Parking woes at office

I have been travelling to office in a two wheeler for the last three months. I had always wanted to travel in my own vehicle for the last few years. Well, now I am not that excited. That is a story for another day.

What really irritates me the most is the parking arrangement at the campus my office is based out of. This is a rented building and the owners probably manage the parking arrangement in the buildings.

We have a designated parking area for our firm for three levels in the basement. No matter where I park my bike, in the evenings I always find my bike moved by the admin personnel.

In the evenings, I find the bike moved to the left/right/back or front side. I always try to put in my bike near to the adjacent vehicles to make room for the other vehicles to be parked. Despite doing that, I find that they have pushed/pulled my bike. On an average, it takes me 5 to 10 minutes to get my bike out.

When I start the bike, I have to spend a few seconds to check if the mirrors and the indicators are all fine. While moving the bike, I don't know what they do but the mirrors are moved to a different angle and the indicator button is flipped to the right or left.

That is not all. There are minor scratches on the body of the vehicle that I see and that really irritates me.

I do hope they have a better parking system and make sure that they do something about this.

Baby squirrel??

Two days back, my mom was admonishing me (nothing new) on going late to office. I would like to do that, but getting up early is something am never good at.

Anyways, I tried to think of some way of evading her complaints. And that is when I spotted the squirrel on the tree that was visible from our window.

Me: Amma look a baby squirrel (I pointed at the squirrel as best as I can)

My mom quickly looked at the tree and then told me it was a squirrel but not a baby. It was an adult.

Me: No, it is so small. It is a baby squirrel
My mother: RS, squirrels are always small in size. That is an adult squirrel!!!!

She turned towards my dad and asked him to tell me that I was being stupid and she was right.

My dad who was reading the newspaper, looked at the squirrel, my mother and then at me. He then realized where this was all leading to. Very cleverly, he continued reading the paper without taking any sides.

I was ready by then and said my good byes to my parents.

That squirrel - baby or adult saved my day 😤😤😤

Wrong to have different interests

I had been to a two day leadership training program two weeks back that was sponsored by my firm. The trainer tried to do something different. He asked all of us to introduce ourselves. There was one rule - we shouldn't talk about our official role in the organization, designation, projects or customer accounts that we work for. We should say something that no one knew at office.

Well, as expected, many of them could not refrain from talking about their role in detail and about the team they manage. They did manage to add in a few interests like - cricket, music (the usual ones). Of course there were two people who did talk something different.

When it was my turn, I tried to humor the trainer and told him that I read a lot - novels, articles about people's culture, lifestyle - anything that was non technical or not related to business and had started writing as well.

Little did I know that it was not the right thing to say in an official training program no matter what the trainer says. When I had finished the introduction, the trainer looked at me and asked then I was working in a technical firm.

I was surprised and just shrugged. I then realized what happened. If I had told him that I love to read fiction and non fiction novels, am sure he would have asked me who my favorite author was. But when I had told them that I read anything non technical or not related to business, he thought I was not interested in the job.

When will these guyz understand that not everything is tied to work or the job 😏
 

That beautiful moment

He was in her thoughts for the last few days. She had heard that he attended the event whenever he was in town. She wanted to see him badly.

She attended the event that year hoping to see him. But he did not turn up. Not interested in staying any longer, she left the place quickly. She went in again the next year and returned home dejected.

She told herself that this would be the last time she would be going. She walked very slowly towards the venue lost in her thoughts. And that is when she saw him standing there talking to another person she did not recognize.

She stopped right there. Her heat beat faster and her whole world came to a stop. She did not understand why she reacted this way to him. He was no longer the person she had last seen. He was now a grown man. He was tall, dark and there was a faint hint of stubble on his cheeks. She continued walking slowly towards the venue not quite believing her eyes. Was it really him or was it an illusion?

