Been a working man now for a couple of weeks. Does it feel good, after all the unintentional unemployment? Can't say a resounding yes to that, but I am certainly relieved. I have yet to settle in at the workplace, so to speak, which I suppose means giving other people there the time to get used to my presence. Of course, once again, I am moved to a mild mixture of irritation and pity at watching all the usual office politics, formation of coteries and other such bullshit that forms an integral part of any workspace.
But I am more concerned with my own work timings, which currently involve about 11 hours spent in office. There will be some rationalisation soon, I am told. The best thing, though, about this job is that I can, every now and then, work out of Delhi if I so feel inclined. Like I will be doing in 4 days' time.
My own place, the one I have found for myself in this city, will be vacated next weekend, when I will be in Delhi. So I will move in once I get back, which will be a huge relief. I am spending between 2.5 and 3 hours travelling daily right now, and that shall go down by at least an hour once I move to my place. Of course, the many other merits that come with having a place to call your own (even if rented) are quite welcome too. The first one in my list is that I will finally stop living out of a suitcase, like I have been doing for more than 6 months already. It will also feel good to have the use of my PC again so that I can play some more random games again!
This post will be incomplete if I failed to mention the only too famous rush in the local trains that I have to endure everyday. What bugs me most is other peoples' oily smelly hair actually physically going up my nose.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 06, 2009
It gets better, after all!!
All the confusion has been sorted out, and I will be joining work from Monday as an Assistant Programme Editor, whatever that is. My office briefly considered paying my airfare so that I could join them earlier, but finally left it to me to make my way on my own. So I am taking a train tomorrow morning.
Yesterday, I met a friend from London who is here for an internship. While waiting for him (which was about half hour), I was thinking about how my bad luck seems to be abating, and then, in one of those reflex thoughts deriving from invisible strands of superstition, I regretted the thought, hoping it wouldn't jinx anything. Then I proceeded to smoke a cigarette and then, sitting in the car, to roll a joint. And I got busted by a cop, green-handed.
Sure, I had to bribe him with all the money in my wallet. He also took the weed and even my cigarettes and told me, as his parting gift, that if I kept smoking, I wouldn't be able to have sex or children. Sure. Anyway, I then found my friend who was already around and went to drink some beer. The mood lightened once again, and during conversation, I said it aloud, you know, about the bad luck abating.
Later that evening, I dropped him home, getting mildly lost in the process. On the way back, got still more lost, and then, once again busted by the cops. This time for drunken driving. The cop was more concerned with red puffy eyes and kept asking if I had smoked. I asked for the breathalyser, the legal limit on which is apparently 20 per 100mg. And guess what? I had a 21. Ah, interesting times.
So I guess I should go back to my old point of view, always expecting shit to happen in the worst ways possible, without any pauses or gaps. And I have learnt an important humbling lesson too, one involving being careful in public places.
Yesterday, I met a friend from London who is here for an internship. While waiting for him (which was about half hour), I was thinking about how my bad luck seems to be abating, and then, in one of those reflex thoughts deriving from invisible strands of superstition, I regretted the thought, hoping it wouldn't jinx anything. Then I proceeded to smoke a cigarette and then, sitting in the car, to roll a joint. And I got busted by a cop, green-handed.
Sure, I had to bribe him with all the money in my wallet. He also took the weed and even my cigarettes and told me, as his parting gift, that if I kept smoking, I wouldn't be able to have sex or children. Sure. Anyway, I then found my friend who was already around and went to drink some beer. The mood lightened once again, and during conversation, I said it aloud, you know, about the bad luck abating.
Later that evening, I dropped him home, getting mildly lost in the process. On the way back, got still more lost, and then, once again busted by the cops. This time for drunken driving. The cop was more concerned with red puffy eyes and kept asking if I had smoked. I asked for the breathalyser, the legal limit on which is apparently 20 per 100mg. And guess what? I had a 21. Ah, interesting times.
So I guess I should go back to my old point of view, always expecting shit to happen in the worst ways possible, without any pauses or gaps. And I have learnt an important humbling lesson too, one involving being careful in public places.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Where or when, if ever, does it end?
