Corporate ladder

 After almost 13 long years, this June I said goodbye [for now] to the corporate world. It was nothing short of a dream run I had while working at GE. Ever since I got enrolled in Electrical Engineering in my under-grad, it was my dream to work with GE - there's no bigger firm than GE in the world of electric grid. 

I got my lucky break in 2012 while I was finishing my Masters in the US. HR called me to fly to Florida for 3-4 rounds of interview. After getting out of airport, I asked my cab driver to take me to the beach first [it was a 10-minute walk from the hotel I was staying in]. In my entire life upto that point, I had been to a beach twice [both times while I was in school, we went to visit my uncle in Mumbai]. This time, I was all alone on this pristine beach with my shoulder bag flying straight into 70°F Florida weather from the snowy winters of Maine. I promised myself I would do everything I could to get this dream job and would never move out of it. 

The next day's interview got me a job [with the much-needed visa] in a city on the coast of Atlantic ocean. Over the next 13 years, I have forgotten how many walks I took along the coast of the same pristine sea. In the first 3-4 years, I was confident in my ability to understand and do what I was asked to in my role but I was always in awe of the brilliant people surrounding me in the office. First 5 years, I was simply happy to be in a role I had dreamt of for so many years. 

In next half decade, I travelled to countries I only had heard of. Still climbing the corporate ladder slowly and steadily. Without much greed for the position or role, I was just happy working on the projects/products which were very much I had learnt all these years my under-graduation and graduation. A couple of years back, I was very content with the thought of retiring from this same company [and even on the same role I was at that time]. 

Fortunately, Life had other plans. This June, I left my job and a team I had for last 13 years. No more annual salary, no more promotions, no more paid vacation - just me getting paid on hourly basis for the work I do. And this tag of 13 years of work experience at GE is still giving me more work than I can handle nowadays. Fingers crossed. 

Template of life

While growing up, there used to be two ways of doing/executing some task. One correct way, and the other incorrect way. And one never realizes that this 2-way rule gets so incorporated in your way of leading life - that we so easily judge others based on our narrow judgement of how the world works.

I was no different carrying this bag of my narrow viewpoint and adding few more rules every year in this bag. One must study in college, one must get a job, when one should buy a car, when should I get married [and this list is endless]. Anytime I would met some, we'll discuss the usual talks. In 20s it was about going for higher degree, settling in a new place, getting a new job, renting a new place, getting married. In 30s, talks revolve more around buying a new place or a car, investment lessons, kids, travelling. 

We, as a human, always have a tendency to find the like-minded persons, create a bond over likeable stuff, and then continue to live in this so-called cocoon for the rest of our lives. Same set or friends, same ideas, same jobs - and how conveniently we start believing that this is how the life must be lead. 

Few years back, I thought how anyone who doesn't fit in this model or someone who's not leading a life as per my model could be happy. I'm not the one who created this template of leading life, that's how everyone [I know of] has lead or will lead the life. How can one leave a job in 30s to go back to his/her parents? How can one who dropped out of school in 20s could end up finishing graduate school at 42? Can one, in her sane mind, continue renting a place while having thousands of cash sitting idle in checking account? One of my friends [with financial resources] hate travelling and has never been to any other state than Florida. Do these people exist?

In last few years, I've started appreciating people or humans [in general] more who doesn't fit this so-called successful-life-template. After all, that's the beauty of this human life and the diversity. There's no such template: we humans, sitting idle on our weekends with our life-minded friends, created and are leading our life as per this template. There are perhaps millions of such templates in different parts of the world, and millions such small cocoons of people living their lives totally unaware of things happening outside their nest. Still nothing wrong with this too. 

Alternate Universe (AU)

It is real. Turning over 35 now and teenage years feels like a dream that happened in an alternate universe. The excitement of a new job, of a new car, of a new city - all wither away with time. All that is left are the mundane chores keeping you busy and weeks are passing away in front of your eyes as if watching the endless green fields from a moving bus. Is this going to be my life for the next 40 or 50 years?

No. Most likely no. Hopefully no. One needs to find new ways to make this life as beautiful as it seem it was in the teenage years. Some have the confidence [in their 30s] which they lacked in their 20's, some have money, some have the flexibility - one can put these newly acquired resources to good use. 

