Journey with ‘Her’

It started with a nil

With intentions to climb a hill

A journey towards the helm

Through the hurdles of the realm

Long before I could envision

Long before I could set upon a mission

One soft hand held my arm

One prettiest face to my charm

A road that I promised ‘Her’ to tread

A road till I start earning my bread

She looked at me with divine faith

‘Her’ silent solemn, not a word she said

Hard it was to realize what she meant

Hard it’s still to realize what she underwent

The journey was rough, tough to abort

But I always had ‘Her’ silent support

Neither a second thought, nor a hasty blink

‘Her’ divine presence made the hurdles sink

She helped the fallen me stand on feet

She encouraged me to conquer any feat

When the road grew longer and horizon hazy

During the journey when at times I acted crazy

I could see ‘Her’ lap, mellow as a desert-rose

‘Her’ damp and concerned eyes, inviting me close.

If heavens were to open they start from here

If hell is something then it’s ‘Her’ frowning stare

Sacrificing ‘Her’ desires, she made me a good human being

Neither tears nor pain only smiles to keep me going

And now I look back when I can earn my bread

Through the hardships, the turmoil that one can dread

She has seen them all and been through all

In the modern world she has made me stand tall

I salute to ‘Her’ will, I bow to her strength

I bow to almighty for sending ‘Her’ as a friend

For every birth I pray send ‘Her’ for me

For every moment I pray keep ‘Her’ close to me

A bed of roses for ‘Her’ is all that I dream

A wonderful life for ‘Her’ – to almighty I scream

For this special place cannot be taken by any other

For me it’s only ‘Her’ – the world calls her ‘My Mother’

The greatest learning

Hooo Hooo Baaa.....Thump!!
I have finally landed on a moon-like surface after crawling on earth for some 25 years. Please do not take this statement as it sounds as I will now familiarize you with the different analogies displayed in it. Firstly, its a jump - a leap rather, from one phase of life to another. Secondly, a moon-like surface because this phase is definitely at a higher intensity and a higher mental altitude than the previous one and just like the spots in moon this phase will have some rough patches too although predominantly it will shine and glitter with charm (I am sure it will and I am not being too optimistic!). Thirdly, I was crawling on earth's surface as life used to be very normal, very passive and most of all it used to be the way I wanted it to be.
But,
the leap has taken place. The much awaited has happened. The gears of life have shifted yet again but this time to attain a pace greater than ever before along with some huge responsibilities on the shoulders.
Life is not going to be the same because there is another life associated to it now. My spouse, my better or rather my best half, my wife, my second soul.
She is not like me and I am not like her. She doesn't like cricket, I can't live without it. She loves shopping, shopping is a nightmare for me. She doesn't like dancing, dance is my passion. She doesn't speak much, I can't stop blurting for hours. She likes saas-bahusoaps, I fall asleep when they are on. She likes English songs, I like soft Hindi songs. She doesn't express her feelings, I don't leave any stone unturned when it comes to expressing my feelings. She has a sister with whom she shares everything, I have none. She is a true theist, I am an agnostic.
Obviously, such attributes were known to me earlier as well, but Despite so many contrasting attributes we have taken vows now because we developed a bond. We have made promises to each other. We are one.
So, from here onwards, it will never be 'I', it will be 'WE'... Always...
Yes, we are no more bachelors now. We are married. From a boy and a girl to a man and a woman. This feeling does give us goose flesh but this is something which will contribute to the largest part of our lives' learning. It's not just "My Life" now. It's our life.C'EST NOTRE VIE.
A different sort of education begins now. The Grihistha as it is called has begun.
Let us stand up to it.
Let us live it with smiles on our faces.
Let us contribute to it in our best possible way.
Let us give it what it needs to cement it.
Let us lay the foundation of the strongest home ever.
Let us keep ourselves and the people around us happy.
Let us hold our hands to fight against the unwanted.
Let us build up the courage to absorb the unexpected.
Let us build up the trust to help each other walk when one is blindfolded.
Let us make this relationship the most cherished possession of our lives.
Let us Rock!