You know that feeling when you find yourself humming some tune that you hate and no matter how hard you try, it stays stuck in your head and on your tongue for days? Or the feeling of being a stuck record, playing the same bit over and over again? In short, the feeling that you have been saying the same thing for what seems to be eternity, and that even you are bored with yourself?
But what can I do? My brightly shining lucky stars seem to never lose their dark sheen, though I am hoping it has diminished a little. Last I bitched, it was about moving to Bombay to join NDTV who were yet to give me a written confirmation but were expecting me to join on Monday, 2nd November anyway. So I landed up in Bombay the day before to start finding meself a house and all that. And they tell me day before that I will most likely be joining for Tuesday, the 3rd. And as of yesterday, they are really quite unsure when I will actually be asked to join, and that it will definitely be sometime later in the week, maybe even the week after.
So in less than 48 hours, I am back in Bangalore. Partly because I was living in a place where I was quite far from my comfort zone (the household sleeps at 9pm without giving me a key to the front door, needs a 5 hour notice if you are going to eat a meal at home, and let's not even get to other more 'extreme' bits). Partly because if I have to spend a few more days doing nothing much except twiddle my thumbs, I had rather do it in the comfort of my room in my house where I can at least play my music out loud, eat when I want and get food on demand, and when tired of twiddling thumbs, take dad's car for a drive. Partly because it is easier to kill days in your own space than in a strange one. But mostly because I was thoroughly disgusted with the disgusting manner in which I was being treated by this company. My cousin-in-law and the HR lady I was talking to professed both cluelessness and helplessness about the situation, with, I am sure, no intention to deceive.
The first thing I did after getting back is shoot an email to most senior person I know in the organisation, who was the same person who had decided to hire me after interviewing me. I must say, in all modesty and with due honesty, that despite its reticent exasperating tone, it was a wonderfully written email. Sure enough, a reply came in less than half hour, reassuring and apologising. Which is precisely why I am daring to hope that some of the dark sheen will lose its lustre. And oh, also, I have found a nice house with with nice flatmates already. So I guess hoping is not out of order here. But seriously, I am beginning to tire of flying, not just because the airport here is 50km from my house.
But what can I do? My brightly shining lucky stars seem to never lose their dark sheen, though I am hoping it has diminished a little. Last I bitched, it was about moving to Bombay to join NDTV who were yet to give me a written confirmation but were expecting me to join on Monday, 2nd November anyway. So I landed up in Bombay the day before to start finding meself a house and all that. And they tell me day before that I will most likely be joining for Tuesday, the 3rd. And as of yesterday, they are really quite unsure when I will actually be asked to join, and that it will definitely be sometime later in the week, maybe even the week after.
So in less than 48 hours, I am back in Bangalore. Partly because I was living in a place where I was quite far from my comfort zone (the household sleeps at 9pm without giving me a key to the front door, needs a 5 hour notice if you are going to eat a meal at home, and let's not even get to other more 'extreme' bits). Partly because if I have to spend a few more days doing nothing much except twiddle my thumbs, I had rather do it in the comfort of my room in my house where I can at least play my music out loud, eat when I want and get food on demand, and when tired of twiddling thumbs, take dad's car for a drive. Partly because it is easier to kill days in your own space than in a strange one. But mostly because I was thoroughly disgusted with the disgusting manner in which I was being treated by this company. My cousin-in-law and the HR lady I was talking to professed both cluelessness and helplessness about the situation, with, I am sure, no intention to deceive.
The first thing I did after getting back is shoot an email to most senior person I know in the organisation, who was the same person who had decided to hire me after interviewing me. I must say, in all modesty and with due honesty, that despite its reticent exasperating tone, it was a wonderfully written email. Sure enough, a reply came in less than half hour, reassuring and apologising. Which is precisely why I am daring to hope that some of the dark sheen will lose its lustre. And oh, also, I have found a nice house with with nice flatmates already. So I guess hoping is not out of order here. But seriously, I am beginning to tire of flying, not just because the airport here is 50km from my house.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
