Well, it’s been more than a year since I last updated my blog. Lots of things have happened and changed since my last blog. Some of my friends changed jobs and moved to Mumbai while I moved out of there; some of them lost their jobs as well. Almost, all of them have a reason as to why their jobs or bosses suck. My elder brother and two of my very close friends got married in 2009 and for a change, all of them are happy. Food prices and stock market both skyrocketed in 2009 as well. For some of my family members and friends, the year that went by was good, some of them feel it was bad and for some of them it was a mixture of both.
Let me tell you what all happened with me in 2009 and then I will leave it for you to decide whether my year was good or bad. The year started with a 5% salary cut thanks to recession and the cloud of uncertainty over the job never drifted away from the skies above. My house owner robbed me of Rs. 10,000 over some false claims while returning the security deposit. Laptop got screwed up permanently, mobile also went defunct like always (nothing new about that I guess considering my history with electronic items). My weight touched an all-time high of 100 kgs at one point of time and come to think of it, I haven’t even reached 2nd half of the year yet. The tragic story continued in the latter half of 2009 with an incident that I cannot reveal publicly, but most of the people reading the blog would have an idea of what I am talking about. The incident took up most of the 2nd half of 2009 and believe me it was not easy being in my shoes then.
Now looking at the year 2009 from a completely different perspective. I was the only person from my joining batch who survived the layoffs that happened in the company in December 2008. While some of the colleagues and friends went into 2009 without jobs, I was let off with a mere 5% salary cut. Since, I had a job in hand I could digest the loss of Rs. 10,000 which my owner robbed me off. Plus, I saved some money by staying in a cheaper accommodation for a month to recover my loss. Thanks to downsizing by the company, I managed to land a couple of excellent projects which otherwise might not have come my way. These projects ultimately helped me secure a job with HP. As far as mobile is concerned, I managed to get a new one. The incident that happened in the latter half of 2009 also had its share of positives with biggest of all being me able to actively participate in my brother’s wedding from start to finish and assist my parents as well. I was finally able to meet and catch up with my relatives after god knows how many years. The proactiveness with which I looked for a change was also much higher than it would have been otherwise and it ultimately resulted in where I am today. Also, I am glad that the incident happened at the beginning of my professional career and not a later stage so that I could learn lessons from it now when I don’t have anyone depending on me. By the time 2009 ended, I had a new job offer in hand with a much better brand name and of course much better salary.
So, my 2009 was good or bad? Depends on how you look at it. While, it’s good to be optimistic a certain amount of pessimism is also necessary to be able to push your limits and drive yourself. It’s like the saying goes “Optimist invented the aero plane, pessimist invented the parachute”. Lots of things have happened in my life over the years that I wish shouldn’t have happened or happened other way round. Did I regret doing those things? Yes. Do I still regret doing those things? No. Life is too short to live with regrets. During all these happening in my life I never lost one thing and that was HOPE. For me, the words hope and optimism imply the same meaning. So for all of you reading this blog hope is not just a four letter word and “Jo hota hai ache ke liye hota hai”. The most important thing is to believe in yourself and never lose hope.
Well, that’s it for now. My next blog will most likely be titled “Envy” or “Grass always looks greener on the other side”. Keep tuning in and don’t forget to give your feedback.
