Being a twenty-something
It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn’t know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.
You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren’t exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don’t recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren’t really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.
You look at what you are studying or your job… and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.
Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn’t. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.
You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.
You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can’t meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone! but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you’re doing this because you know that you aren’t a bad person. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself…
And while winning the race would be great, right now you are scared just to be a contender!
What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it.
We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out. Tell everyone about this blog… maybe it will help someone feel like they aren’t alone in their state of confusion…
Its called “Quarter-life Crisis.” nothing is constant……except change.
What’s life without a few risks? Keep playing the game!
Quarter-life Crisis
Global-Platform-Transit Thoughts
On my way to Nuernberg sometime back, i stumbled upon a delayed flight at the Franfurt Airport and ended up pumping my system with unthinkable dosages of Caffeinne and Nicotine, but nevertheless, managed to type out some thoughts and even better is i was able to dig this master-piece out of my 18 GB PST file… Warning : The Title not necessarily be in-sync with the content spoken about below :))
The Vulcan has finally arrived….after a never-ending wait of 2 months….of all the facades and fiascos Unlimited….despite the Sea-Change in GLOBAL WARMING…and the water level rising by a inch in the last couple of months…I have Survived and landed, where I deserve to be…On arrival, there are many thoughts that spring up into my imagination, is this a Fully-Paid-for Rejuveniation trip or am I on a Project here…???some more question marks make their my already Simplified Life(READ : Nuclear Physics)
Before I left, I was constantly asked over a period of 2 months as to where I d b gng, which countires I d b seein, which cities, ?????but, mates, I hate travelling…yeah I knw I m travelling right now but you know, Leisure Travelling ( or rather I d term it as “Wham-Bham-Damn Monday Ma’am Trips”)…how can you possibly explore a country or city in a day…I have met ppl who have been to Paris, and in the 1 day that they have been there, they have seen the Louvres Museum, Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rogues(Yes, Yes), Disney Land(really don’t knw if they went in there or just did Window-Viewing)…
Now can someone tell me how can you possibly see a city in a day or two…
oh yeah yeah I forgot the typical indian thought process of “Oh my God”, Once I am back home I need to show my Jealous frenz and Proud folks, of where they went and how much they enjoyed..So what they end up shooting on thier newly-brought-Imported cameras are them Smiling, with the back-drop of one of the above mentioned monuments !
What is beauty if not admired at length…unlike those who just want to capture it on thier Shutterbugs !
Well, I tried grilling into the Psyche of a Software Professional, who was in Germany on Deputation for 6 months…and the thoughts contained are quite a counter-replication of HIS way-of-Life!
Anyways that part in my following up Blogs…need to move on with the Transit…Sitting here in the Frankfurt Airport…u see the World…bCos once some great Philosopher(period:Irfan) said, “People make up the World”…There is a untold Mystery about this place…there is urgency-Laziness-Fear-Nervouness in the atmosphere…
People of different Culture, Some Pretty Women and some Ugly…Fashion Fads(Who said, u need to watch the ramp to be Fashion updated, come sit at the Frankfurt Transit Area)…Damn what am I typin….may be I m Lost…Lack of Sleep, Lack of Sex and Lack of Something Unknown….May be Love(but wasn’t the phrase LOVE-LOST and not LOST For LOVE.
Whats your Six Sigma Level Value?
In the corporate World, we have something known as Six Sigma Quality Models…some people know about it and many don’t !
Well in a laymans vocabulary, Six Sigma is all about, doing things right, the very first time u do it ! Simple ain’t it ? It all about reducing the costs by making now errors, cos if you make errors, you have to spend money in correcting it/reworking on it.
Keeping it simple : A Process/Company is termed to be on Six Sigma when it makes less than 3.4 Errors in a million output ! SHOCKED ?? Well there are companies, which do it !
Well its not about the Quality standards of Companies that i m talking about ! The interesting part starts now (as usual late)…if people also were evaluated on the basis of Six Sigma model, wouldn’t that be great ! like the output could be the minutes in a persons life and the errors being errors(DUHHHH!!!)..errors of any type, Silly ones, criminal ones etc etc..
attempting to Draw an utopian reference from Work Standards to Personal Being Standards and evalutaions !
some food for thought….what would the world look like…when
your job interview requires you to input your personal Six Sigma Score
while marriage, your in-laws would insist on your Certified Six Sigma Score sheet than your HOROSCOPES.
Fortune magazine will have its cover donned by the man with the Highest Sigma level in this world! and the top 500 also !
Blowing-your-own-trumpet parents shall boast about how their kids are high up on the Six Sigma Matrix and that their Kids will grow up to be Six Sigma Men/Women !
Now to the Ultimate Question : Is it possible to actually have a Six Sigma Man/Woman ????
Well this is a whole new and different perspective to Values instilled by Gandhigiri and Religions !
Is God Himself on Six Sigma ?????
Weird thoughts but soul-stirring ones !! i think i may be at 1 or 1.2 SIGMA VALUE !
