So many a times, i have made wrong turns, found myself in situations seemingly hopeless - only to have life bail me out. And it has happened so many times that i have begun to think i can breeze through life. That no matter how many wrong turns i take, i will find a way out, one way or the other. Which is stupid.
You would think anyone with a little common sense would know better than to chuck a job without having another one safely tucked away in the pocket. The big big boss of my previous company even made me an offer to take unpaid leave and go onsite while they tried to find a suitable project for me here - with his personal guarantee that if i found another job in the meantime, i could always leave without any fuss. And yours truly turned down his offer - yes, i am that dumb.
After about two weeks of diligently applying for jobs online - i think i am done with my share of applying for jobs this lifetime - sending out CVs and not getting even a squeak in reply, i gave up. i am that persistent! i stop surfing jobsites, ignored mails from jobsites. Just shut shop and turned to other things more productive like sleeping and watching TV.
Then, out of the blue, while i was bitching with my sister on the phone, my mobile rang. A female voice asked me if i had applied for so and so position in so and so company. "i don't recall--i might have" -- talk about making a good first impression! She asked me if i was interested in coming down to their office for an interview. Since this was the first time anyone was even remotely interested in checking me out, i said yes. The office was in a place i have never heard of - but then i have not heard of 99% of the places here.
Then started the process of trying to find the place and how to reach it. It is almost 2 hrs from where i stay. And since he would not be able to chaperon me, he tried to work out the train and bus route for me. i am geographically handicapped. i cannot tell my right from my left - forget about east and west and other such complicated directions. i think i was more interested in getting to the place safely than the interview. He dictated and i copied down the directions from
google maps - though none of the intructions made sense to me, get off the train, go to the bus station, turn northeast and walk towards this and that. Northeast?? Which direction is that?
On the day of the interview, i woke up with a sinking feeling - knowing i would get lost - and he told me i didn't have to go if i didn't want to. But in life, facing your fears is the only way to get rid of them. So i went. i just didn't care about the interview - only to get there and come back. Somehow, i found the place - it was tucked away in a quiet place with not a soul in sight. Imagine getting lost there. i would not have been happier if i had found the lost city of El Dorado!
The interview- after having being on the other side of the table it was fun to be other side getting grilled rather than grilling! They asked me the questions i have asked those poor souls once upon a time. i was so confident i would not get the job that i treated it like a fun outing. i said some things that made them exchange looks with each other! It was so so fun. i told them that i nag people a lot, that i am stubborn, impatient, politically incorrect and blunt. i just love highlighting my negative points. One of the guys thought maybe i was vocabulary challenged and he suggested that maybe i meant i was persistent, not stubborn. i looked at him and said "no, i am too stubborn to be called persistent"! Don't you just love the way i am so good at self promotion!
They told me the standard " we would be interviewing some more candidates and will let you know after a few days.". And i left confident that i would not be hearing from them again.
So it came as a big surprise when they mailed me that i have been shortlisted and they would have a second interview. There was no way i was going for another round so i did not reply.
And then after a week, the lady called up again and what do you know, they thought i was the best candidate and could i join the next week if possible? What?! Life never ceases to amaze.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Honesty is the best policy....
How cliche is that? Am i honest person? i would love to think so. Though i feel i am honest when it suits me. Is omission of the truth being dishonest? When you leave out a fact or two?
Do i lie? Oh, i love telling lies. In my family, it is said that you cannot believe 90% of the things i say. If my mother asks me to tell if the dish is OK, i would eat a mouthful and make such a face and tell her "Oh ema, did you forget to put the salt again?" and my poor mother would go "i am growing old. i must have forgotten again" and reach for the salt only to see her precious daughter burst out laughing. If anyone asks me anything, i always tell the opposite of what is true--a lie, i think that is what it is called. i get a kick out of it - which says a lot about the kind of person i am. Even after all these years, my mother still asks me to sample the dish when i am home. i guess it is the kind of blind love a mother has, hoping her daughter will one day grow up and stop being so silly.
On serious matters, i guess i try to be truthful. Well, most of the time. He knows by now that if he asks me something and i keep quiet, it means i would rather play dumb than lie. Which is hypocritical in a sense since i believe in being blunt and hand out unpleasant truths to all and sundry. But then, i am a hypocrite.
What am i talking about? i don't know. Sometimes, my thoughts resemble a bowl of salad - all mixed up. But a salad makes sense. While i don't.
i like to think i tell the truth when it counts. But doesn't truth count all the time? Oh hell, what is the point of having a brain that keeps counter-attacking your every statement?
Won't it be fun to die with a lie on your lips? Somebody, please save me from my rampaging thoughts.
Do i lie? Oh, i love telling lies. In my family, it is said that you cannot believe 90% of the things i say. If my mother asks me to tell if the dish is OK, i would eat a mouthful and make such a face and tell her "Oh ema, did you forget to put the salt again?" and my poor mother would go "i am growing old. i must have forgotten again" and reach for the salt only to see her precious daughter burst out laughing. If anyone asks me anything, i always tell the opposite of what is true--a lie, i think that is what it is called. i get a kick out of it - which says a lot about the kind of person i am. Even after all these years, my mother still asks me to sample the dish when i am home. i guess it is the kind of blind love a mother has, hoping her daughter will one day grow up and stop being so silly.
On serious matters, i guess i try to be truthful. Well, most of the time. He knows by now that if he asks me something and i keep quiet, it means i would rather play dumb than lie. Which is hypocritical in a sense since i believe in being blunt and hand out unpleasant truths to all and sundry. But then, i am a hypocrite.
