LEARNINGS OF LIFE

A few days back I had a nice discussion with a colleague at my workplace. It started with me asking madam about her work and personal life balance and the way she looked at it. At present she is 35 years old married happily with two cute kids.

To begin with she is at the Asst. Vice President level and has been working in the bank since 1996. She was the youngest AVP in India in 1998. 9 Years down the line she is still at the same grade. My question was directed as to what she thought if she had to sit and take stock of what went on in her life since 1998 that prevented from her going up the corporate ladder. On the other hand let me tell you that this lady is very smart, very energetic towards her work and has worked at the Branchhead level for quite a few years. So you can say she's a bit of a been there done that kind of a person.

So after I popped up this rather weird question to her that many might want not to, but its only coz I do share a good rapport with madam, she replied as below. Though not verbatim this is what she said.

‘As we grow up as kids we do have the obvious support of our parents, which is often the case with many of us. The fact that our parents have done good (or bad) in their age as grown-ups has its impact on us in some way or other. All that we do comes back to us in a way that either they get affected (in a good or bad way) or their family members (spouse, kids). Now, that you grow up and have the sense to take care of yourself i.e. post the age of 21 years or so, what takes us ahead from here is our karma and not the good or bad deeds of our parents but simply what we do in our everyday life. So, stop blaming your parents that they didn’t groom you well and that they failed as parents to bring you up. Always remember that as grown ups you might face a lot of distractions which are actually very attractive on the face of it, say to defraud someone, extra martial affairs et all. But to practice self-control in such times and concentrate on the actual work at hand is the right thing to do. The reason as told earlier as grown ups whatever good or bad you do comes back to you. What goes around simply comes around. The very fact that I was not selfish enough back in 1998 to climb up the corporate rung and have kids was the correct decision as far as I am concerned otherwise today I might have been at the President level but I might had not found the time to be a mom as I would had been busy making presentations and waiting for the next promotion. In doing this my husband and I would had been alone today with absolutely nothing to be enthusiastic about after returning back home from work. Today once we reach home my little ones make me forget the days fatigue and tensions at work and I can be my own self with them. So it’s important to do the right things so that you and your family can flower and be happy like no one else. Now, as parents I have the responsibility to be honest to myself and my partner in everything I do so that our kids don’t get affected because of our incorrect deeds’.

The above thing really was a sort of eye opener for me, for my future, as well as in general in the sense that I for one used to think that my parents could had groomed me better and I could had been much better academically. But in hindsight keeping the above piece of advice from Madam I think ‘It wasn’t that bad either’. I mean what if my grades at schools were great what difference would that had made to me as an individual. I would had anyways landed where I was destined to. And I am absolutely satisfied about it today.

Thanks Ma’am.

ITS GETTING COLD

Well its getting cold and the urge to feel hot. With the season setting in slowly but surely it sometimes becomes really tough for couples ;-) to get up early in the morning. Newly weds and the newly deads too get frozen and the romantic atmosphere is there for everyone to see.

The Winter season other than the above has various facets to it. With chapped heels and chapped lips being in the forefront, the skin also becomes dry in moderate cold conditions. Food also is a frontrunner with some having a special liking for ice-creams in desserts. Those with less immunity (like me) can try something hot like hot pakodas or parathas with aachar :-). The hotter the better.

Different states have different ways to celebrate winter. In the north many a festivals are in this season viz. Dussehra, Diwali,Baisakhi & Holi to name a few. Mumbai to be quite modest has lost its charm of winter season of the yesteryears. The ever increasing pollution has only risen the temperatures considerably.

With Global Warming coming in faster than ever hope our next generation does not have the ill-luck to see just 3 seasons but it being moderate summer, summer & High summer.