Going through one of your old jeans that you haven’t worn in a long time, you find a tenner in one of the pockets, rummaging through that messy cupboard your hand reaches one of those lost books you loved as school girl…Or simply bumping into a “long-lost” friend….
Finding something committed to memory as lost is always fantastic! Have you ever thought of those first few seconds you go through when you find something? I have always felt them to be of wonder and sometimes sheer amazement….!! However recently I had a feeling of complete shock….I had lost my PAN card 5 months back in Mumbai… and 4 months back I was transferred to Pune (Panchshil, Vimanagar office to be precise)…After coming here though I kept reminding myself that I had to get a new one made, I never actually got around to doing it (this falls under the category of things that have a lot of time to get done, but we only end up doing at the last minute.. similar to sending in Investments proofs which I did submit on the last day 2 minutes before closing time J).
Well as it is said all that happens, does happen for the best. One fine day I was at my desk pressing ‘F9’ idly on my open mail box. (This I must confess is a compulsion with almost ever software professional – the manual checking for mail every 10 minutes is mandatory even if auto send-receive option is “on”. Don’t get me wrong, this is just the way we are.. and trust me when you’re sitting idle in office you will never receive some time pass mail to read no matter how many times you press “F9”… Frequency of these mails being 2/min). Anyways, I suddenly do get a mail, from an unknown mail-id with subject “You lost your PAN card???”
Now I think to myself, this happened 5 months back when I was in Mumbai (this is to refresh), so someone in Mumbai must have found it… Well I do a “reply” to confirm that I had and trust me this time I did a ‘F9’ 50 times in 1 minute. But got a reply after 2 minutes… L Anyways the person “X” (I’m not calling her ‘X’ to conceal the person’s identity, just that I haven’t told her about this piece), replies stating that she did find my PAN card & she sits in Panchshil on 5th floor(I sit on the 3rd)… Now my brain starts working… this is not possible... I lost it in Mumbai, 5 months back (this is repetition only for effect)…how can someone in Pune find it… someone is trying to make an “April fool”… But thinking really hard I couldn’t get a way to find out if someone was in the ‘Aprilly’ mood… So I thought… face your fear, make a fool of yourself…. But I thought 2 fools would be better than one, so I asked my best friend to come with me to the 5th floor to check out… Now normally my friend is the type who can write a book titled “101 Ways to Think of Not-possible Scenarios”, sub-titled “For any events in life”…but here she simply says “Praj why do you need me to go to 5th floor” when I expected her to think of 101 scenarios of why someone would write me that mail and ask me to come to 5th floor… life is full of surprises…
Anyways I know how to persuade her to do things, which I did and we went to the 5th floor…
You wont believe this but turns out that “X” DID find my PAN card, lying on the road, along with a small passport size photo of mine ( I know passport size is small.. that again is for effect..) and she remembered seeing me in Panchshil… Reaching her cubicle and seeing my PAN card were the moments of “shock” for her which I mentioned earlier and well that day the feeling of shock never left me… I saw the card at least 20 times through the day just to make sure that it was mine….. This was one of those days that I will never forget…!! Lost in Mumbai... 5 months back (this is just what I said to “X” as a reply to “how did you lose it”)… Found on the road…!!! (This was pretty much to myself)
Well I’m the kind of person who has lost lots of things in life… sometimes just out of sheer negligence, sometimes due to Murphy’s laws working and most of the times due to simple bad luck…. But rarely do I have the experience of finding these again… That day however I did believe in miracles (it could have some other very plain explanation but miracles always sound good)… and just hope that everyone one day experiences this miracle and finds at least one of those things that has faded away as a lost memory….
Monday, 12 February 2007
Going through one of your old jeans that you haven’t worn in a long time, you find a tenner in one of the pockets, rummaging through that messy cupboard your hand reaches one of those lost books you loved as school girl…Or simply bumping into a “long-lost” friend….
Finding something committed to memory as lost is always fantastic! Have you ever thought of those first few seconds you go through when you find something? I have always felt them to be of wonder and sometimes sheer amazement….!! However recently I had a feeling of complete shock….I had lost my PAN card 5 months back in Mumbai… and 4 months back I was transferred to Pune (Panchshil, Vimanagar office to be precise)…After coming here though I kept reminding myself that I had to get a new one made, I never actually got around to doing it (this falls under the category of things that have a lot of time to get done, but we only end up doing at the last minute.. similar to sending in Investments proofs which I did submit on the last day 2 minutes before closing time J).
