How Do I Thank You?

Someone makes a difference to your life, quite unknowingly.
How do you tell them that you appreciate it?

Someone makes you happy with what they do.
How do you tell them how elated you're for them?

Someone gives you memories you will cherish forever.
How do you tell them that you're grateful?

Maybe the best way is to tell them what difference they made to your life.
Maybe by telling them how a lot of what you did, what you didn't was because of them.
Maybe by telling them how the person you grew up to be had a lot to do with them.
Maybe...

11th January' 2003

There is a family function going on. There’s a marriage in a couple of days. Everyone is in a happy mood, and everyone is preoccupied with a lot of last minute work. Meanwhile, a lady is scrambling from one room to another; she can’t seem to find her son. He is just 9 years old! She reaches the basement and heaves a sigh of relief, her son is sitting atop a stack of boxes, watching the last few overs of the India v/s new Zealand ODI, being played at Auckland, at a 7.5 hours difference. 

12th February' 2003

The 9 year old boy, with a bat in his hand is running upstairs to his father who is listening to the India v/s Netherlands World Cup match commentary on the radio. The cable is not working. In a hurry, he skips a step and falls on the stairs. His right toe starts bleeding. He gives it a glance and continues to run to catch the latest action from the African nation.  The injury wasn't he first, nor the last.

14th-15th December' 2003

The boy goes to bed before giving a warning to his father, “wake me up at 5:30 AM tomorrow. I don’t want to miss it.” Next morning his father wakes him up to tell him “it” had happened. India were playing against Australia at Adelaide and Rahul Dravid had finished the previous day on 199*. He got a four off the first ball the next day to get to “it”.... his double hundred and laid the foundation for a memorable India win that would continue for years to come as India's best performance in Australia. The adjustment to time zone was not a problem. Not for this boy and his father.

1st April' 2004 

A family is at a resort in Shimla, enjoying their vacation. Their tour guide is waiting alongside the car for them to come. The family is all ready to go but for some reason are waiting in the resort lobby. The youngest member, the boy is watching the India v Pakistan match on TV, being played in Multan. The last wicket falls to a short ball, India win the match and the boy was now ready to go.

7th August' 2005
The boy is glued to the TV set. His mom doesn't know why?
India is not playing. He is watching the Ashes, and had been encapsulated by the action on display. The school assignment had been laid to rest without evening giving it a start. The boy watched as Brett Lee & Michael Kasprowicz were fighting their way out to steal victory from the jaws of defeat at Edgbaston. The Flintoff-Lee moment was going to remain etched in his heart for eternity.

Some day' 2006 

The parents come back from office and head to the children’s room to see what they are up to. They are seeing something different. The door, the walls, the almirah, everything is covered with pictures of cricketers, mostly the Indian players, all cut from the newspaper. On the door, there is a picture of Kumble on the shoulders of his teammates after the 10 wickets at Kotla in 1999, on the wall there’s a big photo of Rahul Dravid kissing his cap and waving to the dressing room after the win at Adelaide, on the almirah there’s a photo of Sourav Ganguly playing his famous cut on the off side. There are a few pictures of Brian Lara sweeping, Ricky Ponting playing the pull, Brett Lee doing his chain saw celebration and Michael Vaughan playing a cover drive. The parents had just got the white wash and repainting of the house done, they were hoping for clean, bright walls. Not to be, not in one room at least! 

24th March' 2007 

The boy is sitting in the living room, reading something in the newspaper. He doesn’t seem too happy. India bowed out of the World Cup in the first round itself, he is okay with that. Rahul Dravid, the captain, was being blamed for the loss. There were effigies being burnt of the team members, stones being thrown at their homes, he was not okay with that. He had figured out the kind of fan he wanted to be, and the ones to ignore.

19th-20th December' 2008

The boy is rushing back from the school to his home. He reaches home, turns on the TV to check the India v England score from Mohali. He first checks which team is batting. It's India. He's excited. He then glances at the wickets column. One wicket down. He is happy because it means that man is batting. He then moves to the score. Dravid 50* it shows. He had been in lean form of late and this was a welcome come back. The boy stood glued to the TV set till Dravid got to his hundred the next morning.

