Keeping it alive

One year from the last post! Improvement from the two years that were missed.

Still in Trivandrum, Joined back old office, working out of here, but enjoying the work that am doing still.. Roots :)

Hoping to write more...

Two years without entries.. says something about how I've been running - not that kind that makes you healthy :)

I've been thinking about the various apps/sites/tools that are supposed to connect people and the way they influence our lives.

I joined orkut to connect with my friends, then tried facebook and have been sticking to it till now.

Initially it was great fun catching up with friends you have not met in 15-20 years. Friends circle was smaller and updates were manageable to catch up on. When that increases, you see repeats of articles , jokes, photos and videos being shared, Gets boring...

Off late, I feel that it kind of makes me digress from what you have been doing and you end up wasting time. Sometimes, I login with an intention to check and wish friends for their birthdays but end up reading status updates of others, check photos or go through a shared article and spend hours without realizing. It takes lot of self control and discipline to say that I will check fb only at these times and will not spend more than, say 30 mts...Since I lack the discipline, I have stopped logging in as much as I used to do. Yes, I miss out on some serious and important updates, but am ok with it. I have never installed fb on my phone and NO I am not intending to do that ever in future as well...

Taking about the phone/mobile - it is whatsapp days. Similar to fb, when you were part of lesser number of groups, it was great fun. especially when you have family and friends who are not frequent users of a computer/laptop/tablet to be online. Now it is a complete nuisance at times especially when you see the forwarded content repeating in various groups in few mts interval. While I cant forget that it is a great way to have the instant updates and communication going, it again needs lot of discipline to not to check it every second, pick up your mobile to make calls but end up reading your messages :). You also need to delete images and videos frequently...

Having said all that, fb and whatsapp have connected me to my friends who I would have otherwise not connected back in my life and keep in touch with them. I'm part of some great groups which helps me handle my day to day stress easier than before. What it definitely requires is not to go with the flow, but ensure is being used with discipline.

S/W professionals and doctors!

When I was pregnant with my daughter 6 years back, my doctor used to tell me - "It is very tough to handle people in software field as patients.. they just read something on net and then come and eat our time with innumerous questions." At that point of time, I just brushed it off thinking that may be she is saying that because it is waste of time (and ofcourse money) for her!

After that, it was one of our family friend who said "I just hate to consult when the patient is working as software professional". His issue was the same - they waste time by asking too many questions...This happened a few months back.

Yesterday, it was one more doc who complained that these days, people just ask too many questions because they read / research on net and waste their time during consultation.

All the three are specialists in their own area and see around 70-80 patients a day and they are from three different age groups and locations!!!!

The fact is that doctors are
-  pressed for time as there are far too many patients these days (ofcourse, we rush to the doctor for things that were treated with home remedies when we were young!)
- There are genuinely people who need their attention urgently and the petty cases (in their view) are happily chatting away
- They have spent enough and more time learning what they practice while we google it for 10 mts and talk like we are the masters of the subject :)

When I was thinking about it, I also felt that sometimes medicines are not working as they should do in an ideal scenario, as we have too many doubts about the treatment. As humans, the natural tendency is to believe in the worst that we read based on the symptoms (search for headache and you may start believing that you have brain cancer). So, as the general philosophy goes, if you dont believe in something, it will not work for you,

May be, it is time for us to do some amount of contemplation and do our searches only when it is really needed - especially when it comes to medication. After all, why are there experts if one could become master of everything by 'google-ing'?!

Ofcourse there are misses/malpractice etc., etc., which pushes us to do what we do, but do you think they were not existing 20-25 years back?!

Today is supposed to be world pediatric cancer day/childhood cancer day. Idea star singer -6 seems to have had a program at RCC - Trivandrum. Watching those young ones (some just after Chemo) is heart wrenching.

Gets you thinking.. what are you doing with your life? Sometimes you are happy with getting a job, getting a car, house, anything material and sometimes you are so sad even if a dinner plan is spoilt by a sudden happening, something as silly as a call when your favorite program is going on, a deal that you have not got, traffic jam while these people are fighting for their life.

A day without the impact of the disease or the effect of chemo itself is a blessing for them. The pain that they have go through to get a day extra in their life is immense. In the last few years, have seen few of my close relatives and friends go through it - it is as painful for their close relatives as it is for them and the scars stay with the close ones for a long time when they dont survive. Kids who have really not seen anything in this world suffering from cancer - I just cant understand what is 'fair' about God. I hope medical field advances soon enough to cure it completely for these young ones. Pray God give enough strength and the resources for those parents to go through this.

For the rest of us (including myself), pls. realise that there is nothing in life better than good health and stop cribbing!

Funny that I have not written after that last post about my leaving my first job - I joined and left another one in the meantime...Right now, totally jobless, and hence have time to spare to type a few lines.. where I've not been active for a LONGGGGGG time!

It is almost a month since I left my job, truly this time, but have not missed having a job.... yet!

Gains - Have made trips without thinking much about what work is pending, when I should apply for leave etc., Taking care of the needs of the house and family without having time pressure, spending a lots of time with Kim, able to handle the unexpected events like dropping her in the dance class at short notice, and unexpected holidays and her programs, not getting irritated with her when she finds something and gets engrossed while I ask her to do something else, more flexible on timings to sleep, exercise and take naps in between :) and generally being cool most of the times! At times, I feel that I've still not learnt to utilise the break:(.... Everyday is a learning....

Loss - interactions with friends/colleagues at office which leads to learning in someway or other. Sometimes browse too much of TV out of boredom....Spoils your day....

Anyway, have decided to enjoy this while it lasts :D

I don't seem to find the right words... Two weeks from now is going to be the last day at this office. Am feeling sentimental. These days shifting jobs is not such a big thing.. everyone does it once in every few years. But close to 13 years in one place - it grows on you.... Not that I've been at the same location with the same team, but more or less, I've been with the same product all through out.

Just out of college, 15 of us were chosen to be in the team with a great person, who had the idea and believed in us to get the idea into an actual product. We all learnt from him and from several others, seniors and juniors, who joined the team as the time passed. Everything was new (atleast for me) and we all believed in the idea and were completely enthusiastic to deliver what has been told. As any new product idea, we saw it getting different names, positioning, technologies - frustrating when you had to cope up with the speed of the change - but it all helped us learn. I've been lucky to have been part of the delivery, implementation and testing teams over the years which has shaped up my career.

I have had my ups and downs, have made my share of mistakes, have had in-numerous fights with teams, have had fun, have made friends ...

Personally - I owe lots to this place - I met my husband here ;)

When I completed 10 years here, friends who had left (who were part of the team of 15) commented that I will retire from here. I believed that I will do so even 5 months back!

Hmmm.. but then things change, priorities change and the change itself starts to happen. I am going to be in a new city, new job, new language and new culture.. Yes i've done it before, but without the job part... That comfort is not there this time :(. But as usual, the adventurous me thinks Change is for good and is going to add more to my experience, maturity and growth and so... am all ready to face yet another challenge!

Happy New year and to all the folks who celebrate Pongal - Happy Pongal!

Resolution for this year to blog more than last year... Let us see how this goes :)

My second post for this year would be the US experience... Have been collecting my thoughts over the last few days (may be weeks) and will 'key' it all soon... Watch this space!