As far as I'm concerned, I want to explore this world more. With all [money, confidence and flexibility] on my side this time, I want to go on the paths never travelled before. I don't want to wait till my retirement years, as those are as far away as are teenage years [or even more]. After sometime, these 30s would also exist in an alternate universe and then these fairytale trips would also feel like a distant memory, but will have a picture or two from that distant memory. 

Sharing one which already feels like a distant memory to me.

Mountain life

 After living for almost 10 years in Florida and exploring umpteenth of beaches, we have finally managed to move to the mountains of Utah. Driving thru 10 different states in six days, we finally managed to reach SLC first week of march. Now living in an Airbnb and still trying to find the warmth amidst the snow storms.

This is our car, which had never seen snow ever before, drove thru the black ice of Wyoming, dirty slushy snow of Colorado and finally managed to bring us to Utah..

Miami

Miami, a city, only 4 hours away from my place. Yet sometimes I miss visiting it. Last 3 years, I made frequent visits to Miami for visa, flights and cruises - yet never stopped even once to adore the beauty of this city. This time it was all about watching this beautiful city lightening up as the sun sets, restaurants filling up quickly to fill the place with joy and laughter. Dancers and actors performing their tricks on the ocean drive with mild summer wind blowing from the ocean's surface. Fancy cars stopping by the packed clubs to drop or pickup their fashionable owners. The city has its own charm like no other. 

Only this time, I didn't sit in a restaurant to get engulfed in conversations and laughter. I sat at a distance watching this beautiful city and admiring everything it has to offer.

Feeling accomplished

There's a classic Bollywood movie '3 Idiots', which most of the Indians have definitely watched more than once. I'm no different in this respect and must've watched at least 30-35 times. In the movie, the lead actor [Aamir Khan] sarcastically tells the girl [lead actress - Kareena Kapoor] not to marry another guy who has come to India for match-making. Aamir Khan tries to convince her by telling that this guy is a stupid fellow. "He did his engineering degree from India and then went to US and got his MBA degree. If he really wanted to get into Business or Management, why did he opt for engineering in the first place?". 

I'm feeling the same emotions after recently finishing my MBA degree (I opted for it after doing Bachelors and Masters degree in Engineering). Still all I see in front of me is a dark and long tunnel with no end. Moreover, even the actress got convinced in the movie with Aamir Khan's logic and left that guy for good. 

PS - I also got an expensive watch [as a graduation gift]. I never fail to announce its price tag anytime someone complements me for my watch.

Lohri 2021

Lohri has always been a special affair to me since childhood. Buying kites from a local store a day before and making sure all kites were dry [and ready to fly next morning]. Getting up early on Lohri morning and visiting temple to setup the Ramayan puja - another event so freshly engraved in my mind.

Coming home by 10am and seeking approval from Grandma to go on terrace to fly kites. She would try to postpone it by half an hour so it gets little warmer outside and in the meantime I'd finish my breakfast. Once the meals were taken care of and sun shining brightly outside the window, no one would disturb me until the lunch [another assumed promise]. I would fly kites [and lose most of my bought lot] until noon and then would take couple of hours of break to again visit temple.

Around 4ish - once the sun's brightness had withered down a bit - I would go on terrace for another round of kite flying. This time would come down only after finishing all my lot. Once in a while, I would get fortunate enough to come down from terrace with more kites. By 7pm, everyone would gather around the bonfire in back porch to celebrate Lohri. In my mind, I would still be counting kites which I can fly the next day. 

The day wasn't over yet. Dinner would be followed with yet another visit to temple to celebrate another round of bonfire and Lohri. By this time, it'd get considerably colder than daytime. Thinking about the kites I won and lost that day - and how I could have saved my favorite kite with a newly learned concept - I would fall asleep to enjoy another day.

The charms of Childhood !!

Perfect summer, i alwasy wished for !!

This pandemic, Covid-19' has brought an avid reader out of me. The reader i always wanted to be on peaceful weekends. The reader with couple of good books and far away from the maddening crowd. The reader to whom parties don't interest anymore.

This summer i was hoping to at least catch up on 3-4 books given my less-than-busy-schedule at work and MBA classes. As soon as this pandemic broke out, all my work and study related travel came to a halt. Without wasting any further time, I ordered couple of books in second week of March. Already into the second week of April, I've finished three books and two more books are already on my way through postal services.

And the best out of the lot is 'Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine'. This summer, I'm going to fulfill my wish of sitting all weekend at home with a book in hand and no one to disturb (except, of course, my wife) !!