JAM BOY

Something I heard about quite recently and didn’t know whether I felt more saddened or shocked. The definition of this term according to urban dictionary - 'Jamboy's' were young colored boys who were smeared with jam to attract all the bugs and insects away from the rich golfers. If they were successful, they got to keep the pot jam! And for trivia, it is still possible to hire a jamboy in some countries!

Shaiwal has a colleague who is Scottish by birth and who is totally enamored by India, after his stay in Mumbai for almost a year. His name is Alli, short for Allistair. Alli loves to discuss India, its festivals, its ways, etc… and so invariably seeks out a conversation with Shaiwal. During one such conversation Alli mentioned that there is a golf course in Mumbai near Mahalakshmi where Jam Boys were and possible still are used. Young Indian boys, possibly from the streets, hired to put jam on themselves so that the ‘whites’ could play golf peacefully. A practice instigated during the 'RAJ' in the different colonies under it.

How disgusting a human that golfer would have to be to allow a small child willfully attract insects and get bitten? Did the golfer think that being brown skinned and from poverty meant that these boys didn’t get sick or feel the bite? I cant begin to imagine how the mind of such ‘whites’ would have worked to have introduced this inhumane custom in the first place

While my blood boiled in rebellion over such atrocity, a part of mind also started wondering, if this custom were to be brought to a halt today, then would these Jam boys be thankful or would they be unhappy over having a source of income taken away? Human rights and talk of such are indeed the privilege of those who have their tummy’s full and their heads covered!

A day at London

I was nominated to go for a workshop this Friday at London, so I flew down yesterday morning and then flew back in the evening. In case you didn’t notice I was showing off there. :)

 

Felt quite the working woman when I made my way through the London Tube changing train after train and then reaching my office. There is something amazing about London that automatically make your steps faster, your mind goes on overdrive and your facial muscles are arranged to make you look grim and goal oriented. No one seemed friendly and no one was bothered about that fact. The city pulse was throbbing and landing there during the peak office travel hours you couldn’t help but get swept into the tide.

The workshop was a good learning and a gruelling one where an audience of 25 were fit into a small room and not let out till we managed to cover everything on the agenda. Although Friday is supposed to be casual dressing day at offices in general, I found the crowd smartly dressed, some in 3 piece suits and some in designer jeans. My colleague at office had given me a heads up on that so I had dressed accordingly as well and I knew I wasn’t sticking out like a sore thumb. The girl inside me though felt like a village bumpkin with no polish or sophistication but happy to look at all these smartly dressed people in awe. I guess that sort of egged me on to be a bit aggressive during the workshop, an attempt to not be ignored. :)

I was glad to be done with it and then meet up with my friend Smitha V. She is from Karnataka, married and settled in London but currently staying in Edinburgh due to work reasons. A spunky friendly genuine person whom I am happy to have befriended. Anyways she was in London for the week, so I met her and her husband straight after work and after another series of train changes. They took me home and there I lapsed into awe inspired speechlessness. Her home looked like a five star hotel with a doorman and the corridors exactly how the best of Taj would keep them. Once inside her apartment she has an awesome view of the Thames and all the best attractions of London – Greenwich, London Eye, St Pauls Cathedral, etc. It’s a triplex not a duplex with the bedrooms on floor 2, the bathroom on floor 1 and the sitting room on ground floor. The windows start from waist high and go right up to the ceiling, covering the entire expanse of the wall. Suddenly got the feeling that I was rubbing shoulders with the rich and hadn’t been aware of it for so long.

However, I must say that the couple is very down to earth, the house is filled with articles from India and they were quite blasé about their status. I was happy to be there because I was happy to talk to them and enjoyed their company. I felt happy that my friends were in good position and I hope god will always keep them so.

When I was returning back I kept trying to picture myself in such a flat and I kept thinking how out of place I would be amidst such posh surroundings. It just didn’t feel right for me, it was good to see Smitha and her husband in those surroundings though. I kept trying to analyse if I was jealous – I WASN’T, I truly wasn’t and that surprised the hell out of me. I would have thought the normal reaction would be one of envy and aspiration. It didn’t fall well with me that I was quite unambitious…..hmmmm, the working woman with no ambition, not a good thing is it?

Anyways, got back home by 10:30 in the night and considering the day started at 3:30AM for me, I was happy to just get back and let my hair down, have a quite cup of tea with my husband and chat the day through with him. Now that’s life. :)

Dabangg

Its been a while since I saw an entertaining movie, so watching Dabangg was definitely an enjoyable experience. The keyword here is 'entertaining'. The movie is not an intellectually challenging one or a movie with a statement to make and it doesn't claim to be one from the start. However it was fun to watch a movie that so resembled the 80's genre of Hindi movies that somewhere in between i caught myself searching for Jeetendra and Mithun.

Two brothers each with a girlfriend of his own, no complications of a love triangle there. A villainous step father who accepts the step son when the mother passes away. A villain who has no secret agenda but is evil. In fact there was nothing to guess or rack your brains with. You could sit back and just go through the motions of family drama which we are all familiar with. The ever predictable ending of family coming together and good triumphing over evil.

The movie is an out and out masses movie and I am sure one which will be seen by many at least more than once in the theatre. So when I saw a very direct message of polio vaccination well woven into the script, I felt very proud of the film. It was definitely a good medium to do so and showed a sense of commitment to public health.