Well as it is said all that happens, does happen for the best. One fine day I was at my desk pressing ‘F9’ idly on my open mail box. (This I must confess is a compulsion with almost ever software professional – the manual checking for mail every 10 minutes is mandatory even if auto send-receive option is “on”. Don’t get me wrong, this is just the way we are.. and trust me when you’re sitting idle in office you will never receive some time pass mail to read no matter how many times you press “F9”… Frequency of these mails being 2/min). Anyways, I suddenly do get a mail, from an unknown mail-id with subject “You lost your PAN card???”
Now I think to myself, this happened 5 months back when I was in Mumbai (this is to refresh), so someone in Mumbai must have found it… Well I do a “reply” to confirm that I had and trust me this time I did a ‘F9’ 50 times in 1 minute. But got a reply after 2 minutes… L Anyways the person “X” (I’m not calling her ‘X’ to conceal the person’s identity, just that I haven’t told her about this piece), replies stating that she did find my PAN card & she sits in Panchshil on 5th floor(I sit on the 3rd)… Now my brain starts working… this is not possible... I lost it in Mumbai, 5 months back (this is repetition only for effect)…how can someone in Pune find it… someone is trying to make an “April fool”… But thinking really hard I couldn’t get a way to find out if someone was in the ‘Aprilly’ mood… So I thought… face your fear, make a fool of yourself…. But I thought 2 fools would be better than one, so I asked my best friend to come with me to the 5th floor to check out… Now normally my friend is the type who can write a book titled “101 Ways to Think of Not-possible Scenarios”, sub-titled “For any events in life”…but here she simply says “Praj why do you need me to go to 5th floor” when I expected her to think of 101 scenarios of why someone would write me that mail and ask me to come to 5th floor… life is full of surprises…
Anyways I know how to persuade her to do things, which I did and we went to the 5th floor…
You wont believe this but turns out that “X” DID find my PAN card, lying on the road, along with a small passport size photo of mine ( I know passport size is small.. that again is for effect..) and she remembered seeing me in Panchshil… Reaching her cubicle and seeing my PAN card were the moments of “shock” for her which I mentioned earlier and well that day the feeling of shock never left me… I saw the card at least 20 times through the day just to make sure that it was mine….. This was one of those days that I will never forget…!! Lost in Mumbai... 5 months back (this is just what I said to “X” as a reply to “how did you lose it”)… Found on the road…!!! (This was pretty much to myself)
Well I’m the kind of person who has lost lots of things in life… sometimes just out of sheer negligence, sometimes due to Murphy’s laws working and most of the times due to simple bad luck…. But rarely do I have the experience of finding these again… That day however I did believe in miracles (it could have some other very plain explanation but miracles always sound good)… and just hope that everyone one day experiences this miracle and finds at least one of those things that has faded away as a lost memory….
Finding something committed to memory as lost is always fantastic! Have you ever thought of those first few seconds you go through when you find something? I have always felt them to be of wonder and sometimes sheer amazement….!! However recently I had a feeling of complete shock….I had lost my PAN card 5 months back in Mumbai… and 4 months back I was transferred to Pune (Panchshil, Vimanagar office to be precise)…After coming here though I kept reminding myself that I had to get a new one made, I never actually got around to doing it (this falls under the category of things that have a lot of time to get done, but we only end up doing at the last minute.. similar to sending in Investments proofs which I did submit on the last day 2 minutes before closing time J).
Well as it is said all that happens, does happen for the best. One fine day I was at my desk pressing ‘F9’ idly on my open mail box. (This I must confess is a compulsion with almost ever software professional – the manual checking for mail every 10 minutes is mandatory even if auto send-receive option is “on”. Don’t get me wrong, this is just the way we are.. and trust me when you’re sitting idle in office you will never receive some time pass mail to read no matter how many times you press “F9”… Frequency of these mails being 2/min). Anyways, I suddenly do get a mail, from an unknown mail-id with subject “You lost your PAN card???”