27th December' 2010

The boy just got done with his class XIIth pre boards. He had an ordinary last exam. He came back home and resorted to the India v South Africa action from Durban. Rahul Dravid had taken his 200^th test catch, a splendid reflex action. The exam was forgotten. The team bowled brilliantly to castle out South Africa for under 140. India came out to bat. Dravid got out cheaply. The boy was sad again. India ended up winning the match. The boy was jubilant.

21st August' 2011

The boy is now in his first year of college. His love for the game has only grown all this while. A lot has happened over the last few years. His favourite cricketer had been ousted from the ODI team post his giving up captaincy. But he was happily watching the ongoing India v England test match at The Oval. His favourite cricketer was the only man scoring runs, his third hundred of the series. Vintage stuff. Something the world had somehow forgotten about Dravid.

9th March' 2012

That day had finally arrived. Rahul Dravid announced his retirement from international cricket. The boy knew cricket wouldn’t be the same for him anymore. He was no longer going to watch an entire day’s play of Test cricket just because seeing that man in the slip cordon gave him happiness beyond measure. But the show must go on, and he knew that. Dravid’s retirement was followed by that of Laxman and then, the best batsman the game ever saw – Sachin Tendulkar.

20th October' 2015

Virender Sehwag announced his retirement from international cricket. The boy, now pursuing his post graduation, and while in his room, it dawns upon him. All those players he grew up watching had now bid the game farewell. Lara, Kumble, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar, Ponting, Kallis, Muralidharan, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Zaheer and now Sehwag. He will continue to love the game, he will continue to adore these greats, but he knows something will be different now, something won’t be the same now.

That 9 year old boy perched atop boxes in the basement in 2002 didn’t know how much the sport, the players would give him over the next many years. This 22 year old boy in 2015 is grateful to have witnessed all that. Forever grateful.

Thank you Legends.

Was I unfaithful?

There are times when you let go of things, let go of people without giving a second thought.
But what about them? Do they take it as casually as well? Last night, I parted ways with a friend, not for the first time.

I had to make a choice.
I looked at my options. 

I chose her.
Chose to let her go. Again.

I wonder what might be going through her mind, and the following is an account from her point of view: 

"Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a habit.
This line holds true in our case as well, perhaps I was too naïve to believe in it. The first time he let go of me, I guess he wasn’t too concerned, maybe because we had been together for a very short period of time and may be, in hindsight, that is why I wasn’t too bothered either and may be that is why when we got back together, I had no hesitations and hoped for a longer stint, if I may call it that, this time around.  As a matter of fact, our second stint was longer but I wasn’t oblivious as to how he was treating the rest of his friends. Yes he was considerate about them, aware of the consequences of letting some of them go, but beyond a point, he didn’t care much except when those in question were his most dearest ones. I figured that sooner, rather than later, it may be my turn and I may have to leave him again. But still, I was willing to stay put a little while longer, fight for a place in his space a little bit more. He had many other friends like me, some were less fortunate (again, if I may say so) and consequently, they bore the brunt of parting with him quite frequently. 

Then one day, it all came down to an instance, a shout, and an action. My mother told me that there are times when a person is a bit too engaged (willingly or otherwise) in things happening around him that he unintentionally loses track of the ones around him, the ones with him. And that is what might have happened that day, when amidst the plethora of things, he didn’t realize he had left someone behind, that he had left me behind. I stood there, hurt, hoping he would realize his mistake, come back and pick me up. But alas! 

But there was someone, someone I didn't know back then, someone who called out to remind him of his mistake, to remind him that he had left me behind. Honestly, I didn’t know who that person was, and I haven’t seen her again since then, but that one instance has indebted me to her forever. He took recognizance of what she said, acted upon it and once again, I was back in his life. 

