Nostalgic!!!

Today I woke up thinking about the past and how I miss some of those incredible days. Whether it was playing on the streets, tours with family, hrs of chit-chat in beagles, UVCE canteen katte, cousins' bike trips, Oracle night outs, Inatech food gala,  UK travels, insane chats with Stella friends, ...there was a flash of sadness that most of those days are over. 

 Wouldn’t we gladly trade some of our tomorrows for those yesterdays?

But the memories are engraved forever in my conscious to remind me that there are loads more such days to live.

Great things happen to good people!!!

I'm so happy to see good people being reciprocated with goodness and even getting the recognition they deserve.

Many believe 'olleavarige kaala ella' kinds where being good is of no use. What people do not realize is Karma is a thing!!! Unlike previous beliefs that the previous life's karma haunts you in this life, the world has changed and the gratification is instant. Karma repays you in this life itself, whether it is good or bad.

Incidents from this week where people who have added meaning to others' lives are getting the deserving gratitude back is such a relief and restore faith in humanity. 

Watching Rahul Dravid yesterday in the Indian team dugout makes me feel so good. He has been one of the most hardworking and nicest cricketers the world had ever seen. He did almost everything he could for the team without thinking twice. He has played at every position, opened batting with wicket keeping, captained without any support, and the list goes on. But he never got the recognition he deserved back then. Forget recognition, he was dropped a million times, criticized for slow batting, not being aggressive on the pitch, etc. He was always the second fiddle for people like Sachin, Ganguly, etc.

Things changed when he was leaving. He was adored for his consistency and discipline which was rare. He has helped so many cricketers and almost everyone who has interacted with him has great regard for him. Read about what Kevin Pieterson has written about Dravid in his biography. He always took the difficult non-recognized jobs like the under 19 coach, A team manager, and cricket academy which no other famous cricketer thought about. And what a difference it made!!! We won a Test series in Australia with almost a B team that Dravid had prepared. The Under 19 talent in India is just incredible and we won almost all games in the world cups and the kids came out shining in IPL. He helped people when they needed it without any expectation in return. But look at him now. No one will think twice if he is nominated as the best ambassador for cricket. His ways of working with youngsters, his speeches, and his hard work have been an inspiration for millions. So much so that Dravid is much more adored than Sachin now. He has added meaning to so many lives and I am so glad that he received the gratitude back by millions!

As I said, great things happen to good people. Gone are the days of bad boys, good is the new 'in thing' 😇 Continue being good, continue helping, and continue adding meaning to life. It gives a feeling of fullness and you will get the returns in this life (even if you do not expect any) 🙏  Karma is a good bitch! 😂😁

Alcohol Intolerant!!!

 have had a couple of drinks in the last few weeks and I am just not able to enjoy it. Like yesterday the 1 G&T I had was just not suiting me. Bombay Sapphire wasn't a bad drink and I used to enjoy it before but something was wrong yesterday. Felt like my body was trying to reject it. 

I have never felt pukish, heartburn, or headache after 1 drink. Probably I am alcohol intolerant. TBH, I was never a big drinker and used to pretend of having continuously while on many occasions I was filling the same glass with ice and diluting it 😂 I did have a few sessions where I had more (for my standards and very less for others) and I normally ended up screwing my sleep. Unlike others, alcohol makes me wide awake in a weird trance, awake and many times a horny state 😁 

I might be heading towards tea tottler (and I dont drink tea or coffee often😆, water is my poison) like I was 12 yrs ago. I'm sure my friends will thup at me by saying "when did you start in the first place, you fucking moron". And I have been told that I do not need a drink to be crazy, dance for hrs at a party without a single drop of alcohol. Im drunk on life and i look drunk with sleep eyes.

Im sure there will be rare occasions where I want to let loose but social drinking for the sake of it might go. Our body is a temple and we need to take care of it 😇

update - 

24/06 Leopold cafe has a brill vibe and I wanted to celebrate the GPTW win. I went for Sangria and after a long time, I did not get heartburn or other issues. Looks like that is my poison.

26/06 the atmosphere was great and Sangria was just awesome. Having a few glasses with my best friends added to the fun. Loved it.

17/07 went out with cousins and ended up drinking for Wifey's bday. The LITs gave me a proper high as I was talking fun crap and also head was spinning. Unfortunately, it made me wake up by midnight and screwed up my entire sleep. Need to watch out.

Gratitude goes a long way!!!

 I just now received a very heartfelt note from my team member about completing a year and thanking me for being there during the tough situations. I just made my day so much brighter. 

"I tremendously adore the way you make the hardest of a situation into lighter one. I am trying to adopt the same, but doubt will never reach your heights😇😇

 You are the one I look up to, when in dilemma. Thanks a million for being there.

 Cheers to the year passed by!!! Cheers to the years ahead!!!"

I was just doing my job and hardly did anything special for the person. TBH, she was hired for a smaller role but has taken up a massive role change to replace her manager. She completed long pending things and worked really hard to put in stricter processes.

It just says a lot about the person showing gratitude than me. Such things make me proud of hiring the right person and investing time in them. There is no better feeling as a people leader than making a difference in careers.

All I could reply was 'You make me proud!!!'

Small gratitude makes a big difference to people and goes a long way. Hope we take time out for it 👐

Satisfied!

