"If you do not like your life, change it."

"If you do not like your life, change it." If you are not doing anything to change your life, then you probably do not hate your life as much as you say you do.
Showing posts with label All in a day's work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label All in a day's work. Show all posts

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Gossip-loving coworker, X: Hi Mam!! I saw your profile on FB.
Me:: Ok.....
X:: You have a lot of pics of your nephews and nieces.
Me:: Yes...(????)
X:: You seem to love kids. Why don't you have any?
Me:: I also love cats, horses and Brad Pitt. Don't have them either.


Note to self:: Get a DO NOT DISTURB sign for my door.
Irritating acquaintance (X), with obviously fake enthusiasm: Hey! How's my favorite person?
Me, in a flat tone: Why don't you try asking that person directly?
X, after giving a 10 second fake laugh (I am seriously thinking of nominating him for the next year's Razzies): Good one! So, I guess you have been busy.
Me: Not really.
X: Oh! I have been trying to reach you. Did you see my calls and SMSes? 
Me: Yes, I did.
X: Oh! I guess you were travelling and couldn't call back.
Me, at my dead-pan best: Not really. I was just avoiding you.
X: Ha Ha. Qatil sense of humor, yaar! Seriously, were you out of town?

**sigh** Some people just can't accept the truth 

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The following transpired in one of my meetings today.
X: I was hoping to meet someone senior..
Me (smiling): That would be me.
X: I mean someone who can take a decision..
Me (still smiling): Again, that would be me.
X: Well, is there no one older and more mature that I can meet?
Me (pretending to smile): I assure you that the Board of Directors considers me to be mature and senior enough to meet with you and has given me the authority to make the necessary decisions.
X: Oh okay.. it's just that I am not comfortable talking business with ladies.. I would like to meet your Director.
Me (stopped pretending to smile): 2 of the 4 directors are "ladies". And, the other 2 are currently out of the country.
X: That's okay. I will wait.
Me: But you regularly do business with "ladies". In your proposal, you had mentioned that your company's corporate account is with ICICI Bank.
X stares at me - blank.
Me (trying to keep the sarcasm to the minimum): I hope you know that the ICICI Bank is run by Chanda Kochhar... who is a lady..you know...
X (after thinking for a few seconds and what seemed like quite an exertion for him): But our ICICI RM is not a lady..
Me (giving up all pretenses and standing up to leave): Never mind. The deal is off. You and I, anyway, can't do business together.
X: Why??
Me (suddenly remembering this line from some random movie): Because I can't think as slow as you do even if I tried.
X: That's unacceptable. Who are you to do this?
Me (back to smiling naturally): You seem to have forgotten. As I said before, I am someone who the Board of Directors considers to be mature and senior enough to meet with you and who has been given the authority to make the NECESSARY decisions. Uncle, badam khaiyiyee. Memory badhegi. (Uncle, eat almonds to improve your memory.)
The other day, as I was coming out of my office, the following happened.
X: Mam, there is something I need to discuss.
Me: X, can it wait till tomorrow? I am already late. Have to make dinner as well.
X: Oh, you know how to cook?
Me: Of course. Why do you sound so surprised?
X: That's because you don't seem to be the domestic type.
Domestic??? I smiled and left him as soon as possible. You see, I am allergic to idiots.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Do people change?

A few years ago, I met a person who I used to work with. He had come for a job interview in my current organization. When I used to work with him, I knew him as a very competitive worker who wouldn't think twice before presenting someone else's work as his own. I brought this up in his job interview, asking him to explain how this personality trait will not hamper his team-working skills. I was expecting him to vehemently defend himself. Instead, much to my surprise, he said, "I was immature and insecure at that time. I am no longer the same person I used to be. I have changed." I was taken aback with his apparent honesty. I decided to take a chance and hired him. And, today, I am happy to see him work as a great overall team player. Has he actually been able to overcome his mean streak? Or is he a ticking time bomb waiting to cause big scale damage? In the heart of the issue was the million dollar question - Do people change?

Very often, I hear wise and elderly people say - "Once a thief, always a thief." Is that true? I have heard and read about numerous cases where criminals keep committing crimes even after imprisonment or where paroled murderers commit murders again. Every day, the newspapers are filled with accounts of misdeeds committed by history sheeters, career criminals, hardened criminals, etc. On the other hand, stories of people turning over a new leaf are quite rare. In fact, that seems to happen only in Bollywood family-drama style movies where the scheming mother-in-law/sister-in-law undergoes complete change of heart in the climatic moments of the film - all well within 3 hours!

Jokes apart, I think the question is not "Do people change?"; the question should probably be "Can people change?" We have read about Emperor Ashoka giving up violence and embracing Buddhism after the battle of Kalinga. Mythology is filled with inspirational stories of evil people turning good. So, maybe people can change - if they want to. With genuine remorse and absolute resolve, maybe people can change for better. In fact, for this world to make sense, we will need to believe that people can change. For my own sanity, I need this faith that even modern-day Ratnakars are capable of transforming to Valmikis.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

The Unconvinceable

I take pride in the fact that I rarely lose my temper at work. However, there are occasions when my patience is tested and I reach the brink of losing my temper. Today was one such day.

I was doing the Q1 analysis with one of my managers. Let's call him X.

X:: It's difficult to do well with such an inexperienced team.

Me (at my motivational best):: Experience is not always good. Your team does not have the baggage of experience and expectation. They are starting with a clean slate.

X:: They are learning everything from scratch.

Me:: Exactly! Look at it this way. They will learn whatever you teach them. You can mould them the way you want to.

X:: I don't think so. I am not confident that they will be able to handle the pressure.

Me:: Well, you were a fresher once. I was a fresher once. Imagine what would have happened if no one had given us a job because we did not have experience! How will people gain experience if no one hires freshers?

X:: So, on what basis did we hire these freshers?

Me:: We hired them because they have high IQ and good communication skills. I believe they can be trained to become excellent employees.

X:: What guarantee is there that they will have commitment and ownership?

Me:: What guarantee is there that an experienced person will have commitment and ownership?

X:: We can do reference check and find out.

Me:: When a person names someone as the point of contact for reference check, he obviously makes sure that that person will speak only good things about him! So, reference checks need not be 100% accurate.

X:: I don't want to waste my time and energy training a fresher.

Me (thinking, not saying aloud):: And yet, you have wasted 30 min in this discussion! 

Me (aloud in a cheerful voice):: It's an investment, not a waste. Invest time and energy in training your team. And, when you see them grow as individuals and professionals, it's very fulfilling.

X:: I don't think so. I don't bet on losing horses.

Me:: You will be surprised to see what faith can do. Show some faith in them. They might move mountains for you.

X (with a blank look):: What?

Me (trying to sound nostalgically inspirational):: Remember the first T20 World Cup that India won? All the seniors pulled out of the tournament. A brand new captain led a team of young and inexperienced players in the World Cup where the format itself was new. And, we will know the result.

X:: What was the result?

Me (I couldn't keep the incredulity out from my tone.):: India won the world cup! MS Dhoni, the brand new captain with no captaincy experience whatsoever - not even in domestic cricket - led a team of absolute underdogs to win the T20 World Cup!

X:: Oh. I did not know.

Me:: How could you have missed that? It was all over the news!

X:: When?

Me:: When India won the World Cup! In 2007!

X:: I don't read old newspapers.

Now, it was my turn to go blank.