He was considerate of what I had endured and his actions did convey his empathy, pretty much like how a mother dusts off her son when he accidentally falls in the mud while playing, and to me those actions on his part were enough to know that he cared, and the uncertainties of the past disappeared, for a while atleast. 

And then last night, came the third time. It was as if he was gambling and had nothing to offer but me. 

Yes, he had to make a choice. 

Yes, he looked at his options. 

Yes, he chose me.
Chose to let me go. Again. 

Today, I don’t relate to the ones around me, maybe I was too consumed in the warmth of the space I had in his life. Maybe I will get used to these surroundings. Maybe I will not. Maybe we’ll meet again.
You never know. 

I guess somewhere down the line, I was at fault too.
After all, being a Rs. 5 coin, I couldn’t have asked for much!"

Why can it be agonizing to be supporter of a sports team...

A person walked out to the Eden Gardens in 1996 to cheer for his team in the World Cup semi final. He threw bottles and didn’t allow the game to complete. He was a fan. An angry fan. 

In 2007, in Ranchi, a person went to the shop to watch on TV, India take on Bangladesh during the World Cup in West Indies. When he returned, he threw stones at M.S. Dhoni’s house. He was a fan. An upset fan. 

In 2011, a person roamed the streets of Mumbai at midnight after India won the World Cup.
“Chak De” he shouted. He was a fan. A delighted fan. 

That’s the thing with being a fan – it often comes with an adjective. And that’s the problem, it shouldn’t. I wrote this post last week but waited before deciding to share it. The reason has been explained later in this post. 

The months of April and May are when each Indian has his/her allegiances figured out as to which team to cheer for during the IPL. For me, the support is with the men in royal blue, the Rajasthan Royals. And there’s only one reason behind that – that man sitting with a serious expression all through, who was conspicuous for throwing his cap last season (second time in his career when he actually took his anger out on something tangible) – Rahul Dravid. Obviously, by that logic, I supported RCB during the first three years of the league. 

These 8 years of IPL have been a master class in “The Essentials of Being A Supporter” for me. While I pride myself of upholding the standards of loyal support, there are times when it becomes agonizing for me as well. Surprisingly, contrary to popular perceptions, it’s not when the team loses as most would expect, but when they aren’t doing as well as they can and all I can do is sit in front of the TV set and watch in anticipation that agonizes me. 

When you yourself play the sport you follow, you’re naturally more empathetic of a team’s performance, or individual’s performance for that matter than those self proclaimed cricket experts who would have sacked Sachin Tendulkar in 2010 for poor form, who abuse a batsman for not being able to hit six of every alternate ball. So when there is a run out, you don’t abuse the batsmen, because you know such misunderstandings happen while you’re playing. When a bowler is having a bad day, you understand because there are days when things don’t go your way. And so, when I see Rajasthan lose a match from a 60-40 position because they lost three wickets in quick succession, you understand that because such things happen in cricket and I myself have experienced such things while playing. 

I have been playing cricket for over 12 years now (at no professional level), but these years have taught me a lot about the game and that has helped me be a rational supporter, a consistent fan of the sport because I can relate my own experiences to those happening on the field on TV and I know what all can happen and how it feels for those involved. In a way, that is why it is sometimes agonizing to be a cricket team's fan- because you can watch, understand and relate to the scenes, but nothing beyond that. When RR lost their momentum after a rollicking start, I so wanted to be, quite honestly, a part of their team, because when you are in the mix, you know each player is giving his best, what concerns some players and you know you are putting your best foot forward. 

But here I am, watching the pre match shows, expert opinions, reading reports and articles and then tuning in for the match to try and be that extra player for the team, but honestly, you can’t do that. Sharing facebook posts, tweeting your support, that’s not what I am talking about, that every John in the street can do. I don’t want to be that John because more often than not, that John only abuses a cricketer’s girlfriend for his poor performance on the field, and that is what differentiates me from that John, which is what differentiates true fans from the fake ones. 

