Living a dream, Part-time !

As I kid I fancied a life, living out of suitcase, I always wanted to be that very busy corporate personality living with / around a traveling suitcase, collecting lots of air-miles, flashing 10 cards, and most of the all flying over all the gorgeous countries.

But as it turns out as we grow up, the reality hits. You work doesn't mean you have it all. Not everyone in the organization gets to travel. Not everyone who works lives out of the suitcase. Not everyone works for a multinational company. Not all organization has work all across the globe!

May be it was that child-hood dream which made me go for MBA, as I thought may be it will bring me more near to my dream, but it didn't. Years passed and I started feeling happily settled in life and almost forgot about it until now.

In my recent job, we are going for a new system which meant travel on & off to our HO at none other than Paris!
And that brought all the childhood fantasy back, well I might not have achieved even 10% of those fantasies, i might not be doing even a fraction if all what those dreams hold and this might not be a forever thing but this is enough to give a feeling of how it will be, a reality check on how would it have been if those dreams had come true.

Well I do enjoy what I do, I do love this experience and I do know how nice exposure it is for me personally and career wise but same time reality is also how it is not so much fun, being on your own in a new place where you don't know anyone. Spending evenings alone, and missing loved ones, worrying about him if he ate his dinner properly or not! (Knowing he cannot cook and he doesn't eat leftovers!) And he is also home, all alone trying to keep himself busy with work !

Everything has got some pros and cons I guess. But still it feels nice in a way at least I am living a part of a dream!


P.S. And that's the reason of my invisibility on blogosphere. Thanks to you friends for checking on me if everything alright. I am settling in a new system and hopefully will be back to new schedule soon.



Photo Courtsey : http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-37006177/

Friday 13th, What do you think about it?

As i entered the office today and greeted in general "Good Morning", my voice came out like bad throat. To that my colleague commented that you know it's 13th August today so in general there will be more accidents. Ok to be honest i don't know what 13th August has to do with more accidents.

My other colleague added it has to do with Bible as it is noted there. Okay now i don't know that too. So that first colleague said ya see it has to do something with Bible but as i don't follow it, i shouldn't believe in it. True, isn't it?

So is this just a Dutch belief or in other counties too regarding accidents?

I couldn't find any logic in 13th August, so i google and came across this link, there is also a separate paragraph on this Dutch belief.

To sum it up as 13 number is believed inauspicious (which i knew) and also Friday ( which i didn't know) so this combination of 13th and Friday must be !

Don't know where all these superstition started year back. To me accidents happens everyday, it's just as our minds are more receptive of any bad news on this particular day because it is actually looking for it to validate that belief and so it notes those incidents more than on any other day.

What do you think? Do you have any 13 and Friday stories? and what about Bible, where does Bible play role in this? Because of Good Friday or Black Friday thing? ( Pls forgive me for my ignorance ! )

Many happy returns of the day...

Today is Fem's birthday. So this post goes to her. ( Those of you, who don't know who she is, will know by end of this post )

How easy it seems to make friends when we are in college, studying...having fun but not so easy in professional world, at work, especially when we are in a country where language is different and we don't speak and understand that language yet!

When I joined my current job, I was one of those lucky ones who had a job as soon as they moved to this country without knowing a single word of Dutch. After joining here i met many, but also started seeing the difference it makes if you can speak and understand the language. Almost all speak and understand English but still, knowing Dutch surly helps in socialising.

So that was the time, I had just joined the office. Newly married, New country, New people, New office, New culture, New language ... sometimes feeling exactly like Alice in Wonderland.
That is when i saw this Asian looking girl walking around, working on same floor as mine. We never got to talk much apart from exchanging hello on a way to coffee. When i heard her talking i wondered over her accent as it certainly didn't sound much Asian... but then who knows !!

That day I got invitation for Introduction lunch and meeting from HR. I checked the list of invitees and saw her name too. ( In office, we have quarterly Introduction meeting and everyone, who joined during that period, attend this company presentation and small induction meeting followed by lunch as a part of company Induction program )
Seeing her name there made me feel a little surprised, as looking at the way she walked around in the office, confidently, commuting with everyone so nicely i had thought she must have been here for a while. But she hadn't, she was a new joinee too, just that she joined before i did.

On that day of Induction meeting, I went for lunch on scheduled time, but I was not sure where to meet others and I hardly knew anyone there. So I bought lunch from restaurant and when I was standing in line to pay for it, This HR girl spotted me and informed me that I do not need to pay and asked me to join others at a table specially arranged for us. When I went there, almost whole table was already full with all chairs occupied and food was nicely arranged. I could spot only one sit empty nearby and that was beside this girl. She welcomed me with smile to sit beside her. I noticed that like me she also had got her food from restaurant bar and had placed that on side table and so did I.

We started talking a little bit on general things. I come to know that she is from Canada and joined one month before me. Now it happens that me being vegetarian, I am not sure what to eat. There is this typical European lunch there and I took a sandwich from that and she also had something similar. After a while of we started eating, she asked me that how I find this sandwich. Unsure what to say, I just say ya, it's okay. In response to that she made sound something like... hmmm.... and we continued our tries to have lunch !! It seemed that both of us were not feeling very comfortable with the food available on table, so then she quietly picks up her omelet and soup from side table, bought from restaurant and I do the same by picking up my soup from side tray at least to have something in lunch.