The Charm of Distance

Those were the days when I was a student

Never realized how quickly life had bent,

Last exams of life and books were already away,

Those were the days, not so long back, when we would just sway.

Girls and women were things being fantasized

How to kill time was something I never emphasized

When one fine day, mom came up with a solution

Let’s find you a girl out of your imagination.

A girl who would swore with you for life

A girl who would soon be called your wife

I questioned her back as I skipped a beat

I could sense some coldness in the scorching heat

Why do you want to put me in wedlock?

Is there no other ship to drown in the dock?

She pacified me as she has always done,

Let’s start the search now before left are none

The first day uncle took us on the hunt

A girl opened the door, my reaction - 'blunt'.

Quite a meeting it was, which was not

Exchanged glances were never given a thought.

For several following days the hunt kept on

Some made me WOW!, some made me yawn

Few days later, uncle asked me to rethink

On something which, on the first day of hunt, had just passed by like a blink.

How can just one meeting decide your fate,

Was something which I was not able to digest

I gave it a long thought and came to a conclusion

'Let’s meet up again and then arrive at a decision'

We decided to meet up over lunch

And then began a story of a colorful flower bunch.

Honey chilly potatoes never tasted that good,

Few smiles over lunch like laughters of childhood.

The fragrance that was drowned away

In the kitchen of 'her' home the first day

Was everywhere around me today

I didn’t want to let 'her' go away

The very next day I was there with my stand

Ready to call 'her' and ask for ''her' magical hand

But then I heard something grave coated in honey

“I am not ready for this and let’s leave it to destiny”

I felt a little broke, but later pacified myself,

Why to worry for books which are not yet on the shelf?

I moved on and the hunt continued

But the thought of her denial kept me glued

Then one fine day, out of the blues

A mail came to me, to my amuse

A mail that regretted of decision made in haste,

A mail that wanted this alliance not go waste.

A mail that would turn our wheels of fate

A mail that marked the finding of my mate

For this alliance can be challenged by none

The alliance that merges 2 souls into one

The families congratulated, they were elated

But one thing in my mind now haunted

Just a couple of days and I’ll be off

Dear, oh dear, I’ll miss you a lot

Miles of distance between us will soon be there

The thought gave me shivers as I was not aware

Met her for the last time before my departure

A meeting I can never forget, your void will be a torture.

And then with a heavy heart, I arrived here

Numb was the feeling, wished ‘you’ were here

Monday of May and the job began its toll

Even the classy Deere couldn’t make me forget all

Then I found a solution to bring you close to me

Let the technology of Video Chat bind thee

The feeling of seeing u again was just so heavenly

Miles between us yet we sit so closely

The days will pass, the seconds will tick away

Let us wait together, for our big day

For the heavens will come down, the gods will shower their blessings

The winds will sing the song with aroma of jasmine dressings

Like we exchanged the rings, we’ll now exchange the garlands

The world will come to see us together, from the far lands

And then will unite the souls of you and I

Promises of next several births and this painful time will just fly.

- with Love

               Ankit

Reminiscence

Reminiscing the last 2 years,

At the end of a sojourn

Brings me to tears

That they end so soon

Loads of ups and loads of downs

I’ve seen them all, I’ve been through all

Yet I managed to keep my ground

And here I begin a tale easily found

1^st sem was a learning time

A pinch of sugar but a lot of lime

My maiden hostel-life and the “dis”-orientation to begin

PDPs that popularize to lectures not so keen.

Subjects far from logic

And no pretty faces around

That’s what marked my 1^st sem

that went without a sound.

2^nd sem came in with a big bang

When all of us had formed our own gang

Everyday life had new things to preach

But for the teachers there was nothing but to teach

then came the 3^rd when I got “exchanged”

it seemed that the world around me had changed

the places that were till now just a part of my dream

stood right in front of me like an icing of cream.