Last week RR were playing CSK and a win would have more or less ensured them a playoff berth with a match to spare, and all the emotions I shared above were in full force because personally, I am happy with seeing my team win, but I so eagerly want to be more closely involved with them when they aren’t doing well and because I can’t do that, it gets agonizing for me, regardless of the result. I waited before sharing this post because I wanted to see if my emotions were true even if RR lost that match (which they did) and the one last night against KKR (which they won), and they (emotions) stood the test of nerves. I want to be there in the mix, knowing the effort everyone is putting in rather than watching from thousands of miles away on a TV screen, looking anxiously as the events unfold because from my experience, nobody wants to win more than the players themselves, and it is the players only who are more considerate of the outcomes, not necessarily the results. A fan, beyond a point, can’t delve much into it and that agonizes me. You saw Rahul Dravid throw his cap, I have thrown a thing or two myself at times, because it's not the result, but the outcome that hurts.

But I would choose that agonizing feeling anytime over the fickle mind of a fan, which leads me to my next and last point. In essence, a fan is a bit different from a supporter. How? It’s all about the balance between emotions and support. When the former dominates the latter, it makes you a fan. When your support keeps your emotions in check, you’re a supporter. And after the first few experiences with cricket, I have strived to be the latter.  

I have been a selfish fan, but I have learned to be a supporter. And that is the difference – the word “fan” comes with a preceding adjective, as illustrated through the three examples in the beginning, “supporter” doesn’t, because it is always meant to be unconditional. And that is why I used "supporter" in the title of this post, not "fan". More on the fan V supporter battle some other time. Someday I might delve deeper into this angst supporter concept, that time it will be Rahul Dravid, the man who matters most to me when it comes to cricket.

Until next time..

Take Care :)

WHAT IF...

They say the only thing constant in life is change. Look around you and you’ll realize how the things have transformed – be it the mobile phone you use, the technology you have at your disposal, the infrastructure, the way people interact, the places where you hangout, the various professions one can choose from and so on. In today’s post I will talk about one such change, or rather upgrade – that in people. And when I say upgrade, I don’t mean any philosophical and anthropological take on the humans. Neither is this blog that intellectual nor am I that intelligent in the first place. The change – upgrade I’m talking about is on the lines of mobile software updates that we get. 

We all deal with different kinds of people and they all play different roles in our lives – family, friends, partners, relatives, acquaintances, mentors, neighbours and the shakal to jaani pehchaani hai types. We all associate certain idioscyncrasies with people’s attitudes – that person is a hot head, she is so cool, my dad is so supportive, my friend is so stingy, her mom is so modern and so on. 

Now, what if all these opinions could be broken down to each person’s operating system version? You would know in advance what all to expect and lines like “you let me down” could well become obsolete, because, well you knew who, rather what you were dealing with. Now given the super busy schedule that I have on my plate, I decided to think of how our conversations would be shaped. And for easy relatability, I am referring to Android OS in the following examples. 

Read on to see if you see my point (if not, you better upgrade): 

CAREER DISCUSSIONS 

Dude, it’s great that your parents are supporting you to try your hand at acting. That’s the benefit of having Jelly Bean parents. I on the other hand had to become a doctor, couldn’t oppose the Gingerbread thinking of my parents! 

THE FIRST FEW YEARS OF EVERY CHILD 

Arrey, look how big he has become. Last time I saw you, you were, what, a Cupcake 1.5. Ab dekho, Froyo 2.2.3 ban gaya hai! 

CRUSHES 

Bro, come on, I know you like Aisha. Who wouldn’t? She is cute, smart, intelligent plus she is a Kitkat! 

No bro, she isn’t my type. I would want a girl who has that Ice Cream Sandwich look about her, I just dig that.

AT SCHOOL

Teacher: Where is Raj? He is supposed to give a presentation today.

Raj’s friend: Mam wo aaj nahi aaya. Uska update nikla hai aaj.