Sonakshi Sinha, daughter of Shatrughnan Sinha debuted in the movie. While we had a good run of medium sized heroines after the long legged ones from the 80's, it looks like the wave is turning again - what with Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor and now Sonakshi. She looks earthy and even with the perpetual frown in the movie quite fetching to look at. Portrayed as a small city girl, it was refreshing to see the heroine in Indian attire throughout the movie in keeping with the character. Most movies you start out seeing the heroine in Indian garb and then midway through she is running around the trees in her mini skirts looking as if she was brought up in USA after all.

Salman looks old and well he should, being 45, however he still hasn't lost his charm. Although I am not sure he can carry more such movies, as this movie is quite similar to his movie - Wanted which was released not long ago. Hats off though for taking on both a villain and a heroine who look taller than him and still coming out the hero whom girls can swoon for.

So for those of you who are looking out for a chance to let go and laugh please go ahead and watch the movie. For those of us who don't please stay away, the headache wouldn't be worth it. For my part I loved the movie for making me laugh crazy and helping me shed my office tensions with seemingly no effort at all.

Grand Finale

And so the Edinburgh festival came to an end, the tourists are still loitering the city streets, albeit fewer in number and the festival theatres have started to wear a deserted look. The city is settling into autumn with the winds getting colder, the leaves turning brown and temperatures not daring to to go beyond 18 degrees.

Before bidding farewell the Edinburgh festival did have its Grand Finale. A lovely concert was organised in the gardens below the Edinburgh Castle. While connoisseur's of music who were rich as well chose to buy tickets and attend the concert, lesser mortals like myself decided to wander around the streets near the gardens where strains of music floated through. The concert was followed by a display of fireworks.

People around me had been raving on and on about the fireworks days before the actual grand finale and each time I heard them, I thought to myself that I come from Trichur and whatever else, fireworks are something we are good at. In fact I felt that the Edinburgh festival fireworks could never match the splendour of Thrissur pooram fireworks. I must admit that I still continue to hold my view after watching the Grand Finale, however, my conscience says that it is my fondness for my hometown which forbids me to think otherwise.

The scots are quite creative, they had music (compositions from great English music maestro's) running in the background and then orchestrated the fireworks in tune with the music playing. The fireworks were so well orchestrated that they arranged themselves like military arrangements, in perfect lines and crosses. With the Edinburgh Castle as the backdrop, the fireworks worked to accentuate the history and culture of Edinburgh. There were times when you felt the castle was lit as prettily as our houses in India is during Diwali and then there were times when you felt the castle was on fire and it needed to be rescued. Almost as if to convey that

the scots had times of harmony and peace and then times of turmoil. Perhaps that's fanciful thinking on my side but I sure did enjoy the fireworks.

Ballet and Ustad Zakir Hussain

Shaiwal and i went to watch a ballet performance here. The primary reason being that Ustad Zakir Hussain was playing at the ballet. I have never been to a ballet before and i was keen to experience it and add a touch of culture to my existence. 

I vaguely remember being taken to a ballet class when i was perhaps in the 1st standard or so, the idea was to get students interested and then if they wished to enroll them into the class. The idea never registered - I went, I watched and I wandered away. The entire concept and image of ballet was so foreign to me that i just couldn't imagine being part of it, that and the fact that I have two left feet. :)

My night at a ballet performance was a night of many firsts. The first time i have been to an English theatre, the first time i saw a ballet performance and the first time i had heard Ustad Zakir Hussain playing live.

When i entered the theatre it felt like i had been transported to a different world. The first floor had a bar where the audience could partake in any alcohol they wished provided it wasn't beer or something as shabby. The floors had been carpeted a magnificent red and all through the decor remained stately and grand. As we were seated i looked around to take in the size of the theatre, there were box seats for people who were the truly rich and famous, people in the audience had brought along their opera glasses to watch the stage through, the stage itself was at 9 ft and it was 25 ft tall with different types of lighting available on top of the stage and throughout the theatre to create the desired effect.

As soon as the ballet dancers started their performance, everyone went hush. My ignorance of the dance form came to forefront as i failed to garner what the dancers were trying to convey. I did however feel in awe of how beautiful and flexible the human form could be - both male and female. The dances had nary an extra ounce of flesh on them and their skin taut with muscles rippling. I know i sound like a bad Mills and Boon edition there but I cant seem to put together a better description of these dancers. :)

I must confess though that after a point i got bored, there is only so much you can appreciate of the human form and only so much time you can take to do it. So after the first half of the performance i felt disappointed in myself that i wasn't able to enjoy it as much as those around me seemed to be able to.

During the break after the first half there were volunteers bearing food items to serve the audience, since i didn't want to miss out on any part of the whole experience. I went up to buy their wares, turned out they were selling ice cream. However I hadn't seen that particular brand of ice cream in the supermarkets here. Anyways I didn't want to disappoint the lady selling them so I brought one each for ourselves.

The second half was one of the best nights of my life. Zakir Hussain started playing then, he wove his magic slowly but steadily. One of the surprises I had was that I didn't realise he could sing. During the show he did sing and I guess he is a trained Hindustani singer as well. The ballet dancers picked up too and soon they were sprinting from one end of the stage to the other and back at the speed of wind. The audience began tapping their feet and the whole theatre felt alive.

