November is here..

Yes, roughly a week is left before November would be here. Somehow since i grew up in India, november sounds more festive to me than december. During this time in my hometown, it starts getting little cool after the scorching summers of june and july. You start looking for new winter clothes or starting unpacking your old sweaters and jackets. I remember when as a kid, i used to jump around the pile of winter clothes laid under sun to get rid off of any existing stink from naphthalene balls. I would jump from one pile to other thinking about what will i wear to school the next day. Then those food delicacies like saag and makki would start arriving in big bags to our home. The cold coffee or mango shakes are replaced by hot bournvita milk. The school uniform shorts are replaced with trousers and suit jackets. All this will stay until April comes again.

Fortunately i could very much relate with this change of weather during my college days as well. It was around 250 kms from my home, so the weather change would roughly be the same. After the graduation i moved to Delhi. It does get cooled down in Delhi, but perhaps not to an extent as in Punjab. But i was always glad to witness it in Delhi too. I used to explore some more coffee shops or any roadside stalls which could serve something hot during next 3-4 months of mild winter (yes, compared to northern states of US it was mild).

Then i moved to Maine, US for pursuing my masters. I still remember vividly the night of January 1st 2011 when i landed in states. The weather outside was -28 degrees celsius. Then came the two years of my life where i couldn't relate with anything at all. It would snow for eight months straight which in itself was alien to me. The summers were short and sweet. The Mainers would go out all guns blazing exploring new parks, driving to southern states, visiting family and friends in those three months. After finishing my masters, i moved to the sunshine state of Florida where it never gets colder than Mumbai. You could go out and surf on the beach on the new years eve. And once again the world became a sweeter place to stay where i would wait for november to wear my winter clothes and the gently cooled air of nature to make me nostalgic of my hometown all over again.

My carry bag

I remember writing a post on my carry bag sometime in year 2008 (yes, six years ago). While sitting in the library today, i again thought my carry bag and realized how much it has changed in last 5 years.

The link to my previous post - Here

Well comparing to my previous bag, now i carry an altogether different bag. It sits comfortably on two wheels at the base and is easy to move around. It is black in color with lots of zipped pockets on each sides as well as in front. It has a handle on the top to drive it around at the airport terminals. Inside the front pocket of bag, there is my blackberry phone charger and car keys if i'm not carrying those in my pocket. In the next pocket, i keep my wallet on one side and my vpn token and a pack of mint in the other pocket. This pocket is easily accessible from the top and sideways, hence keep my wallet in there. Then there is a small zipper before the big compartment, it carries 4-5 pens, my office login card and few broken lead pencils. I always want to keep this pocket tidy, but can't think of any other place where i could keep all this useless pens and pencils.

It carries two big compartments, both well padded to keep the delicate electronic stuff inside it. One big pocket carries my dell 17" workstation and other one carries a portable monitor of same size. There are very few shoulder bags available in market which could fit in a 17" laptop and a monitor, so i went with this bag. Since i work from the library or home on regular basis, it is always easier to carry a portable monitor with me to ensure my work doesn't suffer. Then there is a back pocket almost as big as the laptop pockets. I keep my laptop charger and my food in this pocket. One could find the oat crumbs in it from my oat bars or usual spicy aroma from Indian food. Once in a while, it would also carry extra popcorn packets to cover my appetite during extended work hours. Then there are some silica gel packets in almost all the pockets to soak all the moisture inside the bag.

It has almost all the stuff i would need on a regular working day. And yes, it does get the weekend off by laying off in my study room from friday night till monday morning. And then the race starts again..

Life's goal

So what exactly drives our lives? Is it the number i discussed in my last post. People work their ass off to make it big and some die without even a single penny. Do we live to earn or earn to live?

One thing is pretty sure - I don't earn to live. If that would have been the case of my life, i wouldn't be working more than 3-4 hours a day to meet the ends. I work to earn and live. My work help me meet my needs and more importantly drives my life. I work to live and live to work. Every night when i go to sleep, i'm excited about the work i did that day; and even more excited thinking about the work i would do next day. I have some boring days in my schedule when things don't go as planned. But then i understand the financial side of my job too that it serves my needs.

But then the work which i do won't remain the same five years from now. Will it be adventurous enough to keep me tied? I'm the one who needs to find out and work towards it. I'm the one who needs to make it more adventurous as i move forward on my career path. Not everyone is lucky to love their jobs; but we can make it more exciting. There will always be some scope of improvement. That 'scope of improvement' drives my life.

The story of desk

So when i moved to Tampa last year after my marriage, i wanted a bigger wooden desk to setup my workstation at home. Since i would be working from home 3 days a week, i was never going to compromise with the dimensions or quality of the desk. During my masters, i had a huge wooden desk - and i was equally fond of it. But we parted ways after my graduation as it was too huge to carry over from Maine to Florida. Then i bought a nice big desk which served more than its purpose for next couple of years.

So last year around August, i started searching for a wooden desk online and by visiting stores (and this time more seriously since i would be using it a lot), but found none. To make things worse, my wife suggested me (or was it an order?) not to buy a very huge desk, as it would hinder walking in the room.Finally after going through all the tables available, i ordered one online. It seemed like a perfect fit for my room. And yes, it got placed perfectly in a small corner of my room, - but wasn't large enough to keep my two monitors together with laptop. You must be wondering how dare i insulted this nice table with such an illogical reasoning. Who in the world would place two monitors and a laptop together in a room? Yes, i do this. Same expressions were on my wife's face when i addressed my issues to her (not so very convincingly though). We decided to start using it as i couldn't afford even a day without it for my office work, besides we would keep an eye for a bigger and nicer desk.