Now I think to myself, this happened 5 months back when I was in Mumbai (this is to refresh), so someone in Mumbai must have found it… Well I do a “reply” to confirm that I had and trust me this time I did a ‘F9’ 50 times in 1 minute. But got a reply after 2 minutes… L Anyways the person “X” (I’m not calling her ‘X’ to conceal the person’s identity, just that I haven’t told her about this piece), replies stating that she did find my PAN card & she sits in Panchshil on 5th floor(I sit on the 3rd)… Now my brain starts working… this is not possible... I lost it in Mumbai, 5 months back (this is repetition only for effect)…how can someone in Pune find it… someone is trying to make an “April fool”… But thinking really hard I couldn’t get a way to find out if someone was in the ‘Aprilly’ mood… So I thought… face your fear, make a fool of yourself…. But I thought 2 fools would be better than one, so I asked my best friend to come with me to the 5th floor to check out… Now normally my friend is the type who can write a book titled “101 Ways to Think of Not-possible Scenarios”, sub-titled “For any events in life”…but here she simply says “Praj why do you need me to go to 5th floor” when I expected her to think of 101 scenarios of why someone would write me that mail and ask me to come to 5th floor… life is full of surprises…
Anyways I know how to persuade her to do things, which I did and we went to the 5th floor…
You wont believe this but turns out that “X” DID find my PAN card, lying on the road, along with a small passport size photo of mine ( I know passport size is small.. that again is for effect..) and she remembered seeing me in Panchshil… Reaching her cubicle and seeing my PAN card were the moments of “shock” for her which I mentioned earlier and well that day the feeling of shock never left me… I saw the card at least 20 times through the day just to make sure that it was mine….. This was one of those days that I will never forget…!! Lost in Mumbai... 5 months back (this is just what I said to “X” as a reply to “how did you lose it”)… Found on the road…!!! (This was pretty much to myself)
Well I’m the kind of person who has lost lots of things in life… sometimes just out of sheer negligence, sometimes due to Murphy’s laws working and most of the times due to simple bad luck…. But rarely do I have the experience of finding these again… That day however I did believe in miracles (it could have some other very plain explanation but miracles always sound good)… and just hope that everyone one day experiences this miracle and finds at least one of those things that has faded away as a lost memory….
Thursday, 23 February 2006
Robaroo... Roshni...
Aye saala... Abhi abhi… hua yakin… ke aag hai… muhjmein kahin…
A.R Rehman has definitely outdone himself in this song… and Rakyesh Om Prakash Mehra in the movie. Humming the song as I came out of the theatre watching the movie for the second time, one thought crossed my mind – Just how much strength is required to make a difference.., to make a start… to believe…??
There have been many occasions when I have fought with my friends for throwing a packet of Lays just where one finishes. Many still do that… some don’t do it when they’re with me (just so that I don’t give them a “lecture”) and some well… they understand and implement. Being in the software industry, I have heard many “onsite stories”… but one remark common to all is “that country is soooo CLEAN”. And here I am just trying to understand how difficult it would be to try making India “soooo CLEAN”….
People say old habits die hard… and I agree too. For any Indian, the best meal he has ever had was not at a 5 star Hotel… but the one cooked by the star cook… “Mom” and eaten with the hand… the best “chai” would always be served at a roadside tapri. No matter how old we are, we like to come home to our parents..!! But when this very same desi lands up in videsh, burger and coffee becomes a way of life. And this change is not very difficult..!! The guy who never paid attention to traffic lights or followed driving rules is suddenly aware of them all at once driving abroad!! And most of all when we arrive at these very “CLEAN” places somehow our hands just don’t fling the next crumpled paper on the roadside..!! We change…we adapt… and then we marvel at how good the place feels!! Seeing all this and knowing what an adjusting generation we are, I suddenly realized that making a difference is in fact easy… all it requires is a small pause the next time you finish a snack and have to throw out the wrapper….!!
“No country is perfect. We have a make it into one” is a line from Rang De Basanti… Let’s make it beautiful if not perfect…!!
Aaye Saala... Abhi abhi hua Yakin…
Ke Aag hai muhjmein kahin...
Hui subah... main jal gaya…
Suraj ko main… nigal gaya…..
Robaroo…Roshni… !!
A.R Rehman has definitely outdone himself in this song… and Rakyesh Om Prakash Mehra in the movie. Humming the song as I came out of the theatre watching the movie for the second time, one thought crossed my mind – Just how much strength is required to make a difference.., to make a start… to believe…??
