Valet Parking

 - Where is the parking?

- You can leave it here Madam.

- No, its ok, I will park.

- The valet is coming and he can park for you. If you want to park, you would have to park a little farther down that lane.

- Oh, is the valet parking free?

- (he switched to hindi) haan madam, yeh nih-shulk hai.

- oh ok, thanks, could you please get it parked for me.

Now, three years earlier, I would have scoffed at somebody trying to save the 100 bucks (this is the amount that many seven-star hotels in Delhi charge) for valet services.

Today, I did it myself! Reasons that I can think are:

1. I am confident of myself. Yes, I am no longer concerned about what a security guard will think of me! and am more sure now that he won't refuse me entry for asking a question like that! 

 2. 100 Rupee does matter to me more than the slight hitch in asking. As you start spending your own money, you realise the importance of it even more.

Failure

What does it mean? Is it necessarily bad?

Sad & angry

Me is sad.... and angry...

All the excitement of shifting into a new (rented) house has been marred by the current owner refusing to give back our security deposit. Quite a harassing situation I tell ya! Apart from the the fact that we are losing money, the worst thing is the feeling of helplessness ('helplessness' is one feeling that a control-freak like me do not like AT ALL!)...  Just can't accept the fact that he can simply not return our money!!! We are in NO MOOD to give up, less or more, its OUR hard-earned money, and I WANT it BACK :|.

Second the 'honour killings' bother me a lot.... Is this the India our children will grow up in? What is my gotra (my husband's or my father's)? why should my gotra change after marriage? what is gotra anyways and why should it be so paramount?...and what is caste? what is my caste? again, my husband's or my father's.... why should it change anyways.... what would be my kids' caste?? why should it be my husband's caste and not mine ?? do I like it, No....... do I like my husband?... Yes, & I love him too (and very much at that!). Guess the last one is one comforting point that helps me bear the rest of the nonsense that this world is becoming (or may be always was)

zxcvbm

Trying to stop my eyelids from giving away the most-common-after-lunch-secret (read 'sleep'), I am trying to type things on to my google page to keep myself engaged... so, I type zxcvbm (try typing that). and I get this as the first in the list.... 

Urban Dictionary: zxcvbnm

people punch these keys on the key board when they get irritated at their computer or have mental problems and believe this is a real word>
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=zxcvbnm - Cached - Similar

Visit again...

Ladies & gentleman, you are going to witness some serious interior designing in the coming months. A & me are about to shift to a new house (yeah, its a rented acco, but still OUR home) and my creative urges are itching to burst out. Watch out this space.

Slow down, look, move

Laws of the universe are so true in so very different situations. For example, while driving on a heavy traffic road (which I do for 2 hours daily! no wonder I am deriving learnings from there!), its better to keep a distance from the vehicle ahead, this would give you a view of the neighboring lanes as well; then only one can look for best gaps to drive faster.... trying to accelerate without a direction in mind, doesn't yield much. (Yes, I do change lanes reasonably often while driving, this in India!).

Same is true of life. One should try stepping back, observing his/her self (& his/her life), and then move. Blind races don't yield much, Strategies pay.

Its a beautiful night..... it has a soul of the early dawn as if its hopeful of something. As if the morning rays are hidden somewhere behind the tower of the temple, just waiting for the waking hours to light up the laden sky. Its an expectant night, and a mysterious one; awaking the piscean me. Oh how I love thinking these aimless thoughts, just witnessing the shows of the universe, and 'not thinking' about the more material thoughts of life. (or may be those thoughts aren't really 'material', may be they are too trivial to be thought about!)

I always have this feeling that I should do more with my life. Be more happy, accomplish more, do more things that please me...  its been such a long time that I have done something that really pleases me from within... for the first time I am feeling 'bound' by this marriage.... probably its a lot to do with so many people around (yes, the family visitors are always here!); I am not getting enough of the 'me' time.... and that makes me miss blore so much!!

and here I go turn my back towards the balcony railings and open myself to the sky... what a sky it is.... its 11 30 pm or 4 30 am? I just want to lie on the grass and look towards the sky... want the wind to mess up my hair while I stroll crushing the wet grass under my feet.

Step, trundle, quake.... are you listening?

There are learnings from the book and then there are learnings from experience.

From three jobs and three very different setups, there are several things that I have noticed about good leaders/ managers. Its difficult to cover them all in one post. So, the one that I want to write about today is "being closer to the ground".

The very first thing that this translates into is 'approachability' and 'knowledge of the ever-so-changing-ecosystem'. The more 'distant' you are from your subordinates, the more difficult it becomes to 'know' them,'manage' them, 'lead' them

It also translates into a sense of humility (at least some!). Success is difficult to manage on a personal level. A rapid climb-up in life boosts one's ego to the extent that it becomes really difficult to remain level-headed. And when one's head floats in the sky, well, they become oblivious of whats happening at the ground level... Closer to ground, also means that you understand your people, their motivations, their aspirations, and their individual 'role'in the whole ecosystem.

Being 'closer to the ground' also enables good leaders to see through immediate problems at hand and think about how things 'can evolve' in the future; this mean that the manager would get know when an approaching sound is a footstep, a trundle, or a quake..

Besides all, it lets you remain human....

PS: I am documenting these learnings so that I don't forget them when I need them the most! These are so simple and straightforward things, just that our visions get blurred to the obvious things in life!

PS 2: I love the fact that I am working. I can't imagine myself sitting at home.

case study

from one of my facebook status messages:


A "I want to do a case study on my new b0$$. He deserves to be documented."
......
We will need to call in a team of evolutionary psychologists and behavioral genetics experts, to study the causes of his multiple personality disorder and toxicity, and also the deadly combination of his supremely sadistic behavior along with his calculative brilliance.
The case would of course be incomplete without a comprehensive analysis of his superhuman powers of blatantly lying through his teeth w.o. any signs of embarrassment/ guilt/ cognizance."

List of places I want to see in Delhi

(I have already seen some of these before during my childhood)

1. Top on the list is the Phoolon-wala baazar (the flower market) at CP: Obviously one has to be up before dawn to enjoy it in its full glory

2. Humayun tomb
3. Safdarjung tomb
4. Akshardham mandir

and then there are several unexplored heritage buildings that I have seen from a distance but never visited...

and, then there are numerous restaurants and pubs on my 'to do' list!