I am sure technological advances have brought in a whole range of  superior audio systems and speakers but I wonder if they can truly match the experience of live music. Having never owned any such superior system I know I am biased when I think - perhaps not.

Military tattoo festival

Every year Edinburgh comes alive during August for the Edinburgh festival. This festival is a culmination of a number of festivals – the book festival, the food festival, the comedy festival, the art festival, the jazz and blues festival, the science festival, so on so forth. For each of the festivals there are performers/participants who come from world over and it is a sight to behold.

One such festival in all of this is the Military Tattoo festival, it is held at the Edinburgh castle grounds. Everyone I met here has raved of this festival and it is supposed to be a big deal. So I went to see the military tattoo show on 5th Aug and it was a preview show which meant we got the tickets at half price.

The show started at 9:30 and we were seated at the stands in seats close to the castle which was a good place to be since the performers all came out from the castle to begin with. It was a bit like being in our republic day performance except that it was in the night, the audience far too small and the lighting was amazing.

There were bands from different parts and each of the bands came in played their music and did a routine involving dancing or acrobatics. It was sheer poetry in motion. This year was the diamond jubilee celebrations so it was special. There was band participation from Jordan, Scotland, Wales, England, Gurkha regiment, etc.

There was a bit of fun when a small piece was done by children ranging from 5 yr olds to 16 yr olds all on bikes and they did some amazing stunts on their little bikes. The best being a two five yr olds on a Sholay style scooter (with an additional compartment for a 3rd passenger), the child at the handle bars manoeuvred the bike to ride it on 2 wheels rather than its 3 wheels and the child in the passenger seat beside him kept squirting at the audience with his water gun! That was really cute.

The Jordan regiment came out looking fierce and they were doing a fine job when one of the horses in the troop started getting a bit squeamish. The poor horseman he kept trying to get the animal under control but the horse kept turning round and round. So while the troop was out performing their heart out the horse stole the show by being shy and fidgety! :)

Any show of patriotism brings in a bit of sentiment I believe and I must say that night was filled with splendour with men and women teaming and performing to show how good their places were.

Of course Scotland being the host they didn’t want to be outdone by anyone so they performed for all they were worth and it was dashing to see girls doing their traditional dance along side men in the band.

And last but not least, truly a man in uniform makes the heart beat faster. :)

Apprehended by Police……Almost

 

Last weekend started off to be a normal day, actually it started off with a good feel because the two of us were up and about early. We were ready to go out by 8 AM itself, felt as if we had a whole lot of time to do things. Shaiwal decided to start the day off with some sweets so he went about trying to open Haldirams Cham Cham tin while I was cleaning the vessels. All of a sudden he started yelling with pain and then holding his right hand thumb close he rushed to the sink. Oh great cut his finger did he?!!! I looked on thinking how careless?

Suddenly Shaiwal turned back and said clean the walls otherwise it will stain. I gaped, “what?!” I turned around to see that his blood was splattered on the wall and quite a lot lay on the floor. It took me a minute to comprehend. He had cut his finger quite deep in fact two inches more and he would have lost the tip. Under the tap, blood refused to stop, so I rushed and got my cotton tshirt out, rolled ice in it and put it to the wound, made Shaiwal sit with his hands over the head to stop his bleeding.

As in all emergencies, I called up family to ask what to do? Over the phone that sounds quite normal, I mean so what he cut his finger and he was bleeding a bit. He’ll live. In person however it was turning out to be quite frightening, Shaiwal kept bleeding heavily and continuously, I was at my wits end when by 11:30 he didn’t show the courtesy to stop bleeding.

Since all clinics were closed due to the weekend, I called up the emergency number, a pre-recorded message said - ‘If you are in a life threatening state then continue the call else hang up!’’ What nonsense, I wasn’t in a life threatening state I just wanted advice on where to take Shaiwal and get him stitched up. So I called the nearby hospitals and they said we don’t do accidents minor or otherwise!!! So what do I do? Where do I go?

So that’s when I rang up 999. They answered within 2 seconds and said – “Police/Ambulance/Fire Force?” I answered saying I didn’t need any of these but I had a situation at hand and I needed to take my husband in for medical care so what do I do?” So they wanted to know if they should send in the Ambulance?!!! Oh god what drama, dude I know he is bleeding a lot but I wouldn’t call in an ambulance just yet. They put me on to the police instead, a nice lady picked up and asked me very patiently (I guess they are trained to be) – “Did I attack my husband?” That’s when I thought, can I go back to bed please? Could you please make this be a dream dear god?

I patiently (even though I am not trained to be) explained my situation and asked for advice. She said I needed to take shaiwal to the western general hospital and gave me the address. SO I finally called in a taxi took him there!! He got medical attention and I came back home emotionally drained. What a day!

Annual Leave

My boss came in yesterday. She works out of Manchester and she visits the Edinburgh office once in two weeks. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be a big deal but then I needed to tell her that I shall be on leave for 3 weeks in November. Why you ask? Well my sister in laws wedding of course.