Whats your Six Sigma Level after-all?
8-8-8 Philosophy : Reasons for not working late
Well Have been Pondering for the last couple of weeks, as to what could possible be the Flip-Sides of Working Long hours ! These are the reasons i feel why working for long hours is detrimental
Health Reasons
— Growing fat - Apparently your long enough in the office to have lunch, evening snack and dinner. Office food tend to be oily and not so healthy for the body.(Nothing like nice home cooked healthy food).Apparently this doesnot work me, i get THINNER ! Hmmm thats a health Hazard as well.
— Stomach problems - Reason same as above.
— No time to Exercise - Since your spending at least 12 - 14 hours in the office your can’t exercise, which means bad health again.
— Excess intake of Junk food - You tend to eat more when your stressed and this stress contributes to the revenues of Lay Chips, Haldiram’s samosa’s etc.e.g A good friend of ours eats constantly and is not only measured in Centric circles
— Coffee/ Tea - Since your working that long, coffee/ tea helps you to focus on work. Excess of those/Caffine is also injurious to health.
— Stress - Since you work for 12 - 14 hours a day, you are so stressed. You have headaches, migraines, dizzy feeling, back aches, shoulder aches etc….and this list could go on and on and on.
Productive reasons
—- Efficiency reduced - Have you realised why people are more efficient in the mornings. That is because their mind is well rested. If its your 10th working hour, of course, you are missing something, making errors etc. (non value added process)
—- Error Correction (CAPA)- There are cases where people spend days correcting the error they have committed because of the above reason.Quality gets affected, especially in a company which advocates ‘Being right the first time’.
—- Just cant think - Have you felt this that when your stressed, you ‘just cant think’. Whatever you do you cant find a way out a solution. But the next morning you would probably have an answer so simply that you feel ashamed of yourself.
—- Unhealthy process - All processes are calculated at an FTE of 8 working hours per day, but if your people are expected to stay for longer it just proves that you have an unhealthy process. In cases of a BPO where you have an FTE billing, it actually affects our revenue.
—- People frustrated, iteration - If people are expected to daily stay up late in office, the frustration level goes up. This in turn causes iteration.
—- Cribbing - If you notice people who work long hours feel that they have contributed more than someone who worked for 8 hours a day, which is technically incorrect. The basis of productivity is not hours spent on office. Physiologically speaking, this person feels he is the better performer of the lot, even thou he isn’t. This does cause some amount of frustration, eventually iteration if not handled appropriately.
Corporate Culture
—- Work, Leisure life balancing ( 8,8,8 Philosophy) - Every corporate culture advocated ‘Work life balancing’, by this they mean that you balance work and your personal life. 8,8,8 Philosophy - emphasis on 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work and 8 hours with family, perfect balance in life. When was the last time you did this ???
—- Setting a bad example - By being late yourself you are setting a bad example for your subordinates and peers. How can you advocate your ‘Work, leisure life balancing without having your own backyard clean ?
— Setting a bad expectation - Even if there are people in your team who believe in the 8 8 8 Philosophy, they cant advocate it because their managers are not for it.
Personal Reasons
—- Balanced working life - There is absolutely no time. Suddenly paying ones electricity bill sounds like an Herculean task.
—- Family bonding - How can you possibly bond with your family when your not around ? Like the Other day, it was my Mom’s B day. When i woke up at 10 am she wasn’t around, by the time i reach at 11.00 pm she is asleep. I cant even wish her because of my Super-Stringed work life
—- Priority feels changed - You should understand the concept that at every given point in time one does what’s most important to him/her. In the time slot allotted for family, you end up exhausting it in office. Of course your family feels less prioritised. Is work actually thats more important than them ?
—- Most of us work for the money, when we earn we buy a car, a nice house etc. And most of the times its because your family. But what you fail to realize is your family feels you being there for them is more important than the luxuries in life. A family with loads of money and without you is no family at all.
—- Personal time - One should always spend some time alone. Time to introspect, time to just read a book and feel enlightened. Time with a mug of coffee. If your busy working…..then where is the time ?
My Personal favourite reason
We spend all our younger days to earn a lot of money in the mean time to lose our health, which inevitably we end up paying for better health treatments in our older stages in life. Hasn’t it ever occurred that we could possibly just stay healthy throughout.
Not to forget the broken dreams, aspirations, the family bonding, you miss out on. Even something as little as just taking an hour out to just sketch. Its been years since I did something that small,insignificant but quite nice at the end of the day. Just time for the simple pleasures in life.
To conclude, there are reasons here that maybe over stated. Argumentatively speaking, we could debate on these for hours. But the objective is drive home the point of avoiding late working hours. Its not that one should only work 8 hours a day, but on the other hand I feel one shouldn’t work 12 - 14 hours daily.
its just the balancing act in the end. I guess we all are old enough to judge where to draw the line.
ITS TIME THAT WE JUST DID.
Has God Logged onto ORKUT?
