ASHES

Yes, No, Wait!!!

As it sometimes turns out I am compelled through circumstances to do something that I don’t like, there can be numerous examples for that, chemical engg. being one, but not many would be able to relate to those examples. I have been working with my company for over 2 months now ( a quick calculation tells me today is my 2 month anniversary!) I was relatively happy to begin with but now things are starting to get a bit uneasy.

Telecommunications is a vast field, not one that interests me. But the humungous connectivity that it gives today worldwide is overwhelming, we don’t realize it though. Like the old man says on TV “kya time hai zindagi jeene ka”. I on the other hand don’t like the telephone too much. In fact it would not be wrong to say that I sometimes dislike it. What is funny is that all the important people in my life can be accessed through telephone only. All my family members live in different places and we meet mostly on weekends.

As if that wasn’t enough my company expects me to make phone calls to different parts of the world to do our business. Now had it been a normal call center I would have been ok with it, but I am sure it is not. Still much of our business is done through phone calls and I am weary of it. It also reminds me sometimes of the misery of the credit card boys outside our building always trying to catch a customer and we very sophisticatedly shun them off. Let me divulge a corporate secret, when people say they will divert you to someone who will be in a better position to help you means they are saying don’t call back ever again L bloody hell!

The even funnier part is that in cricket its totally different. I am really good at calling. Of course people who know me off the field wont accept this but I am a good runner between wickets…( hehe blogging should be called bragging from now on). But honestly I believe I am good runner and for that you need good calling. I think at the end of the day it’s about doing what you like and not liking what you do. So while my job is starting to poke me a little. I am staying putt for the moment till I know what I would like to do.

Drinks!

As days go by my blog is slowly becoming an interface for people to know about me, it is with great pleasure that I write my blogs. Its always good to know that people care.

It’s been almost two months now that I have been working in my first job, and its so far so good. I generally like doing work. I never liked studying. I was probably afraid of objective assessment of whatever I do. From objective assessment I mean marks, grades and anything that would ascertain a difference of performance very clearly. I have never had the love for marks or grades. But it’s a part of life and you need to deal with it no matter how academically so. This is how it works out in a job. There are no marks no grades. You just get the job done. That’s good for me.

My office hours a pretty flexible and I make full use of them. I reach my office anytime between 10 an 11 and then its around 10 hrs from that point on. Since my joining day there has really never been a day when I have not had any work at all. There were a couple of days when I did not have anything real but I was doing my training so I guess that counts. So typically from the time I come to office till about lunch I don’t realize how time passes. I do my work do some brunching and it’s already 1. Then we have lunch at around 2 which finishes by 3 :P. this is the time every office guy has to learn to handle. It is the biggest test of them all. You just can help thinking of sleeping. You crave for your sleep and its not there. This is the part of the day which is very slow and tiring. Its hard to work, its hard to do anything. I don’t smoke, so I resort to coffee and tea. Atleast 7-8 cups everyday. Apart from that some cold drink and sometimes juice. So somehow I manage to scratch around and get to 5 and the day starts picking speed again. There is rejuvenation of sorts and suddenly I can concentrate much better. As its almost 6 lots of people are starting to leave. But for me the real story is just beginning. 6-8 is my time of highest productivity. I only work during this time or a n odd visit to the gym. And if I have to stay any longer than 8 then it’s party. I really like to work when there aren’t too many people in the office. It feels like doing something extra. And reaaly you don’t have anybody to chat around with and only the senior people are left so its serious work. Ofcourse it could all change tomorrow if I don’t like my work, but as of now it feels good to be doing something.

The end of the day is also pretty good. A long phone chat :D, and then talking to my room mates, about life…if you know what I mean ;). Life is good, but then again so far so good.

Rest Day

In this corporate age jobs are of three types, there are ones where time is non existent and you always have your backs to the wall. Then there are jobs where you have loads of time, quite like a government job in an Indian context. And there is Evalueserve, which really asks you to work but the onus is never on you. Now that the company is growing there is work for everybody, but no one is pressed for time. It’s a warm working environment something no one can complain about.
But five days a week can be a little hard at times and you can always take a break isn’t it? What I am talking about is only my second leave in just under two months of this job. I woke up one fine morning looking all sleepy from the late night football match, which by the way I never intended to watch as my favorite team is out already. England that is! Yep I am Beckham fan and an ex Man U fan. Anyhow so I woke up with the pain of getting ready for office facing me, which by the way I relish :D. And there comes the knock out punch my roommate calls a leave…”yaar chhutti maarte hain aaj”. It reminded me then that I have some pending work in my college IIT Delhi. So it was decided then and there that the household chores and my work would be completed in this leave. So we got ready and left for IIT. Did my little bit there, basically collecting my transcripts and provisional degree, which says a funny thing “master of technology” .
And then comes the best part of the day, I played cricket at the nets. It’s the best part of any day actually. Having a ball in my hand gives me goose bumps hehe. And while all this is pretty normal for me, I actually bowled a bouncer to a 6 feet and something guy. It was a beauty. Cricket can always put me in a good mood. Infact it can make me recover from a bad mood. Actually that’s what any sport does I believe. It teaches you to fight the tough time and look for an opportunity to break through. I remember my favorite line to say while on the field was ‘ common yaar ek wicket ki baat hai’ . that’s what sports bring to the character of a person. Having played cricket that day made me believe that there is still some cricket left in me (this by the way sounds like a typical retiring cricketer :P). The rest day had been put to perfect use. You might have heard of six day test matches in the earlier times. They were existent even till the early 90’s the only difference was that one of those 6 days would be called a rest day and there would be no play that day. Its funny how life changes phase, from playing cricket 24x7 I am now down to looking for a rest day to play cricket. That’s how it goes I guess….