So after discussing all action points relating to my work, I casually slipped in the point that I would be on Annual Leave during November. Annual Leave is something I picked up here, this past month I am seeing a lot of people marked “On Annual Leave” in their calendars. This is the time when Europe is at its sunniest or warmest, also the time for school holidays, so most people take off 2-3 weeks during this time. I figured if they can then so can I. My boss turned out to be very happy with me as I was professional enough to plan it well in advance and she had full confidence that I would ensure no work items would be hindered due to my absence! Duh – what?!!

Talk about managing expectations and people. I like the way she positively replied for that put me in the right frame of mind and then smoothly slipped in the fact that I should do relevant transfer of work responsibilities before I leave. Brilliant!

Anyways now my calendar has Nov days marked with Annual Leave. Whenever I feel swamped with work I just turn to my calendar and I feel a smile coming on. :)

Falkirk Wheel

One of my colleagues told me about the Falkirk Wheel last week and on hearing about it I was intrigued. It is a wheel which acts as a boat lift and takes boats from one canal to the other, consuming energy only as much as required for heating up 8 kettles of water!

The topography of Scotland is filled with mountains and hence a difference in heights of the canals. Since waterways are essential for trade and transport (in olden days), traditionally the boats used to manage through a series of Locks. Locks were compartments created in between, wherein a boat is brought to the end of one canal, huge doors closing in behind so as to not let water pass and the doors ahead opened to fill in the compartment with water and raise the boat to the height of the next canal. This was a time consuming process resulting in a lot of water loss as well.

Hence the wheel was built in Falkirk, which is half hour journey from Edinburgh by train. The wheel itself a huge contraption, panning over 117 ft high, transports the boats within a space of 3 mins and with no water loss. It is built on the Archimedes' principle – ‘Any floating object displaces its own weight of fluid.’ So when a boat enters the lift it displaces its own weight of water and when it is let out into the next canal that amount of water returns to the lift.

The benefits are amazing and the tour guide was very entertaining, she had us in splits throughout those 3 minutes. However what astounded me was that this particular lift is being used for recreation rather than to help actual boats, I guess the waterways aren’t used as much in this day and age. It cost 45 billion pounds to make it and I kept wondering when they would break even!

The icing of the day was we actually saw a private boat making its way through the canals, first used the boat lift and since it wasn’t available for all the locks throughout, we saw it go through a traditional lock system as well. That was awesome.

I especially liked the safety measure they followed, whenever a boat entered into the lift or the locks it was tied to side to avoid the boat crashing on either sides.

Banking Services

This weekend we needed monthly statements from each of our bank accounts respectively. So Saturday, although gloomy and wet, we decided to brave the weather and head to our banks. Shaiwal banks with HSBC and I bank with Santander. Let me at the beginning set the record straight - Santander was not something I chose because I wanted to but I chose it simply for the fact that while other banks were taking a month to process and open a bank account, Santander was taking only 2 weeks.

Before setting out to the banks, due to my low opinion of services here, I decided to call up the bank and check the process of getting a monthly statement. The bank executive assured me that I could walk in to the branch and get my statement, however (aha the catch!) I needed to carry my photo ID and proof of address. Why in god’s name I needed to carry the two for the life of him he couldn’t answer, especially when I was sincerely trying to explain that I was already an account holder and while I understand the requirement for my photo ID, I couldn’t comprehend the need for proof of address. Well I didn’t want to delay so I took along both while going to the bank.

First stop was HSBC, there were two beautiful girls standing at the entry asking “May I help?” One couldn’t help but smile back looking at such lovely girls and I guess the overall customer reaction would be, “No please, however if you may then I would like to be of help” Whatever!

Shaiwal explained he needed his monthly bank statement, the lady then proceeded to a nearby machine punched in the request, the machine promptly sprouted out a chit which she then handed over to us and guided us to go upstairs to first floor. The chit had instructions to go to the first floor as well and also the name of the bank executive who would handle our bank request. As we went upstairs the executive was already waiting for us and led us to her seat. After verifying Shaiwal’s identification, she then competently printed and handed over the bank statement, all the while enquiring if there was anything else we needed. WHOA!!! What service! To top it off the ambience was amazing too; the office is in the heart of Edinburgh with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Edinburgh Castle. We were impressed; banking with HSBC sure does make you feel good.

Next stop Santander Bank. I had weird feeling that my bank would not match up to HSBC standards so my feet dragged a bit on the way over. However can’t delay the inevitable for long. We went into Santander and found no beautiful girls, we found a queue to the teller window and a bank executive seated at the desk speaking in hushed sympathetic tones to a customer. I couldn’t make out whether the executive was solving a bank related issue or the customer’s divorce issue.

Anyways after a small wait, I went up to the teller window, since the executive didn’t look like he would be free soon. The teller very promptly assured me that I COULDN’T have my bank statement as these were never issued at the branches, the request for them were to be placed over phone and it would reach me in 10 -12 working days time. I laboriously explained to the teller my entire conversation with his phone banking and said I had even bought in my photo ID and proof of address. It didn't cause any ripple, the teller happily repeated to me what he said before. I did get a statement of transactions for the last 3 weeks but not a monthly statement.

Well Santander might be the official sponsors for Formula 1 but they don’t have well streamlined banking process in place to service the customer much less to provide customer delight! Oh HSBC tussi great ho.