It's been more than a year now. Every morning when i start using my laptop, i always think of replacing it with something better. Only God knows when that lucky day would come in my life. But using this not-so-big table has made me fond of it too. When i get up from this table after finishing some important project or some random work, i always appreciate the way it has served me for past one year without complaining of any wear-tear or anything. And yet I've always undervalued its worth in search for something better. Sometimes when i walk into my room to see this perfectly sized table well dressed with books and my monitors, i always cherish it.

But one fine day, i'll throw you out of my balcony for something bigger and nicer. Till then, be my guest.

Contentment part-2

I talked about contentment in my last post about how i, as a kid, was more-or-less content with my life. I wouldn't say i had all the luxuries at my expense, but my parents gave me enough to make me feel fortunate. When i would see someone's parents working so hard as rickshaw-pullers or bus drivers, it made me realize the importance of every penny my parents had spent on me. Studying in a normal school (and not in convent) opened me up to all corners of world. Some kids from those corners where dogs were fed the cooked meat  at the weekend parties - while some from those corners where people ate the leftovers. When I would see kids sittings besides me wearing worn-out shoes, how in world could i muster the courage to ask my parents to get me a new pair of shoes simply because i'm fed up of wearing these for two months. I might muster the courage to ask my parents for another pair of shoes, and i might get one too. But my conscience would have felt ashamed next day sitting right next to that boy who still seemed happy in his old shoes.

As we grow up, these short stories get lost in this race to achieve some short-sighted goals of life. Once in a while, these memories would cross your mind when you see some kid walking down on road with bare feet under scorching sun. These memories would make you forget your worries to fix your car's AC or looking for a better apartment. But this moment doesn't last long. You forget all those faces of kids who once were your companions in school, but couldn't make it to an expensive college like yours. You might boast to snatch the credit by giving excuses of putting so many years of hard work, but deep down in your heart you also knew that those faces were more than capable of achieving what you have achieved in your life so far. Not pointing fingers towards anyone, i myself have forgotten so many faces which got lost in this race. I still vividly remember one such face, and i can say with all my belief that he would have got miles ahead of me in this race, had he gotten the luck with which i came into this world.

Such feelings make me realize the importance of everything i possess in my life. It makes me feel satisfied with whatever i possess. When i go to sleep at night, sometimes i smile and feel happier about the smallest of tasks which i completed that day. These small moments bring the joys of life which sometimes grand achievement fail to do..

Ride part-II

The ride discussed is part 1 is all about the painstaking mornings when i need to wake up early to reach office in time. Morning traffic is another battle which is fought week after week to avoid the delay. Contrary to above struggles, the ride back home is always pleasant. The most important reason for these pleasant rides is my wife who would call me every half an hour after 3pm to convince me to leave office early. I try to leave as early as possible, but then doing it so often won't justify the reason for which i come to office.

I usually leave office around 4:30 pm (assuming my attempt to reach office before 8:00 am is successful). Once i reach outskirts of city, i would call my wife to tell her that i've left from office. Next one hour drive is more or less same all the time. There's no traffic on the highway, so i can drive looking around the beautiful sights of settling sun and green fields. There is another city which lies midway from my office on the way to home. By the time i that city, it would get dark already. Once i safely get out of this city, the task already seems finished. The last one hour is always spent thinking about dinner. Like everyone, i too want to reach home as early as possible. I've to keep telling myself not to over-speed during this last one hour.

By the time i reach home, it's already very dark. Despite spending last ten hours in office, the drive back home is always smooth and joyful. I never get tired driving back home. Although it's only wednesday, it would feel like the weekend is here already. This tale of riding to office and coming back home repeats itself every week, and hopefully will continue for some more time as well.

The Ride

To compensate for working remotely, i go to my office once in a week. I stay there with my friend for a night and start my next working day early in morning, so that i could leave for home early in evening. These two days in my weekly schedule are the most arduous ones, if not necessarily the most productive ones. I try to keep the schedule same every week, but sometimes i need to chalk out the alternate days depending upon holidays, vacations or my wife's work schedule.

I read somewhere that "Predictability is good", and this post has somehow reinstated my belief in it. On the usual weekdays, i try to keep Tuesday and Wednesday for my office visit and i try not to reschedule it for minor reasons. The hard part is always getting up early on Tuesday so that i could reach office before 9:15am. Once all set to leave, things get easier once i hit the road for next 150 minutes of journey. I would prefer skipping the first half because most of it goes into getting out of city and its traffic, which can engulf you on the bad days. While the other half resembles a roller-coaster ride where you enjoy the scenic beauty and are often lost into day-dreaming which gets disturbed by the rare moment of a passing car. At that moment, i forget about all the hurries and hassles in world. If i could, i would just keep driving on that straight endless road surrounded with the scenic green pasture fields. If i had time, i would keep staring at the cattle grazing in those green fields. But these moments are often perturbed by the ringing of my phone. Most of the times i would be in office before 9:30am if not stuck in a bad traffic.

While driving to work in morning

This concludes the initial phase of my work week, which i would say is a hard one, but sometimes can be succeeded by even more tougher phases work permitting. Let's keep the rest for the next post...