My Job Application...

Hmmmm I wrote this inspiring long job application to a start-up. Not inspiring enough I guess - I didn't get the job but they've asked me to wait till they start hiring again. :(


Hi Awesomeness!! (sounds corny I know, but really you guys are AWESOME!! Else why on earth would I - a sleep deprived working mom of an eight month old be writing this crazy mail at 4 in the morning?)

I google all the time, for everything, for anything. Google apparently has this ticker at its office - a scroll of current searches from across the world. I am pretty sure that during the time I am awake a new search of mine appears on it every 10 minutes at least. That's also how I got to you in the first place and it helped that I saw your "product" at one of my friend's place.

Well where do I start with my story - it's an oft repeated one. Reluctantly working in a MEANINGLESS CORPORATE JOB in a consulting firm. I could explain exactly what I do using all the jargon I throw at people everyday. But this mail is from my heart - my first step in hopefully a series of revolutionary (...for me, but could be kinder garden stuff for most clear-headed adults) decisions that I plan to make over the next few months. So jargon - please put your hands down.

I'll come to the point - I absolutely love what you guys are doing - the ideas, the creativity, the focused passion and simply put - I want to be a part of it. Even simply put - I beg to be a part of it. Even if it's a teeny-weeny-tiny part to start off. I can help in a number of ways - marketing, market research, coordinating, designing, accounting, technology (yeah I can do more than googling) and oh... tea-making too (I know how important tea is for start-ups)! I would send you my resume but it wouldn't have any of these things in it. I haven't done it before - hmmm... well not really, may be in a way I have. Business development, Project Management, Execution, Quantitative Analysis, Client Management - ok I promised No Jargon!

But more important that all of that - I have a creative fire inside me (arghhhh I know - the corniness again) But right now it's just a weak flame that I'm sure will be completely extinguished if I stay any more at this consulting thingie and I need to revive it by doing something meaningful and something I'm passionate about.

I'm from Bangalore and I stay in "location" (close by from "location") and I have my own laptop and I can bring my own lunch and I can travel locally and I'm willing to become a fan of Star Wars and I plan to put in my papers next week.

So where can I start? :)

Late and latest!

One Year... one whole year!

I thought things would have changed. Hmmm... may be yes may be not. But I do hope things have changed - for the better. What fun is it to be the same; to have the same life?

I am a mommy now. No this is not going to become a mommy blog. Well there I've said it, we can forget about it now. But I have become more intelligent after the shot at dumbness during my pregnancy. Seriously. My TQ (thinking quotient) took an exponential dive through the nine and half months. But all is ok now. It took sometime to recover.

In a very intelligent move I have quit my 'oh-so-cool' consulting job. In another month, once I've served my notice period, I plan to take up my new role of homemaker-freelancer-artist very seriously. Some of my friends thought I was going to the grave as a long standing employee of my current employer. Bun on your face.

My iGive page and a personal appeal!

It's so easy to get lost in the mediocrity of everyday life that we forget sometimes how lucky we are. A small stroke of luck has today brought us to this side of the viewing pane where we just see poverty and suffering as a phenomenon and not as a reality of life. Today as we stand on our own feet, independently taking decisions and occupy positions that have the potential to one day make a difference to the world - maybe it is also time to look beyond just those few moments of helplessness and guilt at viewing and hearing about suffering at close quarters. May be it is time to give back.

In addition to the cause of children and education that as many of you know remains very close to my heart, a compelling speech and the phenomenal work done by Prajwala has brought me to write today on a topic that unfailingly makes me passionate and helpless at the same time. And I believe that it would stir you in the same way. In Sunitha Krishnan’s own words I would like to sum up a cause that I would like to support and seek your help in supporting too.

“Every time I rescue a child or a young girl from prostitution, I die a thousand deaths, reliving what these innocent souls have lost.. helplessly wondering how much could be regained... reaffirming my own conviction that as long as I live I will fight.

We at Prajwala in our own small way are fighting this battle against sex trafficking. We need all your support to create a support system where victims can regain their dignity, their hope in humanity. - Sunitha Krishnan”

I also encourage you to view Sunitha Krishnan’s speech at TED India -



Here is the link to my iGive page - http://www.giveindia.org/give/pledgepage/PrajwalaWomen

From here you can contribute any amount you wish to supporting my cause. From my everyday life in India and seeing people struggle to save even what we would consider the most insignificant amount of money, I sincerely believe that no sum is too small. And that is why my minimum contribution limit is set at Rs. 100 ($2). Well, let go of your latte today and bring smile to some women.

An exciting new acquisition!

I haven't been this excited and this obsessed about an electronic gadget for as long as I can remember. By the time I got my first computer, I was already introduced to the concept of internet cafes and ICQ chatrooms. A dumb terminal didn't add any more zing to my life. My first cellphone was one of the basic Nokia models that I had no role in choosing and communication costs were far too prohibitive for my meager college sustenance allowance to serve any purpose other than receive the 'where-are-you-what-are-you-doing' calls from my mom.

But this one is different. I'm smitten! I've never had e-books, never liked them. May be the closest I've come so far is proof reading for Gutenberg. After a brief brush with e-books in college, I had made up my mind that however advanced the world gets I'm always always going to yearn and love the feel of paper and the sheer joy of holding a book in my hands. Less than 7 years later I can't believe I have today actually fallen in love with an e-reader. Beautifully mimicking the feel of a book and yet offering all the conveniences of the electronic medium is the 'Kindle'!!