As she neared the entrance, he looked up at her. He did not say anything, just lifted his head to look at her with a very small smile that no one would have noticed. And that was the moment she knew that she had fallen in love with him. There was something about him that attracted her. Although he looked handsome, it was not his physical beauty that attracted her. She had met many men who were good looking in her life and not one of them had this effect on her. No, this was different. His personal traits, his mannerisms and the connection that she felt with him was something that she had never experienced. She couldn't explain it. Why did she feel this way only with him and not others?

They exchanged greetings and made small talk. There was a war of emotions that was raging inside her, but she stayed calm and composed outwardly. She greeted the others and prolonged the stay just to watch him. Finally it was time to leave. She bid him good bye, memorizing his face and walked away from that place.

When she went home, she played out the events that happened that day in her mind. She had no idea what he thought of her. She did not know what life had in store for her. All she knew was the moment when she met him was one of the most beautiful moments in her life.

My first Marathon

When I had first heard about Marathon, I was intrigued by the concept. There were a lot of articles and advertisements for upcoming marathon events in the city. I had wanted to have a first hand experience but had assumed that the participation process would not be that easy. I had also believed that one had to go through vigorous fitness regime and be trained to be a part of these events. Two years back, my mom read about an upcoming marathon event - Pinkathon that was advertised in all the newspapers. She was behind me for several days to register for it. You see, she had thought that at least this way I would start going for morning walks or jogs and lose some pounds of fat in the process.

Finally, after a lot of cajoling, I acceded to her demand and registered for the 5km marathon. This was the shortest race length and I was very sure that I would not complete this. After the registration, the preparation started. Not the exercise or the training, but shopping for my shoes. I was very sure they would send me back if I had gone in their in my comfortable slippers. There was a wide range of selections and I seriously didn't understand the different varieties. I chose the easiest route - got a shoe that was comfortable and looked nice on me - it was a pink and grey combination.

The next thing we had to do was get the kit - they gave out the bip and the freebies that the different sponsors were giving out. Well, I was not able to use any of them. They were just discount vouchers for fitness equipment's. If they had given out discounts for food items, restaurants then I would have been more happy. I did not even go to collect them. I asked my parents to collect them from the venue they had put up in that message.

The other thing that made me wonder if I really should go for the marathon was the scheduled time. It was supposed to start in the wee hours on a Sunday. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a morning person. I don't like to get up early in the mornings especially on a weekend unless there is a real need. I grudgingly got up early that day and got dressed. My parents had got up dutifully before me. My mom had a glass of milk in her hand and my father had dressed up to drop me. I guess my parents were more excited than me.

We made it to the venue and that is when I looked at the crowds. I had never expected so many people to turn up for the event. Most of them had come in with families - kids, elderly parents in tow. They were there to cheer up the participants. That is when it hit me that this was a big event. The music was blaring on the loud speakers put up at many places. They had set up a huge podium and some guy was showing how to do a few dance steps that was supposed to aid in loosening the leg
muscles. I felt weird in imitating him. Dance has never been something I was comfortable in doing. Nevertheless, I did do some stretching exercises that he showed in between the dance steps.

I met a lady who got herself introduced to me and we exchanged numbers. She told me she had registered with her colleagues and was going in for the 10km marathon. Her mother had cancer and that is the reason she joined this one. When the announcement was made to go to the starting line, I quickly walked over and stood in there. Once the signal was given, everyone started to run. I was so excited and immediately started to run. After covering a short distance, I realized why 5km is not a cakewalk. I felt the first signs of pain in my leg. I slowed my pace and started walking after that. The pain got worse but I was determined to finish it. There were volunteers all around the route, giving away water bottles, urging participants to go ahead.

I had no friends, no one who knew me, but that got me emotional and finally I made it to the finishing line. The whole experience was surreal. I don't know why but my life just flashed in front of me. I picked up my pace and started running as though that would help me overcome my grief and my pain. And when you reach the finish line, you feel as if you have achieved something.