FOOTBALL!!

I am not an avid football watcher, perhaps I should be more honest than that……I have hardly watched 5 football games in total. So when people go ga-ga over Manchester United, I normally have a bland smile on my face and I nod knowingly. World Cup 2010 therefore didn't stir any great emotional response from me.

 

My dad and brother on the other hand were going on about it; the latter more so being an ardent fan of Argentina. Last weekend we got a TV in our home here and there happened to be a match going on, I don’t remember the teams playing but I did sit and watch for a time. It sort of was interesting and I thought okay, I should see how it all ends!

 

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing said a wise man. Well I happened to watch yesterday the semi final match between Germany and Spain. Since Germany was being touted as the Goliath I thought I would support poor David. Luckily for me David actually paid off. So then today morning as I was talking to my brother, my poor husband was shocked from his sleep to hear me speak about defence, strategy, goal and such. My poor brother although knows that I was football ignorant in my childhood has no clue whether I picked it up during the years I was in Chennai. And I was just happy to share my new found knowledge via the commentators.

Indian from India!

One thing that I do notice now that its been almost two weeks since I joined here is the fact that people don’t expect me to be from India just because I am an Indian. Confused? Don’t be let me explain.

People here tend to be shocked, whenever during the course of conversation it slips from me that I have been in Edinburgh only for about 4 months now. There are now that I have taken the time to look around quite a few people who could be of Indian origin but carry themselves exactly how natives here do. I gather these people might be the second or third generation of Indians or Asian origin people who have been brought up here. So what I didn’t pick up earlier was on the fact that people around were far more comfortable with my existence among them than I myself. The operating premise is that I am perhaps one such second or third generation or else I have been here for quite a number of years.

So when they do come to know that either premise is false and that I have been here for only 4 months, the first question I get is, “But then, how come your English is so good?” the second question I get is, “So then are you here on your own or do you have family?” and the third and final question I get is “How long is your stay then?”

The 1st question initially felt quite complimentary but as the number of people asking it grew the question became tedious and insulting. Yes I speak English well, I am from a country which has English as second language and is spoken as much if not more than our mother tongues. Oh I tried that response once but then I had to explain why English was so widely spoken and I got into the tangled web of “India, you see, is a DIVERSE country!”

The second question surprises me for the people here are normally very aware of personal boundaries and take care not to cross them. It also gives me a feeling of being a frog under a telescope, up for scrutiny! And hello for heavens sake what does it matter if I am on my own or with family, right now right here, I am working, so what’s your problem buddy?

The third question is when I feel like giving up. And there I thought I was making some inroads and making a few friends here and there. But then all they want to know is when they get to see my back for good!!!! So much for gelling in.

Another week down people, weekend is here, wish all of you a great weekend ahead and hey don’t think of Monday unless you absolutely have to.

Satyanarayan Pooja

I heard of this Pooja first time from my friend Bhawna who is quite religious, she was discussing it with a few other friends who were also North Indians. Quite the norm among the northies is what I gathered from the talks, much to my surprise this very same pooja was my first event after marriage. At the time all decked up in finery and very conscious of every movement of mine, the only thing that actually sunk of the pooja was that there was a story attached to it and during the pooja you read it.

Almost a year now into marriage and much more relaxed with my in laws, I realised that this pooja was done at home without pundits as and when good things happened or in the anticipation of good news. So recently when my sister in law’s marriage got fixed Satyanarayan pooja was done at home and my mother in law steer headed it.

All this was very intriguing to me and so I hesitantly at first suggested to Shaiwal, if it would be possible for us to do it as well. The idea was welcomed with great enthusiasm although I was a bit concerned because it was for god and I didn’t want to do any mistakes. My mother in law with her infinite wisdom assured me, it was not a matter of doing it right or wrong but a matter of doing it with the right intentions and purity of thought.

So this Saturday, we got up early and prepared for the pooja, I made Panchamrith from unboiled milk, curd, sugar, honey and a drop of ghee and Panjiri from ghee, atta and sugar. These two are the main two prasad’s it seems. Then we got laddoo’s, banana’s, sindoor and rice and from the internet a print out of Satyanarayan Katha (the story). We didn’t have a photo of Satyanarayan god and so we downloaded on the laptop and made that the desktop wallpaper.

As Shaiwal and I started the pooja, I realised two things, one, god and anything related to god soothes me and makes me feel good, two the Satyanarayan god is Vishnu and since Guruvayurappan pictures are also of Vishnu the two look the same, so I was not accosted by the feeling of doing something unfamiliar but instead the same feeling of praying to the lord whom I have been from childhood.

Well we finished the pooja and then distributed the Prasad among friends as well, so that was our high point of the weekend.

Colleagues and work

Prioritization, time management, juggling multiple work items…..all the key words to what you actually learn in MBA. Other than networking of course but then let’s not go there shall we? First semester of MBA I remember were sleep deprived days filled with activity and some of which at the time I thought was completely useless. Didn’t realise until later years that the idea was to stress you out, so that you learn to work under stress and how to work optimally under stress.

Later years once I realised this prime piece of information, I continually flaunted it in the face of my MBA aspiring acquaintances, constantly reminding them that, “THIS is what you would primarily learn in an MBA.” The underlying statement being that “I” had already learnt this.