What am i talking about? i don't know. Sometimes, my thoughts resemble a bowl of salad - all mixed up. But a salad makes sense. While i don't.
i like to think i tell the truth when it counts. But doesn't truth count all the time? Oh hell, what is the point of having a brain that keeps counter-attacking your every statement?
Won't it be fun to die with a lie on your lips? Somebody, please save me from my rampaging thoughts.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
when conscience pricks....
Sometimes, it is difficult to decide what is the right thing to do. i have been plagued by my conscience - yes, i do have one, thank you - and i was so undecided about what to do. In the end, i did what i felt was right and maybe threw away a chance. But when you think about it, chances will come and go, but sleeping well at night, without your conscience nudging and poking you is well worth it.
i don't know where i am now - i am so satisfied with what i don't have that it scares me sometimes. Maybe that is what they call being laidback. Sometimes, nothing matters to me - i don't care that i don't have a job and sometimes, a voice inside me says i am wasting my life away. The problem with me is that i adjust too quickly to whatever that comes my way. So if tomorrow sees me wearing tatters and without a penny to my name, i guess you would still see me smile.
Sometimes i make decisions which no sane person would make and let life take me down a path that is uncharted. Leaving behind familiar faces and places is tough. Even tougher is getting familiar with yourself and the face that stares at you back in the mirror.
My mother always did say i will end up either being famous or mad!
i don't know where i am now - i am so satisfied with what i don't have that it scares me sometimes. Maybe that is what they call being laidback. Sometimes, nothing matters to me - i don't care that i don't have a job and sometimes, a voice inside me says i am wasting my life away. The problem with me is that i adjust too quickly to whatever that comes my way. So if tomorrow sees me wearing tatters and without a penny to my name, i guess you would still see me smile.
Sometimes i make decisions which no sane person would make and let life take me down a path that is uncharted. Leaving behind familiar faces and places is tough. Even tougher is getting familiar with yourself and the face that stares at you back in the mirror.
My mother always did say i will end up either being famous or mad!
Monday, April 20, 2009
susan boyle -- she has got talent!
She is supposedly the talk of the town right now. Her audition has been viewed some million times over on youtoube.
We watched her audition on TV - for the want of anything better to do, we were watching that particular episode of Britain got talent. It is a funny show - you get to watch some pretty weird characters - there was this fat woman who danced topless (and she got through!! talk about assets doing the trick!), an indian guy who blew up and burst a hot water balloon and dragged a truck with his ear....it is an endless parade of people who think they have got some extra-ordinary talent.
When she came on, we were like what will she be doing. Frizzy haired, ordinary looking. The audience did not take to her well - when she said she wanted to sing like Alan Paige, i believe people snickered. And then she opened her mouth to sing and like they say, history was created. When she sang, he and i looked at each other and giggled because we were not expecting such a performance. Umm, talk about judging a book by its cover.
Yeah, she can sing for her suppper. And what a supper it would be.
We watched her audition on TV - for the want of anything better to do, we were watching that particular episode of Britain got talent. It is a funny show - you get to watch some pretty weird characters - there was this fat woman who danced topless (and she got through!! talk about assets doing the trick!), an indian guy who blew up and burst a hot water balloon and dragged a truck with his ear....it is an endless parade of people who think they have got some extra-ordinary talent.
When she came on, we were like what will she be doing. Frizzy haired, ordinary looking. The audience did not take to her well - when she said she wanted to sing like Alan Paige, i believe people snickered. And then she opened her mouth to sing and like they say, history was created. When she sang, he and i looked at each other and giggled because we were not expecting such a performance. Umm, talk about judging a book by its cover.
Yeah, she can sing for her suppper. And what a supper it would be.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Amon ekta jhinuk....
i remember hearing this song the first time in my hostel room. It was one of S-di's fave gaan. And those were the days when the only bengali sentences/phrases i could speak was "bhat dao, dal dao, maach dao"! Even though i could not understand the lyrics, something about the song drew me to it.
Now, years later, i suddenly remembered this song, dug it up from the spidery web and discovered i still love it. This is the only song of Nirmala Mishra i have heard. i keep listening and singing along with it - trying to find that elusive oyster that has a pearl...
Amon ekta jhinuk khuje pelamna
Jate mukto ache
Amon kono manush khuje pelam na
Jar mon ache...
Shune gelam anek kotha
Anek golpo anek kotha
Amon ekti kotha khuje pelamna
Jate shotii ache
Pothe shudhu poth haralam
Niruddeshe gelamna
Bhalobasha anek pelam
bhalobasha pelamna...
Sapna anek gelam dekhe
Rod brishti namlo chokhe
Amon ekta asha khuje pelamna
Jar onto ache
Now, years later, i suddenly remembered this song, dug it up from the spidery web and discovered i still love it. This is the only song of Nirmala Mishra i have heard. i keep listening and singing along with it - trying to find that elusive oyster that has a pearl...
Amon ekta jhinuk khuje pelamna
Jate mukto ache
Amon kono manush khuje pelam na
Jar mon ache...
Shune gelam anek kotha
Anek golpo anek kotha
Amon ekti kotha khuje pelamna
Jate shotii ache
Pothe shudhu poth haralam
Niruddeshe gelamna
Bhalobasha anek pelam
bhalobasha pelamna...
Sapna anek gelam dekhe
Rod brishti namlo chokhe
Amon ekta asha khuje pelamna
Jar onto ache
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