship which has been robust, sturdy and unchanged. I strongly refuse to believe in the 'People evolve, things change, tastes begin to differ and hence relationships dilute' philosophy. Relationships are supposed to be everlasting, permanent and change-proof.

While change is an essential part of life in a few aspects(remember it stands for progress, newness , freshness and spells advancement) , unchangeability is an even more critical element of life as it makes life seem more purposeful and retains the very meaning of it.

If change is the definition of life, then unchangeability is the elixir of life which cures the ills of the heart, mind and soul and gives the impetus to live life king-size. Regardless of how change-soaked we are, it’s only the unchanged aspects which usher a sense of peace and bliss into our lives. No matter how unitedly we sing the change hymn every day, deep within our hearts we are all secretly yearning for those things which haven’t changed over the years.

Measure your wealth by the number of things that haven’t changed - they form your identity, they are your true possessions and they are your riches.

For

my family,

my school and teachers( specifically Ms. Mary Josephine, who's been with LFHS for a whopping 47 years and is still with school retaining the excellent standards of education. I wish I could continue writing out the names of all my teachers who are still with school. Their unchanged commitment and passion for the field of education keeps the flag of Little Flower flying high in the sky.)

and some friends ..

Wishing all these precious things of mine, a lot of unchangeability !! :-)

Cheers !