POLITICAL RALLIES

(Imagine Narendra Modi taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi:)

Bhayio behno, jiski khud ki party usse Beta (1.1) se Honeycomb (3.0) tak update nahi hone deti, wo khud kya khaak Bharat ko Lollipop (5.1.1) tak leke jaayega???

MOVIE PROMOTIONS

This film is about two happy going Gingerbreads who love each other and a Kitkat who tries to ruin their relationship for his own good.

Aamir Khan: Yeah, I had to do a lot of research. I had to learn the intricacies of a Kitkat, because you see, I’m a ICS at heart!

LOVE PROPOSALS

He: Sweetheart, I know that being a Donut 1.6, I’m no match for your Froyo 2.2.1 life. But I promise, I will work hard and not rest until I get a suitable update of Jelly Bean so that I can provide you with all the comforts you desire. Will you marry me?

She: Dhatt re pagle, rulaayega kya. I would have said YES even if you were a Cupcake 1.5. My love for you is not OS-condtinional.   

REQUESTS

Child: Mom, please convince dad to allow me to go on the outstation trip. All my friends are going.

Mom: Shut Up, he is already so angry with the fact that his much awaited Kitkat update hasn’t come out yet and you want me to bring this topic to his interface? He will hang!

So, you get my point. I hope you did. These two words “What If” have a lot of plausible scenarios, today I shared with you the one of humans based on OS. 

What next? Wait for it...

P.S. In case this blog doesn’t match your interests, check your OS compatibility with mine!! I’m anyways free!!

Until next time

Take Care  :)

The decision that could change your dining experience: An MBA Case Study!!

“The world out there is filled with people. Some just focus on their own work, others believe in taking people along with them and the rest just don’t care about who’s who. Who do you come across when you step out there decides where exactly will you fit in.” 

The above lines (said by none other than me) fit perfectly into a corporate setting regarding a lecture on how to deal with competition, people and life. 

Now, I’ll save that topic for some other day, what I want to talk about is based on the following lines which are somewhat similar to what I wrote above: 

“The mess out there is filled with people. Some just sit alone, others believe in taking friends along with them and the rest just don’t care about who’s who. Who do you come across when you step in there decides where exactly will you sit.” 

Yes, that’s the agenda today. After one year of Post Graduation, my first research based post is about how people go about deciding as to where and with whom to sit when they come for their meal to the mess. I have a tendency to observe people and public settings and if you have been following this blog, you would know that since the posts have dealt with guests at home, relatives at weddings, crowd in buses, announcers at stations/airports and myself (because I’m really keen to see how I react under different situations). 

So, many a times as I sat inside the mess, focussing on nothing but the food on my plate, especially when it was Dal Makhni or Aloo Parantha, I did manage to glance at people, standing in the queue, scanning the surroundings to identify the perfect landing spot! This post is about some types of those people only. Read on: 

• The Ekla Chalo Type:
  
  These are the kind of persons I can closely relate to. They will enter the mess, get their food, head to the closest seat available, irrespective of whether it is vacant/populated or familiarly populated. If they sit alone, they enjoy their date with food and if someone comes to join them, they are more than welcome and if that someone happens to be a known face, they strike up a conversation with them and also wait for them till they are done. Some courtesy they have!! And while leaving, if you happen to catch up with some friends and talk for long, that person just vanishes in no time, like the Dark Knight! Again, some courtesy they have!!

• The Campaign Team Type:
  These people don’t have to look for people to sit with, they keep people with them. They are usually seen walking in groups ranging from 7 to 10, resembling a team for an election campaign and take one entire table. The good thing about them – not one person leaves the table until everybody else is done. The bad thing – you can’t sit with them (only because there is no space at all!!)

• The Perplexed Species:
  
  They come, stand in the queue, see, scan, think, think again until someone from behind tells them – aage chalo yaar. This type can be easily identified from the rest by observing their posture and facial expressions when they stand with their plate and look for where to sit – 180^o face rotation, hawk eyes and the “who will be next victim” look. Most often, because of the high time lag between them entering the mess and ultimately deciding where to park themselves, by the time they sit, others are ready to leave. Sometimes though, their processor works overtime and they decide in a matter of seconds, courtesy some familiar faces.