It actually feels like you're holding a medium-sized paperback and the print/e-ink with the off-white/ivory background is awesome... just like the books - only more sharp and readable. It's remarkably simple... no jazz. Read, flip, read again. No camera, no videos, no instant messaging and no stock quotes. Pressing the 'next page' button weirdly feels like turning the page. Especially if you're one of those people (like me like me) who like to look up a lot while reading - I'm telling you, your search ends here... Oxford English Dictionary, Wikipedia and even Google for simple browsing all through this invisible network called Whispernet. Here's a picture of my Kindle and in it the first book I bought at the Kindle Store.

Two Questions

Amongst all the other important things such as height, weight, grammar quotient, IQ, rock music quotient, taxable income, etc. there are two other things that you shouldn’t forget to check before getting married, especially if it’s an arranged marriage situation. Dogs! Seriously, it’s a simple question. Do you like dogs? But don’t forget it. Imagine being a crazy dog lover and living with someone who jumps at the mention of the word puppy! Or worse still – vice versa! Imagine freezing in your tracks on seeing a dog and seeing him smiling, trying to draw it closer and patting it with the same hand that he's going to wrap around you in a minute.

Talking of dogs and puppies, a Chihuahua that looked much smaller than my sister’s bedside stuffed dog once barked and jumped at me. The audacity, I tell you! What was it thinking? One push with my right foot and I could have subdued it like Vamana’s foot on King Bali! Well, that’s how angry I get thinking about the incident. Of course, it didn’t help that I jumped and screamed and almost knocked down an elderly couple and amused many more including M. Oh, he’s not very enterprising either. That’s for another day.

Coming back, fortunately we didn’t forget that question and it helped. The second one is equally important. What kind of TV series do you watch? Are you the 500+ mega-episode-saas-bahu-ghar-ghar-ki-kahani types, the bitchy gossipy splitsvilla-roadies reality show junkie types or the ever knowledge-craving vicariously living through animal planet-national geographic-discovery channel type? Or like we discovered - the crazy about detective stories types. Our latest obsession is 'Castle'. We are soooo over Bones and 'shake things up'. Monk and his obsessiveness still hovers in the background. And it's so comforting that we don't have to fight over the remote after a long day's work. Nonetheless, the ad-breaks still leave enough room for the 'you are so selfish', 'fine, do whatever you want' arguments usually culminating in 'change now!'

My first post this year!

A long time again… and what better way to start again than an update post. It's unbelievable that it's been more than 3 months and everyday I've been thinking - Oh, it's been sometime -I shall write soon! Till this morning P came around and reminded me that the last time I wrote something here was 'December 10'! I mean seriously, so many many things have happened since then.

Late December we took this wonderful trip to Goa for M's birthday. Absolutely amazing! Have I mentioned before that I have this childhood morbid vision of Goa being a horrible, drug-laced and alcoholic capital of India. I resisted all attempts to plan a vacation there and that's where we ended up… and had loads and loads of fun.

New Year's Eve took off with a quiet celebration at a friend's place amid a game of Taboo and some wine. And on the contrary since then it's been one bumpy ride. Work took off at breakneck speed and is only now starting to show some signs of subsiding to normality.

On those numerous work trips to Delhi, I managed to catch a late-evening glimpse of the India Gate. Yes I have never seen India Gate before and work did not offer any solace to take sight-seeing trips around the capital. But coming back to India Gate - Do you remember that feeling of being confronted with an absolutely stunning sight when you're alone, not being able to scream or tell someone about it, not even a camera at hand to capture the marvel and you're just stunned and all you can do is try not to blink? It reminds me of the scene in the movie 'The Namesake' with Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Khan) and his little son Gogul at the seaside and the father suggesting the son capture the scene in his head since the camera was missing. One moment I was sleepy eyed inside the cab after a long day and the next moment I'm greeted with this marvel all lit up and standing majestic.

In other news, I have added some pounds to my already not-so-burly, slightly heavy but ok for my height and curvy image… yeah ok I've put on some weight. And I'm in no hurry to lose them yet.

Airport-isms

Do you remember the sparrow and the hay story? A sparrow at the Bangalore International Airport is going to need some. I settled down with a plate of idli and a bowl of spicy chutney and a book on the other hand and when I turned to dip a slice of the idli into the chutney… guess what? There was a sparrow feeding on it. A handful of sparrows have made the airport their home and they are unmindful of the people around as they fly and feed unperturbedly.

*****

Found a man dressed in a Silk Shervani, Jodhpuris and carrying an orange leather briefcase at the airport at five in the morning. He quietly walks and positions himself at the beginning of the airport waiting line. And when I reminded him about the people in the queue… he coolly says ‘I know. I’m standing in the queue too.’ Dude!!

*****

The ladies queue at the security check of BIAL is the best place to spot the branded beauties. Last time around it was a 25-ish something with a LV Speedy and what seemed like the Vaio pink-crocodile skin laptop. This time around another short 25-ish something was dressed obnoxiously in Burberry from head to toe – scarf, shirt, handbag and shoes. Fortunately she stopped short of wearing plaid pants too.

*****

Did Chennai airport get a makeover or what? When I got down from the shuttle I almost thought I had taken the wrong flight. Shiny interiors, no dogs around, and baggage was already there when we arrived! The pre-paid taxi counter is now inside the airport itself… impressive! Two hours later I was back to haggling with the auto-rickshaw driver on prices – not impressive.