Perhaps the years untaught me or perhaps I never quite learnt it properly in the first place. Now, I find myself floundering. Hmm……. I am confident that I won’t fall flat on my face but the challenge of ensuring it, exists. :)

By the way, I am impressed by the professionalism my fellow colleagues show. Accurate in time and in the number of hours that are put in at work, they further demonstrated to me that sometimes (not saying all coz I don’t know if that is the case) their moral fabric was better stitched than mine. The topic came up about claiming expenses and how broadband was one of the items you could claim for. As soon as I heard that, I was mentally berating myself for having taken the broadband connection in Shaiwal’s name. Not sure if I would have gone to claim or not since I don’t work from home at all but still my first reaction was unhappiness at not being able to claim. My colleagues then went on to say that you need to be fair though about claiming broadband and that 50% was fair if you were a person who worked from home at high frequency and not more than that!!! Now, had I been a person who was working from home at frequent intervals then I wouldn’t be bothering about 50% or not unless expressly told by the company that this is the limit to which you can claim!

The other side of the coin -

A colleague of mine wanted to watch the world cup which was being telecasted during afternoon hours, so he came in an hour early, went in between to watch the match and then came back to do one more hour extra, so that he did indeed put in his 7 hours that he was supposed to. I kept thinking that bloody its after all only 7 hours, in India we clock in 9 hours on good days and that doesn’t even include travel of 1 hour on an average. If the system is such that it is designed well enough to make you work, however much your body and mind can actually take and not more, then the number of people adhering to the system automatically increases.

Anyways tommorow its Friday my fellow readers and then its weekend time!!! This time a well earned one I must say.

AHA!!!

So i finally am connected now, i got my email ID. Why I thought I was missing it I dont seem to remember now. Coz from the moment i got it meeting requests and work requests have been pouring in. So yesterday I most definitely did not spend the time looking at the clock and wondering if I could hang myself on the hour's hand. People seem to be crawling out of the intranet woodwork to hunt me down and then give me work. :(

Well I guess one day of work honeymoon period is all I get. Anyways, my colleagues very sweetly also taught me how to book my work space. Whats that? Well there is a rotating desk policy here which means you dont get permanent work spaces but you need to keep booking and you can only book for 3 weeks ahead not more. I dont know why the company bothers because as far as I can see people pretty much still keep sitting at the same place. So anyways, I dutifully did my workspace booking and felt happy about it. Only to receive a mail from some guy saying I had booked his space and that he absolutely needed to sit with his team and if I had any queries then to check with HIS BOSS. One, what a looser, I can imagine girls sending mails out like that but a guy, hell just walk upto me and request me for the seat! Two, I seriously wonder what possible query he thought I would have to take up to his BOSS!

Long and short of it, I did redo my booking at the internal website. Not here to make enemies now are we?

Why ME?!!

Initial days in an organisation are both the best and the worst days. The best because everyone is so understanding and expectations are at an all time low. The worst because you have no login id's, no access cards and no clue what the hell you are supposed to be doing. So every one hour i go to my manager and request him for some reading materials and try my best not to fall asleep over them. The battle of keeping my eyes open, especially after 1pm is an uphill one and every other minute i steal glances at the clock to confirm how many more minutes do i have to complete before going home. And that my dears is the most excruciating task.

Well the list of my goof ups seem to be piling on and here is my latest, i had to call up a person for some information at work. I dutifully did so and came across a thick Scottish brogue, it was as if i was hitting my head against the wall. I had squashed the headphones into my ear so much that i am sure it must have touched my cerebrum but i could have been sitting right next to the guy and it still wouldnt have made any difference. I would have been at sea anyways. So all i had to ask was whom to contact on a particular assignment, the person answered and I couldnt make out. SO i made him spell it out, smart eh? Well i thought so too but you know what his accent existed in multiple and single words/alphabets. SO then he asked me for my mail ID, so that he could mail the information across. Sweet chap i say, a place in heaven is surely reserved for you kind sir. Unfortunately i DONT have a mail ID!!! :(

 

That was just Monday, four more days to go!

Screwed!

I am supposed to be taking over from another person who left RBS as on friday, which is yesterday. He has 23 years of work experience and seems like a pro. He was handling 4 different projects and was finding it difficult to manage!!! :)

For the past two days i have been sitting with him and trying to understand whats going on and what work i need to do and let me tell you i am still at sea out here.

He left on Friday not for home but for FLORIDA, USA for 3 weeks. Well that makes it convenient now i know for sure that if i have any doubts then this guy is not going to be available on phone or on mail! Amazing i tell you!

Yesterday it was all back to back meetings with every free minute spent in my handover, which meant that no lunch for me and i have been reassured that it was just another normal day!!! I had infact come in early at around 8:30, so that i could do some catch up before the day started. Early did i say? Well my boss comes in at 7 AM!!! Is he HUMAN? People normally come in at 8 AM and they try to leave when their work is finished which could be 9 in the night or 3 in the afternoon as long as the work is completed. Sounds good in theory wonder how it works in practice.