 As I am finishing my Pune trip, I feel satisfied for various reasons. Yes, the food was awesome, the weather was great, and the office work I came for went on smoothly but the biggest highlight was meeting a super girl!!

To start with food, I tried almost all authentic Puneri food and it was awesome. The vada pav was simply super, my hate for Misal Pav has now turned into love thanks to a street vendor's magical misal 😆 The kheema fry in the good luck cafe was incredible, something I will visit again and again (it is a must-visit place whenever I am in Pune) and the homemade style nonveg thali in 'recipe' restaurant was grt. 

I was dreading the weather of 43 degrees but it looked like I got Bangalore cloudy weather with me. 2 days were pleasant and the last day was slightly hotter, definitely manageable. I enjoyed the auto rides and the paying by the meter was such a change when compared to other cities 👌

Office work could not have gone better with 1200 pages of documentation. My finance manager (who is also a good friend and like a younger sister) was in her element and managed the entire documents with the CS who was very helpful. Signing 1200 pages were monotonous and also gave me a feel of a celebrity 💃

But the highlight was meeting a supergirl Neelam, wifey's cousin. She is a 30 yrs old kid who is fighting one of the worst kinds of cancer I have heard of. She is the only kid who lost her father to cancer at the age of 14 and is the only bread earner of the family. She was diagnosed with cancer almost a year back and has been fighting it like a champion. After 3 chemo sessions, 14 radiotherapies, and 3 surgeries, recently she went through a major brain surgery as there was a huge cancerous lump on her forehead. It was so complex that doctors had warned about permanent disability/coma/loss of eyesight/death/etc. Her entire scalp has been removed for the surgery and then stitched on her forehead and the back of her head has been patched with skin from another area. It looks weird but not for long as her shining eyes and beautiful smile took over. Not once I felt weird as she was chatty like before and full of life. I have not seen anyone fighting for life is so positive and strong. Not once did I see her sad or worried and her mom was equally positive. I managed to take time out all 3 days to meet her even if it was for 30 mins kind. Just wanted to show I am around and also draw some inspiration from her. While I was cribbing about uncertainties in work and boring life, she is fighting with a nice smile on her face. I also realized how blessed we are to be healthy, rest all can be managed. I just wish she continues to fight and wins over. People like her deserve to live and share their success with the rest of us. So much to learn from it, So inspiring 🙏 

I wish everyone great health which they can enjoy to the fullest. And for everyone going through health issues, my prayers and wishes are to recover soon 👐 Life is worth fighting for and living.

Difficult Circumstances!!!

 I was watching a video today about a Tamil actor talking about how difficult success is and when you achieve it, you will remember the way you handled difficult times with pride.

Made me think, that almost everyone talks about how difficult their life was and how they overcame it. Very few talk about how good or easy their life has been and almost no one talks about how they succumbed to those difficult times. I wonder why is this?

Talking about an easy life makes it look like boasting? Does it make you less of an achiever? I have always counted my blessings over the issues I faced. There are millions who dream of the kind of life I have. I was talking to a friend recently that we could be in the top 1% of people in India with our own houses, good jobs, healthcare, decent lifestyles, etc. Why don't we look at these as blessings and crib and cry for not having more?

And talking about how you could not handle a situation and broke apart is a big NO? It probably shows how incompetent you are and makes you less of a man (or woman)? I have been like that for ages not because I did not want to show my sad side but because I have always been foolishly optimistic and looked at the things going well than the ones that are bad. Probably my way of not dealing with difficult times. I am able to deal with these situations better and be open about them. Long way to go but definitely in the right direction. Just hope I get the strength to deal with the difficult circumstances better and accept myself when things go wrong. 

I wish the same for all, talk about their blessings and issues openly. It will help us understand that not everyone's life is a rosy vacation and life happens between those beautiful pics. Maybe we can fight them together and celebrate the small blessings. 

I have a Dream!!!

 3 years back when I joined my current Org, I was the 32nd employee in Bangalore. The organization was so new to India/offshore and every day was a struggle to convince people that we can deliver great quality. A couple of months later, growth seemed very less as most projects were being difficult and the trust was gone. That is when the COO and our biggest ambassador told me about his vision of having 200 people in India. His dream was to see the top floor filled with 200 people and take a good pic. 

It felt like a distant dream almost impossible then. I was not even sure we will reach 50 forget 200. 2.5 yrs later, as of yesterday we crossed 200 and have gone from a development center to a full fledge capability center. It has been an incredible journey of a team effort, hard work, pain, difficult conversation, proving time and again our capability. I'm proud to say we have built a superb team with great culture and bonding. The best part is that the 5 fold growth was during the toughest times known to us, Covid, and the great resignation era. 

This just goes to show the power of a dream. We all were focused to keep growing 1 person at a time, 1 project delivery, and proved what we can and can't do. Some people have the vision to dream big and keep reiterating in their heads to make it a reality. My boss took a 250-seater office building when he was only 15 resources. He saw the vision of having 200+ people 4 years back and has seen it happen. Now the dream is to go to 500 in 2 years which seems crazy but I'm not skeptical. I believe, if we can grow 5 times in 3 yrs, 2.5 times in 2 yrs is possible.

Thinking of it, if Martin Luther King did not have the dream, the world would have been very different and definitely worse than now. 

So, cheers to dreaming of a better world, a better life, a better yourself, and achieving it!!!