There have been many occasions when I have fought with my friends for throwing a packet of Lays just where one finishes. Many still do that… some don’t do it when they’re with me (just so that I don’t give them a “lecture”) and some well… they understand and implement. Being in the software industry, I have heard many “onsite stories”… but one remark common to all is “that country is soooo CLEAN”. And here I am just trying to understand how difficult it would be to try making India “soooo CLEAN”….
People say old habits die hard… and I agree too. For any Indian, the best meal he has ever had was not at a 5 star Hotel… but the one cooked by the star cook… “Mom” and eaten with the hand… the best “chai” would always be served at a roadside tapri. No matter how old we are, we like to come home to our parents..!! But when this very same desi lands up in videsh, burger and coffee becomes a way of life. And this change is not very difficult..!! The guy who never paid attention to traffic lights or followed driving rules is suddenly aware of them all at once driving abroad!! And most of all when we arrive at these very “CLEAN” places somehow our hands just don’t fling the next crumpled paper on the roadside..!! We change…we adapt… and then we marvel at how good the place feels!! Seeing all this and knowing what an adjusting generation we are, I suddenly realized that making a difference is in fact easy… all it requires is a small pause the next time you finish a snack and have to throw out the wrapper….!!
“No country is perfect. We have a make it into one” is a line from Rang De Basanti… Let’s make it beautiful if not perfect…!!
Aaye Saala... Abhi abhi hua Yakin…
Ke Aag hai muhjmein kahin...
Hui subah... main jal gaya…
Suraj ko main… nigal gaya…..
Robaroo…Roshni… !!
Tuesday, 6 December 2005
Life Changes...
‘Life is what happens when you’re making other plans…!’ has been ‘My line’ for the past 3 years and as time passes I just think ‘how true’….
2.5 years back the problems in my life were ‘what should be the pattern of my new dress.’, ‘what will happen if I flunk all my papers’ etc etc…!! Taking up a job was indeed a big step… and since I was the only one doing it in my whole group, didn’t really know if it was the right thing to do…!! Learning to be a professional makes you love school and college - Life changes….!!
Suddenly life is all about ‘Images’ - ‘Be careful of what you say to whom’, ‘not everything is as it looks’ – were bits of advice from people who did care. Sometimes they were said coz that seemed the only thing to say…. I still fell down and got up bruised… Scared to make a mistake n really sorry to mend one… worked on instincts and wondered whether all this was worth the effort….!!! Whether I’m facing a room full of my batch mates, my friends or a bunch of people out there to get hold of the next opportunity before I did…?? I wasn’t sure… but time gave the answer and I knew the difference…!! Training starts the diamond polishing…. Life changes…!!
‘Taking care of yourself’ is what came next… never been out of the city on-her-own girl was now suddenly on-her-own… one needs to plan for his 2 square meals…. everyday, clothes don’t get washed n ironed by themselves nor do the they walk right inside your cupboard… everyday a person moves at least 20 things around and if they are not put back in their proper place, the house ends up being a garbage dump…! Electricity bills, phone bills, the ‘Bai’, ironing bills, milk, the list of things to be taken care of goes on…. And before you know it the ‘X’ Rs put into your account are now X=0….!! Staying alone makes you understand your parents better... Life changes…!!
Having a job…!! It isn’t just about being good at it… I think it’s more like ‘you need to love it’..! Cause only then can you get through it…!! 8 hrs a day... Saturday-Sunday holiday and lots of money... kya life hai, people say…. But much has been said, written, emailed, forwarded and experienced about it..!! How much can you learn…?? How much do you want to..?? Various systems mock me with these questions… and the more I learnt the more I feel like running a rat race… the finish line of which says ‘Even if you win a rat-race you still are a RAT’…But here we are.. Running, against time, wanting to get there faster… against ourselves, by breaking our own records..! Testing capabilities… screwing our health….!! Having a job and keeping it, teaches you why the world runs on ‘Currencies’… Life changes…!!
Falling in love..!! Suddenly its not only about getting goose bumps on seeing that special person or thinking that this is the ‘One’… it’s about wanting to know someone better…..And also know that this person is not perfect and yet he is special…!! The meaning of relationships goes on to not just having someone to go out with for movies and having fun. It’s about being able to bring out the best in each other; it’s about knowing the worst and accepting it…!! And at times it’s also about learning to let go, after all life isn’t only about the two of you…!! Thinking of getting married puts love in a different light… Life changes…!!