8th of May 2006 ; shall go down in the books of my Personal History as the day, I was smitten to the OAS (Orkut Addiction Syndrome)… The Reasons for Joining are Varied so are my Excuses to Stay on ! Inspite of so many other Community Sites coming up like Wildfire namely Gazzag,blah,blah,blah.com……but i still Stuck on !!!
One aspect that struck me like a bolt of Lightning was the fact that i could connect to all my Ex-Girlfrenz notice the Wicked Smile …I Spent sleepless nights trying to search for long lost frenz(Assuming i could increase my Frenz list, who would directly corelate to a spurt in the Fans Count on my Profile…Damn it doesnt work that way)
On a more serious note, i did realise, Orkut was THE PLATFORM, where i could meet my Frens, long lost and also the ones, whom i said “Get Lost”, long time back”…i guess thats the Very IRONY of Life !
And now, ORKUT is like a Mantra Everywhere!! Bangalore times documents how it functions, NDTV does a Documentary on what the Orkut Phenomena is all about…if you really want to see what an epidemic Orkut is, Type “I Love Orkut” in google and be ready to be Shaken & Stirred away with the Results…..
There is a Very Good Fren of Mine, who supposedly did OT every single day until like last month…why only until last month ????? Cos his Company Blocked Orkut !!and he could no Longer give in OT(Orkut Time)….He is currently in “Activity Depression”…he refuses to be indulge in any form of Exercise…other than the Exercise…and that act of Refusal is directing impending Waist Line !!
Documenting the histrionics of yet another Spectacular species, who happens to be a Fren of mine, Shifted Jobs only cos they banned Orkut at her workplace and she couldnt do with out it….This aint a Joke…Just for the Record, she Exists…Funny Aint it??? i mean not abt her Existence but the Phenomena called ORKUT.
I guess 70’s gave us, the Hippie Culture, Well, we the people of this Generation can be proud of ourselves too, cos look what we ended up giving ourselves and the generations to come, the ORKUT Culture..Well will that be a Disgrace/Pride, telling our kids(if i live that long, that is !!)..tryin to imagine what the conversation would go Like :
Son : Papa, Tell me something about your Days??????
Me : Son, those were the days of Glory, when we spent our Days of Summer on the Internet, Scrapped our frenz and when they didnt scrap back, we called them up and asked, what thier problem was in scrapping back ?
Son : That Sounds so Interesting Pa…(Knowing my Son, im quite sure, he would be full of Sarcasm as well)
Son : So how did u meet Ma? ( I was expecting that from my Son, i m quite sure, he is gonna try this one on as well…Remember : Orkut would be an Obsolete Trend, like we find Sex, Drugs and Rock n ROll….Un-do Remember for the Words in Bold Italics, they will never go Outta Fashion)
Me : Your Ma, Came & Checked onto my Profile and I found her in my Visitors list…so in reciprocation, i went and Checked her Profile..I found her Good Looking, so i added her to my Crush List & Frenz List as well…Then for Sometime, nothing Happened..i was too Egoistic to scrap her. and your Mom, the Arrogant Self that she is didnt Bother Scrapping as well….
Son : Then ….!!!????
Me : Then, what !! Some Nonsensical Fren sent her this Spam Mail, which Said “Do this and find out who has added you to thier CRUSH LIST”
Son : So did it work???? !!!
Me : No !!!! Like all the other Spam Chain Mails, this didnt as well(Thank Gos !)…Then one fine day, i let go of all my inhibitions and I Scrapped…and we started Talking and then we Fan’ned each other and then one day we got married and after some days you came in as a “Private Message” in to our Personal eMail Account !
Son : So i came from ORKUT !!!!!!!!! :)) was i delivered in a Mail Box and now by a Stork !
Me : Thats a Story for another day, another Blog Beta!!
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Finally, Before i hit the Sack , a Question for you to Ponder about ::::
Out of 6,574,666,417 People in this world, with 1,093,529,692 using the Internet(Basic Services like email)….That makes it 16% of the World Uses Internet and out which 43,227,179 are on orkut ! That makes it 4 % of the whole population of the Basic to Advanced Internet Users.. So i m quite sure, God would qualify to have an Internet email account atleast..well if he does, then there are 1 isto 25 Probability chances that GOD has logged onto Orkut !!!
Search not within your Hearts but in Orkut and all you know, you may just find him !!
Keep the Search On !
Welcome !!
I know that the Title sounds a little Cliched, but couldnt actually work up something Smart-errrrr!! :)There are always TWO reasons for everythin in our Lives...be it creation of this world to Dysentry pangs you encountered this morning..i mean for everythin...So does my action of having moved from Word-Press to this Blog Website...
- Cos wanted to install Adsense on my Blog to get some Monies Rolling
- It is lot more convenient to manage the plethora of accounts i have with google like Orkut, bla blah..Turned into a Amateur Googlelogist !!Well..i have tried re-creating the old Wordpress Blogs
(I mean the Sensible ones!!) back on here !Thats quite the reason why, you will see the first few blog-posts having identical time-stamps !