I am the only Asian origin person on the team and by the looks of it on the floor. Its kind of hard to pick up scottish accent, while i am struggling with the accent, i also have to learn the slangs that they use and what they mean by it, so most of the times i am blank. Now if that wasnt fun enough, i learnt that i need to attend my meetings on audio and not in the meeting rooms, since going to rooms and coming out is considered a waste of time and people here seem to leave their desk only in case of a heart attack. While i was reasonably managing communication with a blend of lip reading, expression reading and pure guess work i am in future to be crippled to the extent of only VOICE. Dear god!!

At different points in the day my mind goes - "Jeena yahan marna yahan iske siva jaana kahan"

I also have had immense respect for my father who with a south indian interior village education and upbringing managed to fight his way and be well settled-in, first Mumbai and then Dubai and then from there on different parts of Europe and even Hong kong. Dad hats off, i just hope i manage at least a decimal percentage of your success in blending with different cultures, different people and your work life success.

First day at work

My first day at work! Well I didn’t make a fool of myself but oh god I got so drained out, the person I am supposed to replace is leaving today so he had exactly two days to download his knowledge to me! Which meant that right from the word GO he was training me on what’s what and how it needs to be done, not that I managed to get everything in but well at a very quick pace at least I understood what is happening. :)

My manager seemed to be a middle aged man and I was actually shocked to know that he was going to be my manager, since I was interviewed by a lady who said I would be working with her, she has been replaced it seem

My interview had happened with a lady who said she was recruiting me for her team, turns out she has now been replaced by another guy whom I am currently reporting to. It was a weird situation actually because he had no clue about me as he had not seen my resume or anything. However we had a good chat to being with and he asked a bit about my background, where I grandly told him about my 5 yrs in satyam and overall 6 yrs of work experience and blah blah. Later on in the day I found out that he had 26 years of experience. God these people just don’t look their age!!! Mortified is a small word compared to what I was feeling right then!

The people seem friendly enough, actually I have met only 3 people so far, one my manager, another the guy who is leaving today and a third a female who works on another project but under the same manager as me. Got to know quite a bit about them on the first day and I hope we all will be friends soon enough.

Had trouble with the vending machines AGAIN! I thought I was over that after my stint last time but I guess not, well I soon figured it out though and I love the fact that Hot chocolate is an option on it. :)

Well I got to run now, everyone, have a great weekend ahead. Take care.

Shaiwal Birthday Sequel

Okay so there we were in Glasgow, equipped with directions from google maps on how to reach where. Our first stop was breakfast and soon after we headed out for the Hindu Temple.

Glasgow at first instance was a bit of a shock for me. As much as Edinburgh is steeped in history and natural beauty, Glasgow is a modern city with sky scrapers, steep roads and the concrete jungle look. I had been under the misconception that Edinburgh was representative of how all cities in Scotland would look; well i had that straightened out then. I guess it shouldn’t have been such a surprise given that Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland and with the best airport and flight connectivity to rest of the world.

Anyways we reached ahead of time at the temple, it was to open at 9:30am and we were at its doors at 9:00am. So we ventured into a nearby park and loitered around, it was a nice sunny day so just kicked back for sometime. The temple when we entered was better than the one we visited in Edinburgh, given that that was a bit of a shabby affair. This one was well maintained and it had a pujari, but it sorely lacked the chanting of mantra's and the hustle bustle of our temples. It almost felt like being in a church with so much silence around.

We finished our darshan and were heading out when I noticed the temple shop where the small deities were being sold, it was closed but we still tried with the pujari and as lady luck was smiling on us we managed to secure a small one of Shirdi Sai Baba.

Next stop Kelvingrove, a museum, I wasn’t too excited to begin with cause although I like art I am not the sort of person who would enjoy a roomful of astounding paintings and patiently take time to examine each. I get restless. The museum however was a pleasant surprise, it was a lovely red palace and a very huge one at that which had sections devoted to different things, like stuffed animals, paintings, the culture and society of Scotland, the Asian equation here, Egyptian culture, history of different earth periods and of course a nice café to sit down and take a breath. :)

I especially loved the hanging iron masks depicting different human emotions and the display of stuffed animals. Although a bit cruel when you think about it, its been done well and the history and statistics of each animal well documented beside each and best of all an appeal to be environmental friendly so that these animals remain on earth and not be made extinct.

There was a transport museum which we wanted to visit later but it’s been closed for renovation and will open only next year so we then made our way to Indian food and had a sumptuous lunch. Well it resembles Indian it wasn’t the exact taste but then can’t quibble over that.

Next stop the science centre, this was let me tell you one of the most touted destination of Glasgow on the internet. Like all consumers we fell for the sales pitch and we went in. It was miserably disappointing, the science centre would have been great had we been 10 year olds but as adults it was a bit embarrassing to be there in the first place, so we made haste and went to the nearest underground station and caught the tube (train) to city centre. I had last been on the underground tube in 2006, so I felt quite nostalgic about the journey.

At city centre we finally decided to take a bit of a rest and have our aching feet put up, so we went into the food court of a shopping mall and plopped ourselves down for a good amount of time. Once refreshed we tackled the shopping streets of Glasgow, it was awesome, there were so many streets lined up with shops and more shops. No wonder people at Edinburgh said Glasgow was a shopping haven. The hustle bustle was nice, we hit a few stores, found some great deals and then soon enough it was time for the train. We managed to catch the 9pm train and headed back home. The two of us were limp from fatigue but happy with our day out.