• The Mauka Mauka Type:
  
  When you spend so much time together with other students on a secluded campus, you tend to like someone. These are the people who like someone and when they see that someone sitting in the mess with atleast one vacant seat next to him/her, tab aa jata hai inka mauka. They just rush through the plate filling routine in order to make sure nobody takes the hot seat before them. Another common technique is to first approach the table at which the person is sitting, strike a conversation with them/others at the table and then say “I’ll just get my food and be back”, thereby booking their seat. Often, someone else grabs the opportunity (knowingly/ unknowingly) and these people are left with a third tier seat rather than the one closest to the boundary ropes and there goes their mauka mauka....

• TTTTT (The Two To Tango Type):
  
  If you didn’t get it by the name, let me tell you I’m talking about the couples. They share some of the characteristics with the Ekla Chalo type, only difference being they have another person from the other sex which translates the "I don’t care" attitude into "We don’t care."  They come at their own time, sit wherever two seats are available, have their meal and leave. With due respect, they don’t stop other people (read friends) from joining them, however they don’t always wait for them to finish. Chalta hai, yahi to din hain!!

• The Switch Hit Type:
  
  These persons come and preferably sit in the middle of the table, with two familiar groups around on either side so that they are in their comfort zone. That said, they prefer to actively engage themselves in discussion with only one of the group and upon realizing that no body is paying much attention to them, they tend to switch to the other side of the table. By that time, it’s too late though and the people are ready to leave, thereby leaving these people in a situation similar to the ones the perplexed species find themselves in. Bottom line: Serious loyalty issues!!

So what kind are you?? 

Feel free to add on to the list, I might look at it from the point of view of my dissertation topic! 

Until next time

Adios  :)

ORDER ORDER!!

“You are guilty and deserve to be punished”, said the man sitting on the chair. 

This person’s opinion mattered because the chair he was sitting on was placed on a pedestal, inside a court. This man was a Judge. 

When was the last time someone expressed their opinion about you or something associated with you? “You’re so boring”, “You’re not worth talking”, “You are arrogant”, “You are this/that/all things bad.....” 

Often, such comments come from a third party source or in your absence. The thing some of us do wrong when we come to know of such perceptions of ourselves is that we tend to take it a bit too seriously and personally. In short, we validate their judgement of us. People have the habit of saying anything and everything about others, how you react to the opinions/ comments directed towards you is totally upto you. If each thing someone says about you manages to book a convenient 2 room apartment in your heart along with one farmhouse in your mind, my friend, you’re not a good caretaker of the real estate that you possess. 

The reason behind the first three lines of this post is that by accepting others’ perception of us (good/bad/ugly), we elevate them to the status of a judge, whose opinion does matter. But that is not the case. If we all had a penny for everytime someone said something about us, we all would be millionaires. When the passbook of your life was printed, it’s sole owner was you and you alone. So why let others influence and decide which course is best suited for you. I’m not asking you to be a rebel, an outlier or a andhon me kaana raja, all I’m saying is each person adds a certain flavour to your life and it’s your prerogative to decide how much of each kind do you want. 

When I was learning driving, the instructor used to manage the clutch/break himself for the first few times. But when he was confident of my abilities, he used to take a nap comfortably on the next seat while I drove in peace. So keeping the fact that I didn’t bang the car anywhere and the instructor is still alive today, the point I’m trying to make is people do, and should influence you but upto a point only. Once all the mental faculties you possess are capable enough, you need not outsource the do’s and don’ts of your life.  

I believe sometimes we ourselves also tend to do the same thing to others. If you did it and realized your mistake, good but if you still think it is totally okay to frame and throw your opinions about someone on them like a pokeball, please refer to the image below: 

So now that I’ve given a lot of gyaan, I’ll end this post here, hoping that what I said struck the right chord with you all, or you all might begin to judge me for what I write!! 

