Gauri’s Thoughts

My little bro, J got an offer from SIEMENS today……you might ask me what is so great about that? Everybody seems to be getting a job these days….

But to me, it seems so magnificent ! To me ,the fact that he got it while in his college, after attending the first interview in his life and competing with close to 2000 other candidates all over Kerala is a matter of great pride…

I have always been put off by the Mommy blogs which have multiple posts about their tiny babies smiling , teething and even sleeping. But now I bet, I would be a similar Mommy blogger when I have my little one….

Trust me, I just want to shout it over the cubicles and talk about it to everyone, even to my Chinese clients. As that would solicit unwanted comments,  opted the safe way of putting it on my blog as well as calling all the numbers in my personal phone book….

PS: Even I had got placed while in campus and it was really obvious that he will also get placed, but the actual fact just lifted me into euphoria….

PPS : J, you owe me one for this…:) He would be really surprised by this post as he would have never encountered this “Other side” of me even though he has always brought us many moments of pride before.. Now that I think of it, is it my age which is playing a trick?

Just six months after my marriage, when I got a job offer from a company which had “Work at Home” option,  I literally jumped at it.  And I  started living happily ever after….Working in pyjamas, watching telly at one while having your lunch, evening visits to coffee parlors and visits to office just 2 days a week.  “Ever after” lasted  a month and  then the thunder struck and it  struck really  hard. In the form of my Japanese client…

 One dayI woke up to the ringing of my phone….There was “Very Upset-san” on the phone very very upset about the un-delivered Blueprint . After half-an-hour of deliberation, fortunately or unfortunately the only person left sulking was S who was upset about his long lost  sleep..I could hear my clock beeping four when I finally went to sleep again.

That was how the nightmare started….The regular comments from office about why Gauri should be taking all the latenight conf-calls and why Gauri should be reviewing all the crazy docs as somebody has to drive all the way back Home( Read “Firangi Paani”) ……….. After all, she works from home, Right? Also comments from home about why Gauri should be cooking dinner daily and why Gauri shouldnot mind even if she doesnot have a maid - After all she is at home the whole day, Right?

After a year, I had enough of my dawn to midnight schedule and more importantly sick of the sky level expectations from all sides.

  Unexpectedly, I got an offer from another company. In the final round of HR interview, they rather proudly mentioned the ”Work from Home” option and  might have been shocked to see the passion with which I refused.

A week back I joined my new job. I travel 45 minutes to an hour daily and crib about the  traffic in Bangalore.  But yes, I feel like my older self !

PS: It would be a lie if I say that the above was the sole reason behind me shifting the job, there was indeed a profile change, better brand and a pay hike attached…….:)

Is it relevant any more?

Those multiplication tables you crammed up ? ….No, i use either my mobile or Excel sheet these days. Those spellings teachers tried hard to correct ?..No, I have my MS-Word instead.

So does that mean that those 10 years you spent in your school were all just a waste of time?

No, I don’t think so..I believe what we learned in the school was ” How to learn?” . I believe that the marks card we used to get was rather a measure of “How well you can learn?” and not “How much you know?”. Otherwise, why the hell do you think a company is keen on your 10th Std percentage while offering you a job? I believe its your “learnability” which is being gauged through your marks. What else is important in these days when technology changes in a blink of our eyes?

Thanks a lot my Alma Mater for the greatest lesson you taught me -

                                               “The Art of Learning”