Since Sunday was Shaiwal’s actual birthday and I had already gifted him with a collage poster and a shirt which he wore on Saturday; on his actual day I did a small treasure hunt of cards wherein each card I mentioned facts about me that he didn’t know. Made him a feast as Nitin and Gopi had suggested and after lunch he had the look of a well fed or should I say over fed cat.

And that my dears is how his birthday went. :)

Shaiwal Birthday Prequel

Well I did his birthday celebration kick off from Friday evening although his birthday was on Sunday. The reason being this year my nakshatra birthday came 2 days ahead of my birth date and he sort of grumbled over the fact that how malayalees make things complicated by having 2 birthdays and how he shouldn’t have to give me a card for both (which I made him do). So I thought it would be nice to reciprocate.

Anyways on Friday evening his gift had come and was waiting at the post office to be collected, the mail man had tried delivering it at home but since the packet was too big for our mailbox and since I was not at home at the time, it went back to the post office. So we went straight to the post office after his day of work and collected the packet. Totally bewildered he couldn’t make out what it was and he had no clue that it was for him.

I had ordered for a collage poster of photos of our parents, god, our relatives, friends and ourselves. Shaiwal had mentioned he would like something done on these lines when we finally move to a permanent home. I also had a selfish intent in that coz I myself wanted these photos in print and on display so that whenever I pass them by I could have a look and feel good.

We then went to the railway station to check our train timings, for we had booked tickets to Glasgow on Saturday. The icing on the cake, these tickets were cheaper than the single fare bus ticket from one bus stop to the next. However, at the railway station we found out that the reason the tickets were cheap were because they were for cross country trains and hence the train was to leave at 7:25 am and the return train would be at 9:05 pm. We weren’t sure then if we would have that much to do at Glasgow so we decided to meet our morning train on time and the evening train we would see to when the time came.

Waking up early in the morning to go to office is an ordeal but doing so for a trip is always something you look forward to. So as per schedule we boarded our train and started our day to Glasgow. The internet showed that Glasgow had loads to offer in terms of shopping but in terms of sights the list had more museums than anything else. We had planned our day with Hindu temple, Kelvingrove museum (which was a must see as per the net) and the Science centre. Also on the plan on special demand from the birthday boy was Indian food at a South Indian restaurant for dosa’s and idli’s.

That’s Part 1 of my story and the sequel shall be published tomorrow kind readers cause today I need to go shopping for formals as tomorrow is my FIRST DAY AT WORK!! :) Yes guys its finally dawned and i am as excited as a kid on the first day of school after summer vacations, a little anxious too with butterflies in my tummy. Wish me luck people.

Goof Up

I have loads to write about this weekend past and also how Shaiwal’s birthday celebrations went…and I was just going to do that yesterday when suddenly another one of my goof ups happened. I see myself as a mature adult unfortunately episodes keep happening in my life which tests this view of myself. One such episode was what happened yesterday.

Shaiwal had left for office, I had finished cleaning the house and got ready for my exercises. I closed the kitchen door for privacy since there is a window there and since the previous day I had gotten some ankle/wrist weights, I was decidedly more enthusiastic during my exercise session. I even used the kitchen door for support and did some lunges and stuff.

After a good workout and a clean bath, whistling I came along to the kitchen to start my breakfast to find out that the kitchen door was JAMMED!!! What the hell!!! How come?!! Well I did the banging bit on the door for close to fifteen minutes before I called SOS.

Mr. Shaiwal Mathur was amazed beyond belief and then in his best pity condescending voice said don’t worry I shall fix it when I get home. I didn’t exactly bang the phone down but I was close to it, ya right Mr.He-man how you gonna manage that? By then I had in the typical filmy style, cleared some space and ran to the door, launched myself onto it and then bounced back on the floor all dazed. SO I was guessing that opening this door wasn’t going to be an easy task at all!

GRUMPY with a capital G was what I then grew. Good food sitting inside my kitchen and I on the other side of the door hungry, miserable, shoulders hurting and pride wounded! Well after a lot of murmuring and frustration I finally trudged to the neared subway got two subs and returned. There was nothing I could do I knew that logically but I just couldn’t get out of my grumpy mood. So I did what was the best thing to do, I went to sleep hoping that when I woke up all this would be just a bad dream.

Nope didn’t work that way, evening turned up and so did Shaiwal. I just tried to break the door down he tried the wall too, not that it was to work. So after a lot of huffing puffing and shoulder banging he settled down and gave me an incredulous look saying, “how do you manage to do all this?” Yes as if its my hobby and this what I excel in. Come on come on I don’t need such statements I need a solution.

Well we were lucky to find a handyman who said he would come in then itself. He turned up, sliced the door handle, he managed to do a pretty neat job too. I was totally impressed by his tools and the fact that he didn’t enquire how this happened in the first place. In under 30 minutes he was on his way and we less cash rich by 40 pounds!

Well I must say Shaiwal was pretty decent about that, had the roles been reversed I would perhaps have not been so. Guess he is a better person….whatever!!

God, please I am already two episodes down since the time I came to UK, don’t need another one happening anytime soon. Help me out here will ya?

Nitin brother of mine, comment on this blog and I shall block you forever. Be warned!