I was given a certificate and some other freebies. I don't remember how much time I took but that was my first marathon and I was happy to have completed it. The certificates or the freebies did not really matter. Just the experience of running was good enough. After that, I did not stay up much. There were celebrations, a lot of music at the venue. I quickly called my father and asked him to come and pick me up.

I have seen a lot of speeches done by people when they pick up a award. They usually thank their parents, family for the support. I really didn't understand what big deal that was. But that day if someone had asked me how I had participated or finished the marathon, I would say that it was because of the support my parents gave me.

I don't think I could have done this without my parents - my mother was the one who planted that idea in me and urged me to go and actually participate. My dad stood near the parking area for the entire time I had been at that place waiting patiently for me to finish the marathon.

Chennai corporation - our experience

Surprisingly, a complaint that I had registered with the corporation was resolved within a short time.

Here is my experience on what happened.

I was one of the millions, billions of citizens that believed that no complaint registered in any of the government offices are going to be looked at and resolved immediately. Well, it is not that we are all pessimists. That is the way it is run by most of the sections of the government.

This post is not to bicker or express my dissatisfaction. In fact, I had to wonder if this had truly happened in this country.

A few days back we couldn't stand seeing the garbage strewn on our street. It was more than four days since the person assigned by the corporation to pick up the garbage in our street had actually done her job. All the residents expressed their anger and grudgingly went on with their lives. My mother had heard from someone she knew that there was a way to end this problem. One had to just send an email to the Chennai corporation wing explaining the problem and they would resolve it immediately.

As soon as she came home, she asked me to immediately send the email. The only problem was she did not have the email id. I was really not interested in that since I was sure it was going no where. But my mother was persistent and keep pestering me to try it. Finally, I opened my laptop and searched for a complaint submission page. There was a link in the official site to submit the complaint. After 2-3 trials, I finally understood how it worked and submitted the complaint. And then waited for a success message saying it was submitted. When you work for an IT firm and have experience in creating huge applications for the customer, you tend to look for a success page after a form is submitted. Unfortunately, I did not get any message. I tried it on both chrome and IE and it did not work. I tried it from another computer and that failed as well. I was sure that there was a technical issue and started wondering which IT firm had developed the application for the corporation :)

Anyways, while going through the official site again, I noticed that there was a toll free no that you could call to register the complaint. Thinking that there was nothing wrong in trying that route, I called the number. I was greeted by a call center person who greeted my warmly, listened to my complaint patiently and told me that since it was a Sunday night, they will resolve it by Monday morning. I was so impressed. He then asked me for my number and informed that a message related to the complaint number would be sent to that number. I thanked him and was glad that atleast they had some good call center personnel.

The next day, my parents called me and told me that an officer and the personnel had come in the morning and called my father (I had given my dad's phone number) and then they had cleaned the whole street and taken a picture of the street. They informed him that they had fixed the problem and promptly left.

Wow, I was really impressed. That was real fast and professional. We thanked them for resolving the problem.

Well, the story does not end here. I wish the officer had just not focused on the problem but made sure that this did not repeat again. Looks like he did not do that. After that day, it has been five days since someone has come in to clean the garbage.

I rest my case here.

 

No paper cups at office - Go Green initiative

As part of the Go Green initiative at the office, they had stopped using paper cups at the pantry for more than 6 months. This means there would be only steel tumblers near the water stands and steel cups near the coffee/tea vending machines. This was the practice across all offices of the firm I work in.

Associates who did not want to use the general tumblers or cups could bring their own water bottles and cups to get water or coffee/tea/milk respectively.

Most of the folks where against this change initially. They felt it was a nuisance to carry their own cups and bottles. But slowly, they accepted the change since they had no other way out. Hats off to the admin and the HR team for bringing this initiative. This saves a lot of paper and plastic and is environment friendly.

Recently we had to travel to another city for official reasons and stay there for two days. My colleague got her coffee cup and her water bottle for the visit since she knew their would be no paper cups out there. People will adapt to changes. This was one such example.