When everyone was done with lunch and we started walking towards conference room for our introduction meeting, She asks me again, now tell me frankly how did you find lunch, and I laughed. But still unsure being it my first conversation with her, i just casually replied ya okay type. I asked her the same question and she replied aah, it was terrible, I couldn't finish it.
A laugh together, relieved. I couldn't help but saying ohh thank god, I was not sure what to say... !! hahaha

I think that is how this thread of sharing started and which still continues...

I was truly amused when i found out that her roots are indeed from India but it is just that she has never been there. And a great surprise when i came to know her parents were from as Gujarat.
When asked whether she can speak or understand Hindi, ( in hopes to find someone with whom can talk in own language); the answer was even a bigger surprise as She replied, No, she doesn't but she speaks Gujarati a little bit as her parents do.
I can't express how incredible it felt, meeting someone from the same place as I was, some one who could speak my mother-tongue and someone who had never been to India !!

That felt like a great relief to have someone in this wonderland to talk with, whenever wanted.
From then on, whenever we feel tired of too much Dutch and get frustrated with our little knowledge of Dutch and cultural difference we will share our frustrations in our own language which no one else here will understand and will feel good venting it out !!! hehehehe. Everyone need a venting place, isn't it true?

It's one year in this company and i feel happy how we shared and help each other to sustain and survive in this buitenland !!

I am happy that we met....
Happy Birthday Fem :)

Safety Flash...

We got this e-mail today in office addressed to all employees ....

Dear all,
For the second time in the last six months a PC monitor started to smell and develop smoke. We would kindly request and remind everyone to please switch-off your PC Monitor before you go home.

Take this action not only in the office, as well as at your home and educate your kids to do the same.
The IT department has requested monitor manufacture to conduct an investigation to the malfunction monitor.

Please see instruction that better describe where we can find the PC Monitor switch.
You need only to develop this habit, it is really only a very small thing to do, however might make a huge difference in fire assurance. Thank you for your safety and environmental action.

Okay so tell me who didn't know before reading the instructions that where PC monitor switch is???

Can it be ...

Do you know what is on my mind since yesterday?? Some serious thinking about - Can plants think? Can they feel?

You must be thinking what made me wonder about things like this...right??
Actually what happened is, We celebrated the World Environment Day in office on 5th June. On that occasion after a small presentation we got plants (hortencia’s) to take home.... And as there were extra plants, they said we can even take two as otherwise it will be lying there...such a pity... so I got one with pink flowers and one with purple.... ( cool...huh ) ohh wait but that is not what we were talking about ...

So where were we ...ok ya plants... so we celebrated this day, and as it was last day of week so many of those who had come office early had already left by that time of evening. ( That is the reason why there were extra plants available ) So we took plants for them too and put them on everyone's desk, one for each. (Nice indeed, isn't it?)

So now when we were back to office on Monday... all plants were doing well, fresh and blooming with flowers EXCEPT one.
This one plant didn't survive through weekend... leaving us wondering when all plants were there and all were doing great, why particularly this one died..?!?!.
While we were busy guessing on what went wrong with this particular plant and a flying comment from a colleague touched my wondering mind....

Ohh how poor ... it died... ohh i know why, may be 'cos it felt neglected...
ohh okaaaay .... how?
Ohh when we put that plant on this XYZ colleague's desk, XYZ said that he doesn't want it and is not taking it home, so plant felt neglected that it is unaccepted and it is going to be here at office all the time till it die and so it felt sad and eventually died...

Since then, whenever I look at that desk where that plant stood on that day... I wonder, did that plant really feel that way?

Me... Office... Orange... Coffee & Parrot !!

I came to office today, yeah just as always... !!
Sat on my desk staring at my flat 17" LCD computer screen....

Few hours passed…
Then it happened... Yes, I got thirsty...

How about having a cup of coffee?
Hmm… coffee huh?? don't you remember that 2 days back incident, when couldn't fit in trousers which fitted perfectly just few days back??
Ohh ya… Why don’t I eat those oranges, which I brought to office as a result, deciding to eat healthy from now.

I opened my drawer…. Oranges smiled back to me…
Hmmmm… Oranges dear, will you be fine until Monday lying on your own here?
Ohh yeah, we were lying at your house for days and are still alright so what's more these 2 days going to change? Ahh right...!

I stood up and started walking.
Left right left right left right left right left right left right left right

After 48 steps, I reached pantry area. (Yes, exact 48 steps)

I should not have so many coffees…
But I am not in a mood to have plain black tea or just water...!

Pressed espresso... hmm need milk and sugar too
(Ok I will go for single sugar and not double you calorie freaks..... but then double milk)

I turned around to be back at my desk and that is when it happened...
Yes I saw a full size walking parrot!! (Nooo common, i wasn't drunk!!)