Summers went mostly at home

And Airtel was just a certificate dome

Stipend was nil and petrol price was great

but free food and phone calls did compensate

4^th was when the seniority prevailed

Cricket blossomed and academics failed

Cribbing sophomores were indeed fun

And the bhasad that shot in lobbies was awesome

5^th was when the priorities changed

From placements that haunted to STPs they ranged

15 companies came and went without me

16^th was the one that heard my plea

And now it’s 6^th, the final cram

And about my CGPA,

Huh! I don’t give a damn!

Alas! I sum it up for you

with my final adieus

that I will cherish these 2 years

absolutely without any blues.

I’ll miss the parties,

I’ll miss the nights

I’ll miss the DLP

And undoubtedly I’ll miss you guys!

Let's view the Chakravyuh

If you have been following my blogs regularly, then you might remember that I always 'boast' about my strong faith in my abilities. Sports is one such ability in me. So, it happened like this.Chakravyuh at IMT is a massive sports event and some people can go to any extent just to be a part of it. The preparations for the Chakravyuh begin a month before the commencement of the event. The event begins to sprinkle the rays of its grandeur days before its actual start. I could not be the part of Chakravyuh '09 as I had been exchanged to France along with my other classmates. Groups of 24-25 men and women form a team which would include players who will play all sorts of sports. 10-15 teams are formed from IMT alone, with names ranging from some serious ones like Kshatriyas, Maharathis and Titans to some as funny as my own Desi Tammanchey Bidesi Bomb, Tapan Baba 24 chor and Lazy Bones. The Kshatriyas and Maharathis supposedly being the 'best' teams of IMT. Now. . .Considering my cricketing career at IMT (which has {touchwood} never seen a downfall) I was pretty sure of being one of the most probable candidates among those who would be selected for cricket in one of the 'best' teams of IMT. Most expectedly Maharathi as they were the ones with whom I played most of my matches, were my 'good' friends and on a few occasions stood out as a match-winner for them too. But. . . C'est ma vie! If all goes well then the learning for me would be minimal. The team Maharathi (which was constituted without me) was one of the best cricketing squad at Chakravyuh. They had all the essential ingredients of bowlers, batsmen and fielders. Days, weeks were receding hastily. Chakravyuh was approaching. My classmates who were not participating in Chakravyuh were making plans for a 3-day trip on Chakravyuh days and were persuading me to accompany them in case I am not playing in the Chakravyuh.But suddenly one day a Marketing batch student comes up to me and asks me if I am a part of any team or not and if I would be willing to join his upcoming team comprising of members comparatively 'new-to-sports'. I told him I need some time to think about this. That night, I lied down in my bed and thought something very unusual. I am calling it unusual because I am finding it difficult to categorise it into good or evil. I'll share those thoughts with you. I thought, if somehow I could manage to give my best shot in the matches while playing for this team of less-regular players then I could come into lime-light. But, Cricket is a game which is seldom won single-handedly. Victory has to be a team effort. The next night I received a mail from my team captain. It said "the main objective behind the formation of our team is to let all the team members participate in at least one game." My heart sank. How could a team captain put winning as a secondary objective???? How can the people who are never seen playing anything emerge out of the blues as winners? It was then that I made a solemn. The Chakravyuh was now just 1 day away. Everybody was practising Cricket in the field. Maharathi occupying the centre-most position and rightly so, after all, cricket was their most victory-expected game. Our team needed the practice most. Some players showed good touch with the ball and bat at the practice sessions. But was that enough?? The 1st day of Chakravyuh had no sport for me to be a part of. Although I was expecting to be a part of Tennis. The player for a particular sport in our team was not decided on merit basis for sure but on the basis of number of other games he plays. The lower this number the more are the chances of him to play that sport. Anyways, the 1st day of Chakravyuh was event-less. The next morning we had to play cricket against the Kshatriyas. We won the toss and decided to field first. Our bowlers did a fairly good job of restricting them to 43 in 6 overs. But with less experienced side and Kshatriyas' experienced bowling attack this target of 44 was not easy. I and Vaibhav opened the innings and achieved the target in just 17 balls. We reached the 2nd round of cricket in which we were to battle it out against the favourites Maharathis whose team line up boasted of experience, strength, cricket acumen and a great captain. We again won the toss and decided to field first. This time our bowling was treated badly by some great stroke play from the Maharathi batsmen who set up a big target of 64 in 6 overs.This time I and Amit opened the innings for our team. The target seemed distant at first, but when both of us started dealing in boundaries and sixes we finished the game with still 1 out of 6 overs to spare. So what was it that defeated the favourites Maharathi?????? What was it that Maharathis boasted of but we did not?????? I think it was my learnings from the previous similar situations that I faced on the cricket field when I played with most of the Maharathi team members. The learnings from the matches in which I, supported by my fellow batsmen, took the team out of a drowning situation. The learnings which probably Maharathi lacked. After beating the Maharathis we reached the 3rd round of Cricket, probably the farthest our team reached in any sporting event. Though we lost to Amity in the 3rd round, in which they scored a gigantic 92 in 6 overs, even after giving a tough fight to them. So, C'est ma vie. . .oh my god!. . .i've started using this quote as my life's slogan. But, now I can feel it within me that my learning paid well for me. Alhough not well enough, but I could see the inexpressible feeling of triumph and heavenly pleasure in the eyes of each and every member of my team after that victory. Feels awesome to be one of the reasons for that!!

