How time flies- Part 3

The third and final part of chronicling last 2 years  is really about my work life in Citi, and life outside Citi, @ Siffin Solah. The first year with my organisation was um, Meh types! Nothing much happened. I met some amazing people though, Girish, Bidisha and so many OTRC folks.

The second year was, well a desperate cry to someone/anyone to save my life! I began my stint in people managing role in March 2014. Even 7 years of experience in banking could not prepare me for what awaited me there. Everyone seemed to be in some inane rush, like always! Tempers were quick to fly. My style of managing was mostly too soft, passive and ineffective, in comparison. those days, I felt like I was failing everyday. Work life balance had reduced to just a fictitious idea. Once again, I got cornered into doing dirty work that nobody cared to do. One great learning of this phase was that crazy begets crazy! Quite often one found oneself bordering on crazy ideas, crazy timings, crazy environments…just everything crazy. Nothing made sense anymore. I remember being tired always! And Lord, how I dreaded month ends!

Outside of office, life at Siffin was ‘Chill’. Got a chance to meet a lot of young people, smitten with the world of fashion, glamour, fame or all three…..i eagerly looked forward to Game Nights @ Siffin. Then of course there were several crazy house parties. People commonly featuring in these were:- Harsh, Daniel, RJ, Parvati, Shweta, and ofcourse people from Shweta/Parvati’s own group of friends.  Siffin was a different experience for me actually. I was used to being with people who were academically driven, with banking or IT kind of domain. In contrast to it,, everyone I met at Siffin happened to be from creative field. Barring Parvati, nobody gave a care about what was happening in the world around them. It was a happily-disconnected-from -world,-yet happy- being- themselves kind of group! Great to meet such people …

To conclude the final part, the unthinkable happened to me. I had really given up all hopes of meeting someone in my life. But 2015 New Year’s eve opened a new chapter for me, quite literally. Having run out of any place to go, I ended up at a friend’s place to bring in the new year….and that’s where I met N. little did I know that the friendship that began that night would take the turn that it eventually did. To be honest, I didn’t take N seriously for the longest time. And I think he wasn’t serious about it too….it was just casual hanging out, spending time together, going for coffee (to Trident), going for walks (to Joggers) kind of a thing. Around that time, N was obsessed with the idea of going back to Gurgaon for some reason. I wanted to dissuade him from it, request him to stay in Mumbai, that I hadn’t gotten to know him yet to start long distance anything…..but I could not. And he moved anyway.

How time Flies- Part 2

April 2013, I returned to India with a fancy job in tow and an education loan glaring in face. Needless to say the realities of life hit hard, and with that came the looming existential question of “what next”? Nothing, however, could have prepared me for the marriage drama that was playing out at home. Suffice it to say, that even my house in Patna had been painted in preparation for the impending event. The only question nobody was asking was who and where was the groom?

Did have my heart set on anyone? Maybe, but then again maybe not. Even if i did have someone in mind, then there was the million dollar question of Was I really sure of him? Is one ever really sure about the person one is marrying? Isn’t it a relative question? We are always evolving, and so are our choices right. So the person we may have been sure of 2 years ago may not hold ground now! then again if marriage is for eternity then how does one adjust to this changing self, and changing choices? What if I change too much and can’t identify with my spouse anymore? Scary thoughts!

The silver lining in the dark clouds was the month long induction with my new organization. In June 2013, I commenced my professional journey with an MNC bank. The month long induction period gave me a chance to interact with B school recruits from all over the country. Ofcourse, the perks of stay at the Trident and Sofitel scored over everything else. I was happy to be back in Mumbai. Also to be reunited with best buddy, Rajeev. With great fanfare we officially flagged off house hunting for me. As in most cases, the search that began with a lot of hopefulness and optimism was reduced to desperation and despair in the span of a month. Fortunately, (&with a lot of daimoku) Flats without Brokers came to my rescue. Thus I got acquainted with fellow roomies Parvati Vaze and Shweta Sharma, and moved in to be their ‘new flatmate’ at Siffin Solah (Siffin 16, Pali Hill Bandra West)

The high point of the flat hunting phase was that Rajeev became a proud owner of a Hookah, and his Man Friday, Pramod, became a pro at setting it up. I got acquainted with Rajeev’s friend Shreyas…..and ofcourse found a place to put an end to my house hunting misery. Heres a free advise- never go flat hunting in Mumbai monsoon, even if it comes with an extended stay at the Trident!

How time flies- Part 1

Can’t believe I haven’t posted anything on this blog for close to 3 years now. I started this blog during my one year MBA program. There was so much that one wanted to share. More than anything, I really wanted to keep a written record of all my experiences in life through this blog. Even today when I read an old post, I feel like I am reliving those moments again, and just like that life is beautiful again! so heres an attempt to fill in the gap of last 3 years, and all the events that marked these years. I sincerely hope to be more regular with the blog henceforth.

The last 2 semester of our MBA program began in Singapore, in Oct 2012. The lush green campus was such a relief from the wretched deserts of Dubai. As we began our specialization courses in, hold your breath- Investment Banking and Finance, Rajeev and I realized that we needed to seek some solace to survive from the finance onslaughts. Rajeev found his in “Sutta” and I found mine in Buddhism. And together we discovered the joys of McDonalds to see us thru the misery of finance specialization. Adding further to my suffering, I got elected to the student body of College Placement Committee.  Rajeev was sane enough to keep away from it.

Personally for me, Singapore was a much better experience than Dubai. For one, Rajeev and I decided to go 7-8 months without fighting (atleast not in the ugly way). Unfortunately, my medical test added an ugly turn to the whole experience. For months together I had to live through the horror of medical tests, consultations and visa extension. Couldn’t have gotten through it without the support of friends from Soka Gakkai (big thank you to Florence, Min Ling, Shirley, Rajesh, Patrick and so so many more). The icing on the cake however was that Rajeev and I, the two so called lower mortals of finance cohort, managed to get ourselves placed through campus. And not to forget, we also got ourselves a fancy ass ALP project with Ernst and Young Singapore. I personally got my sweet revenge on Singapore by bagging an internship with DBS and McKinsey Consulting, Singapore! hell Ya!

Amongst all this, my fave memories are that of making mid night trips to McDonalds, going grocery shopping to 7-11, chanting at the SSA headquarter kaikan, mid night madness of sharing suttas and dragging random chairs to sutta point, chef Rajeev’s prep of chicken sausage sandwiches and Nutella with biscuits( all ingredients wily sourced from hapless others), trekking down to Queenstown mall to sample pizza and food court fares..…..even some low points such as being seated in the corner most ignored by all professors is worth reminiscing now.

In all Singapore was a great place and we each came back with a lifetime of beautiful memories……and some academic credentials :-) :-)