Believing in God…!! Making decisions, right and wrong, facing the world on your own, being alone, being responsible for your actions, suddenly having no one to pull you up when life gets you down and learning to get up on your own… well lots of reasons to believe that there is someone out there whom you can trust… someone you believe can see you as you are… and someone who can work a miracle…!! Cause sometimes when life seems to hit rock bottom… and you want to get a ‘lift up’ there is just one place to go to…!! Turning from a naughty girl to a responsible woman does need a little ‘out of earth’ magic… Life changes…!!
All through these changes you get to know “who” you are… you get to know what life is meant to be…!! You love, you hate... You wonder “why me”…?? You fight with people and miss the very same nuts when they’re not around…!!! You laugh through the tears and cry with the smiles..!! You nurture dreams, keep hoping to see better tomorrows…..!! And I think you just start realizing…. ‘Life IS what happens when you’re making other plans’ don’t you..??
2.5 years back the problems in my life were ‘what should be the pattern of my new dress.’, ‘what will happen if I flunk all my papers’ etc etc…!! Taking up a job was indeed a big step… and since I was the only one doing it in my whole group, didn’t really know if it was the right thing to do…!! Learning to be a professional makes you love school and college - Life changes….!!
Suddenly life is all about ‘Images’ - ‘Be careful of what you say to whom’, ‘not everything is as it looks’ – were bits of advice from people who did care. Sometimes they were said coz that seemed the only thing to say…. I still fell down and got up bruised… Scared to make a mistake n really sorry to mend one… worked on instincts and wondered whether all this was worth the effort….!!! Whether I’m facing a room full of my batch mates, my friends or a bunch of people out there to get hold of the next opportunity before I did…?? I wasn’t sure… but time gave the answer and I knew the difference…!! Training starts the diamond polishing…. Life changes…!!
‘Taking care of yourself’ is what came next… never been out of the city on-her-own girl was now suddenly on-her-own… one needs to plan for his 2 square meals…. everyday, clothes don’t get washed n ironed by themselves nor do the they walk right inside your cupboard… everyday a person moves at least 20 things around and if they are not put back in their proper place, the house ends up being a garbage dump…! Electricity bills, phone bills, the ‘Bai’, ironing bills, milk, the list of things to be taken care of goes on…. And before you know it the ‘X’ Rs put into your account are now X=0….!! Staying alone makes you understand your parents better... Life changes…!!
Having a job…!! It isn’t just about being good at it… I think it’s more like ‘you need to love it’..! Cause only then can you get through it…!! 8 hrs a day... Saturday-Sunday holiday and lots of money... kya life hai, people say…. But much has been said, written, emailed, forwarded and experienced about it..!! How much can you learn…?? How much do you want to..?? Various systems mock me with these questions… and the more I learnt the more I feel like running a rat race… the finish line of which says ‘Even if you win a rat-race you still are a RAT’…But here we are.. Running, against time, wanting to get there faster… against ourselves, by breaking our own records..! Testing capabilities… screwing our health….!! Having a job and keeping it, teaches you why the world runs on ‘Currencies’… Life changes…!!
Falling in love..!! Suddenly its not only about getting goose bumps on seeing that special person or thinking that this is the ‘One’… it’s about wanting to know someone better…..And also know that this person is not perfect and yet he is special…!! The meaning of relationships goes on to not just having someone to go out with for movies and having fun. It’s about being able to bring out the best in each other; it’s about knowing the worst and accepting it…!! And at times it’s also about learning to let go, after all life isn’t only about the two of you…!! Thinking of getting married puts love in a different light… Life changes…!!
Believing in God…!! Making decisions, right and wrong, facing the world on your own, being alone, being responsible for your actions, suddenly having no one to pull you up when life gets you down and learning to get up on your own… well lots of reasons to believe that there is someone out there whom you can trust… someone you believe can see you as you are… and someone who can work a miracle…!! Cause sometimes when life seems to hit rock bottom… and you want to get a ‘lift up’ there is just one place to go to…!! Turning from a naughty girl to a responsible woman does need a little ‘out of earth’ magic… Life changes…!!
All through these changes you get to know “who” you are… you get to know what life is meant to be…!! You love, you hate... You wonder “why me”…?? You fight with people and miss the very same nuts when they’re not around…!!! You laugh through the tears and cry with the smiles..!! You nurture dreams, keep hoping to see better tomorrows…..!! And I think you just start realizing…. ‘Life IS what happens when you’re making other plans’ don’t you..??
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