An HR's Idea of a Vacation

Those were the winters of Nainital. I along with my friends of IMT-HR had booked the Corbett Lodge in the deep unchartered valleys of the exotic hill-station. My friends had gone for sight-seeing and the Safari-wala had insisted them to visit the Sunset-point in particular. I somehow wasn’t feeling well and thus didn’t feel like accompanying them. They criticized me for this and told me you’ll be missing a great fun. But I preferred to stay back at the lodge and ordered for a coffee.

Sitting alone in the balcony, I was examining the texture of the land and admiring the miraculous tectonic creations. A narrow passage ran through the hillocks making way for a river lit by the rays of the dying sun ready to show up again in a matter of hours. The ripples of the water reflected the weak sunshine straight through my spectacles as I sipped in the evening coffee. My gaze followed the flow of the river to where it was ending and by the time it stopped following, the sun’s rim had touched the edge of the river. The scene was like a painting, though my mind deciphered the scenic beauty from a different perspective. A perspective which would enhance the vision of my career.

For me, that time, it was not just a mere coming-together of 2 nature’s greatest gifts but a gift for my thinking, my point-of-view, my approach towards my career. It was a union of HR managers (sun) and the personnel (river). The sun makes the river glitter; it makes it shine not just in the day as sunlight but even in the night as moonlight. Similarly the efficiency of a staff depends on the knowledge bestowed on them by their respective HR managers. Be it good (day) or bad (night) times the HR takes them through. A blending not just of two greatest forces in the world but a combination of administrative personnel functions and performance.

The sun sprinkles its light equally to each and every particle of water irrespective of the nature of that particle; similarly an HR is indiscriminate about the various diversities prevalent in the organization. This can be exemplified by the organizational transitions taking place in Bank of Montreal, Quebec.

As I was busy relating the scene to an organization suddenly the waves started building up in the waters. The level of the water began to rise; the white herons took off in an instant for their nests like an HR manager who anticipates the future supply and demand for employees. A sense of terror started prevailing in the atmosphere. I, the least concerned and the least terrified of all didn’t stop thinking and relating it to my career. What if these are indications of the various challenges that an HR management has to face in an organization. These could be the economic and technological changes in the work environment or some sort of organizational restructuring. The tides need to be pacified.

All the processes going on in this world are governed by a set of rules and regulations like gravity. So was my thinking. An HR management must have a set of predefined rules and regulations and certain assumptions which it must abide by, in order to ensure a healthy and sound HR functionality. These could be ensuring equal employment opportunity, ensuring diversity in workforce, compensations and benefits, ensuring healthy relationship between employee and management.