I just wish all other firms, companies, offices follow the same. I do hope at restaurants and other places they do the same. Would go a long way in reducing the use of plastic and paper.
 

Casting vote for the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 - my experience

The election fever has been running very high the last few weeks. There were messages running back and forth on how important it was to cast one's votes on the D Day.

My parents were one of the few early birds to cast the votes on that day. Unfortunately for them, the booth where they had to cast the votes had a malfunctioning electoral voting machine. I do understand that things could go wrong at the last minute and nothing is fool proof. But wondered how many of the electoral machines did not work on the D Day. Anyways, that was the reason they had still not come back home by the time I had got up. Finally someone had fixed the machine or brought in a new one. They cast their vote and came back after an hour. It was a holiday and I usually got up late from sleep on holidays. Sleep was always important to me. After finishing my breakfast, I walked to the election booth near my place. I did see that the police had put up a barricade near the school that served as the election booth and stopped people from driving their vehicles within a short radius.

I noticed how people (young and old alike) who lived just two streets away from the polling station did not walk to the booth. They came in their two wheelers. Vehicles have become a bane for the society we live in. People are so obsessed in going on a vehicle that they are not ready to walk for 10 to 15 minutes to a place. It was a holiday as well and all the shops were closed. There was no hurry to go back home. Why would you still not walk that short distance?

The queue to my polling booth was a little long. But I had no problem in waiting for my turn. That is when I noticed that many people where just not willing to wait. Indians in general are really bad in waiting in queues. Go to any place - shops, government offices, banks, temples, reservation counters to name a few. People always try to find ways to bypass the queues - any quick way by which they can get their work done immediately rather than waiting for their turn. There was a middle aged man standing in the queue for the last 20 minutes. Five minutes before he got his turn to enter, his young daughter and son walked in. He made way for them to get in the queue just before him. This is not an unusual scenario in India. His children did not even ask people if it was ok to join the queue or apologize for it. They did it as if it was their right to stand there.

Something else I had noticed was that most of the educated folks did not even take 2 minutes of their time to read the booth number on their voting sheet. They just came in there and then started asking people around on which was their booth. They did not even bother to read the notice printed on the door of every room that had the names of the streets that were included in that booth.

It seemed that people thought that there were doing a big favor for the country in casting their vote. And they had to be treated like royals for doing that. Everyone wore a bored look and wanted to just be done with it.

Well, after standing in the queue for 25 minutes, I was finally able to enter the room. I just hoped that they did not remove my name from the voter's list. And then voila, I finally cast my vote.

I walked back home feeling happy and proud that I had and was able to cast my vote.

Burnt and No Reservations - my review on the two films

I had watched the movie - "Burnt" a week back. I liked the movie. The movie was about a head chef who had gone through a bad phase in his life, had made many mistakes, turns over a new leaf and aspires to get the third star from Mitchelin for a restaurant he works for. The movie shows how he wants to be successful, but he is still arrogant and has an attitude. His past mistakes taunt him. He finally changes and gets back as a great team lead. It was a good movie and I wouldn't mind watching it a second time. Bradley Cooper played the lead role with ease. The supporting actors were apt in their roles. The emotions and the personality of the lead character was realistic. It also showcases the emotions that run high in the kitchen of most of the restaurants.

The second chef movie that I had watched last weekend was "No Reservations". It was a story that revolved around a head chef (Catherine Zeta Jones) who is supposed to be a perfectionist and addicted to her work. It was more of a movie that showcased the evolving relationship between an aunt and her niece. There was a romantic angle to it as well where the lead character falls in love with the new sous chef (Eckhart) who is fun loving and easy going. I really didn't see many scenes of Catherine cooking. And did not understand why they chose her character to be that of a head chef. I mean you could have swapped it with any other profession.

I liked Burnt better than No Reservations.

These two movies have piqued my interest in restaurant themed movies. Planning to watch two other movies - The Chef, Julie and Julia.