Anyways, so next time someone passes a judgement on you, check if they are wearing the black robe and have that gavel thing in their hand. If not, just keep walking..... 

Until next time...
Take Care :)

The Firsts of My Life...

So after a gap of almost two months, I’m back with the expression to (choose one) engage/annoy/make you smile. Coincidentally, this also happens to be the first post of 2015, so I thought how about sharing the first times I have had in my life so far? For obvious reasons, I’m not going to write about all the firsts, but the ones I vividly remember and find them worth sharing. So here we go:

• First Day @ School: My parents tell me that on the first day of school, I was very happy and excited. New uniform, new bag, new place, basically new everything must have got me high!! I went happily, spent the day at school in equally joyous mood and came back smiling. Well this was until the climax. Problem started when I was told I had to go there next day as well, and after that as well, and after that, for 5 days a week, every week. There was crying, crying and a little more crying. Eventually, they somehow managed to drag me to school, and now after almost 18 years, it all turned out pretty well. 

• First time alone @ home: I have a sister 7 years elder to me, so when I was in 3^rd standard, she had her Class X^th boards. So in that March of 2002, our small family had two big challenges. One – the board exams and secondly, how to leave me alone at home for so many hours, since I was done with my exams and was having the vacation? So they bought me comics, that small miniature computer shaped game boy, lots of toys, a list of emergency numbers, a list of channel numbers of my favourite TV programs and of course, enormous stock of food. As it turned out, we both did pretty well. She had a decent exam and I had a pleasant stay. In retrospect, that day set the precedent and I have spent many a days alone at home for years after that without any troubles. Long live working families!! 

• First day @ Board Exams: Fast forward the above point and we come to my tryst with Class Xth board exams. I had had decent net practice via the pre boards and was excited and raring to go. Naturally, my mom was nervous, way more than the rest of the family members (combined). My father accompanied me to the exam centre and that was some sight for me, seeing hordes of students thronging that road to reach to the centre, that visual is as clear as crystal even today. The exam went well, I called my mom after coming back home and as was her natural tendency to not show her nervousness and instead put it on someone else, she asked me “Ab to darr nahi lag raah na boards se?” This was a question she was asking herself, but wanted the answer in my voice. “Nahi, bilkul nahi”, I said and the rest as they say is history.  

• First Income: I was doing a internship during the final year of my graduation. It was initially supposed to be of two months but later got extended by one, the last month being full time work and came with a stipend. Once that got over and I received my first payment, my first income of Rs. 2500, I wanted to do a little something for my family. They didn’t know of this and one morning, my parents woke up to an envelope besides them on which was written “my first income, congratulations and thank you J.” I gave all three of them (the third being my sister) a share of that money and used the rest to manage my expenses for the next month or so, which also happened to be the first time I didn’t have to approach my parents for money, although for a month only, but it felt nice. 

• First time away from home: On 13^th of March’ 2014, we transferred the first fees installment to SIMC, Pune for my post graduation, thereby sealing my future for the next two years. That meant that after spending all my life in Delhi, it was time to embrace a new place. It took a bit of convincing, and once that was done, my parents lent all their support and confidence. Their only question was “You sure you want this?”
  I bid them farewell, boarded the flight, landed in Pune, reached the campus and the next chapter of my life then unfolded.  I have been home twice so far since June last year, and it has been a pretty good journey in Pune thus far. In a sense, they both are now living the first year of their marriage all over again, just the two of them for each other’s company, with a married daughter and a son perched on a hill in Pune. 

I would have mentioned my first interview as well, but that has been mentioned in one of the earlier posts. You can read it here, refer to the last point. For a more serious take on my first interview, which I do remember, read the first of the two part story here, and here's the part after the interval.
You know what, it feels good to mention the links, feels like I have written quite a bit since I first started! 

Well that’s it with this first of many posts of 2015. Feel free to share some of your first times, I’m all eyes.

Until next time

Take care J