The scene had such a deep impact on my perception towards my management branch that i felt like i had discovered something great and blissful. My approach towards HR had completely changed and a voice said from within me that there’s no stopping me from understanding the greatness of my field and faring well in it.

It was hard to realize that I had spent two hours watching the magnificent and informational sight until one of my friends called me from behind saying ‘we’re back’. One of them teased me saying ‘I feel sorry for you as you couldn’t enjoy some of the most beautiful places on earth’. I recalled how I had spent the past two hours and replied back ‘I surely missed the hang-out with you guys, but what you missed is something you might regret in future.’ And I narrated the summary of what I had discovered. I could see their faces turning green with envy.

The beginning of a dream!

After some vague ideas about making a career in writing and putting up a 'comment-seeking-question' on Facebook about 'whether to go for writing a blog or would somebody write a biography on me', I have finally decided to sit down and vent out all that crap, that germinates in my mind on a fairly regular basis, in a virtual format - a BLOG. Somehow, I chose this media because of the ease of writing, spell check (though I don't make too many mistakes), desirable font and last but not the least. . .you can make a plethora of friends read it by posting its link on the various social networking sites and softwares and get some valuable (preferably good) comments...(wink...wink)

So, why am I writing this Blog? Is it a compulsion? Is it a choice? Is it a hobby? Is it for an experience of 'much-heard-about' blogging? Or is it about killing the free time that I am going to get now considering the fact that I now fall under the 'elite' category of PLACED human beings. Well, the answer lies too deep within me to decipher. But what I think is, that I would get some learning out of it for sure. A learning, probably, not too extensive or enriching but a learning for sure.

It could be the most tremendous feeling for many to cross the thin line that distinguishes "Placed" from "Unplaced". And when I crossed that line on that magnificent evening of 8th January 2010, I found myself to be no exception. After attending to a plethora of wishes I finally sat down to think about my future as an HR manager now. Following is the list of questions that arose in my mind:

"Am I happy or am I content?"

"Can I feel that I have found the 'Star' (the aim) of my life?"

"Am I supposed to be doing this for my entire life?"

"Is this feeling going to sustain forever?"

"Is this the ultimate result of my so-called hard work for the past 25 years?"

"Is this what I really wanted to do in life?"

Let me assure you that I am not inspired by some recently released movie. Such questions have been haunting me for quite some time now.

Now you must be thinking if these questions have been haunting me for such a long time then why did I choose to write today.

Well, that's how I would like to introduce you all to my Blog which says "C'est ma vie" which means "It's my life".

My life...It's been great...I have done almost every possible thing which I could afford (or not) till now in my life and I feel very proud to say that I have been able to do a fairly good job in most of my endeavors! Be it sports or academics, performing arts or fine arts I have been able to collect accolades in almost every field right from childhood. Along with providing me with oodles of confidence and experiences of lifetime, it has given me a vast expanse of belief in my abilities.

I rarely find a task un-do-able. But . . . that doesn't make me vulnerable enough to be given a task against my wish. How do you expect me to do something I don't like. What I want in 'my' life is to be famous for 'my' contribution to a field of 'my' choice.

As I am growing, each passing second, minute, hour and a day is telling me to reach out for that 'Star' of my life, but I am so engrossed in fulfilling the desires/wants of the people connected to me directly or indirectly that I have almost lost track of that 'Star'.

But, now that I have the answers to most of the questions, that will make me keep my head held high amongst my peers, I must start hunting for that 'Star'.

In my life, I've learnt at each and every step, in each and every task performed (whether completed or uncompleted) and that too, without a proper guidance. I have learnt to distinguish, on my own, good from evil, helpful from useless and most importantly I have learnt about myself. According to me, a man who can describe himself without the aid of others, is the real man of mettle. C'est ma vie: Develop the thirst through your experiences, Keep learning and use these learnings to satiate your thirst: not in order to survive but in order to sleep well tonight and nights to follow!

P.S: My learning through my first blog: Thinking and writing actually makes one think and then do!