Ohh no it can’t be parrot, it can’t be this tall, looked like 1.5 times my height!! (Ok don’t guess my height here now)...
I tried to focus, tried to wake up my half asleep mind and tried to figure it out...

Ohh ya I was right... It can’t be parrot and it wasn’t...
It was my colleague walking to pantry, wearing yellow sweater and parrot green pants... (Aah Europeans...!)

In spite of all my book love ...

G is my colleague, who sits opposite to my desk, our desktop screen back to back and we face to face!!

G – Can you please help me with this box…?
Me- yeah sure

Me – hey what’s that? Some more books huh..?
G- Yeah, I ordered some and got it today, can you please put that in drawer?

I open the drawer and find it full of other books.

Me – phew… so many books, aren’t you taking them home?
G – Hmmm, ya I will eventually…but if I take everything altogether, my dad is going to kill me so one by one I will sneak them home.

Me – hee hee hee
G – Don’t laugh…!!

Me – o okie… (Going through the book collection) which one is this? You have ordered whole series.
G – Which one are you talking about? Ohh you are talking about P.G.Wodehouse?

Me - Umm which?...hmmm ya that
G- Ohhh, haven’t you read P.G.Wodehouse?

Me – (sheepishly) Nop, as far as I remember
G – (In a surprised voice) WHAT??? That is impossible……..

**** pause*****

After some time....

G - Really you haven’t read P.G.Wodehouse?
Me - Arrrr…no… (Frantically trying to save my image of book lover) or may be I read them but don’t remember name now.

G - Ya it is not possible…if you say you haven’t read I will be shocked
Me- Arrr okieee (wondering what it might be about)

And may be G reads my mind same time

G - Have u read about Jeeves…. Bertie ???
Me - Arrr….i don’t think so…

G – (In a high pitch shocked expression which throws me 2 ft away) OMG, I m shocked...
Me – Arrrr… Is it that good? I mean one gotta read it?
G- Yeah, I cannot believe someone wouldn’t have read it.

Then taking mercy on my poor knowledge...

G - Okay you open that packet and take home one of that to read….
Me – Ok, thanks G. (I am so happy, now i have one more book with humour and i will know what is so big deal about it) which one shall i take G? Which is the first part?

G gives me a look… may be thinking…you dumb girl…

G –Doesn’t matter …there are no parts… take any of them
Me – arrrr …okkk

As I carefully select one reading titles and take one….

G - Ok leave it … I will bring a paper cover edition for you tomorrow

(What??? why??? Is it because she doesn’t trust me with books??)

Me – arrr….But you will forget it tomorrow. (Disappointingly, I don’t want to let go an opportunity to have any book)
G - No, I won’t.
Me - Because you are shocked?
G - Yes, my dad will be shocked as well...

Grrrrr….aahhh… hmmm

Other day, as G enters office… I am all prepared pulling her for forgetting the book. Why I am so sure? Obviously ….. We hadn’t mentioned it whole day and I hadn’t even reminded her in evening while leaving to bring it other day….!!

Me – Good Morning G
G- (In stead of good morning in reply) I did not forget!!!
Me – (arrrr….trying to hide my disappointment on missing the chance) Hee hee hee , you were that shocked??
G - Yeah… reaching home first thing I did was to put that in bag…

Me - heee heee heee
G – Here it is… but I want it back…I am making a collection

Me - Ya….sure…. (Then looking at the book as it appears as very new without single folded page, as I have many in ones I read) Ohh haven’t u read it…it looks so neat n new
G - I have…. but I DO TAKE PROPER CARE !!!

Okay… So I was right yesterday on why she changed her mind while giving one from that hard cover collection ;)

P.S. Now after coming home when I opened the book… it did look like that I have at least seen it before if not read it ;) ... noooo ... i am serious.... trust me.... really i have...!!

One of those days ...

Have you had a day when all you want is to sleep, rest under a warm blanket, when it's cloudy - windy and rainy outside and only to wake up to have that garma-garam masala chai with pakodas :)
I think all of us would have it, some day or the the other ....

I felt same today... no not as i was feeling lazy as always... but because i had a running nose and so my body & mind were just shouting don't go office...sleep...sleep

So here go the fight... me v/s me... or you can say lazy me v/s sincere me ;)

Lazy me - don't go office today...
Sincere me - huh...ummm...hmmm.. but i don't have those many leaves ... and i have to save them for India trip...

Lazy me - call office n say you are not well, then it will be a sick leave !!
Sincere me - but i am not that sick, and i have got a report to finish...

Lazy me - but u won't be feeling good sitting there whole day for waiting for those two line inputs from project manager to finalise the report.
Sincere me - yeah... but i have to FINALISE the report.

Lazy me - okay then call and say that you are not well and will come late just to finish the report. Sincere me -Nooo, and what if tomorrow i am feeling worse and i don't want to go... then better i take a leave tomorrow !

Lazy me - but then don't go tomorrow as well.
Sincere me - hummm.. ummm ..mmm....

Lazy me- seeeee ... even You don't want to go office...
Sincere me - ya... but everyday i don't want to go to office...

duh....hmmm ya...right... ok here u go girl..!