Is work eating away your favourite time of the day?

This is a very old question with a very obvious answer - "yes".

If you ask a school going kid what her favourite time during school is, the answer would obviously be "interval/break" :-) and this answer has not changed much since a long long time. Similarly if you ask an adult what their favourite time at work is, 99% of the working population would answer "lunchtime" (Atleast the ones in the IT industry will say this for sure!). If this is the case, why aren't we making time for it? Well, I am not talking about those who have lots of time for lunch and take breaks very often :-)

Most of us bring our lunch to the desk to eat. I remember bringing in mug noodles, sandwich or a fruit bowl to my desk! Some people do this everyday and some even skip their meals altogether. Some are just glued to their desks and some even work for hours together without taking a break. Reason? They say they don't have time to bring in lunch or go out for it! These days the eat and work ethic is very popular. You either eat at the desk or go grab a quick lunch or order in a pizza or worst of all, depend on the vending machine for a big cup of coffee.

Most of the business these days revolves around the internet and deadlines are also not limited to a certain time on the clock. Meeting deadlines being a major concern, people are very crunched-up for time. Working population is very much competing to keep up with that and even skipping breaks to meet the ever increasing demand.

All I am saying is that, people need to make an effort to find the right balance between work and break.

Daddy's girl

According to me, one of the most important person in a girl's life is her dad. No matter how old she is or how far away she is, their relationship is special.

I have always been a daddy's girl ever since I could remember. My dad's death was a great shock to me and my family and now one and half years later, we still are coping with the great loss. I miss my dad a lot and today was missing him even more. I carry very fond memories of me and my dad.

One thing that I have learnt is that people are not invincible. Each new day is a blessing. To tell someone how much they mean to you is important because you never know when they may be taken away.

LOVE YOU APPA

The uncertainty...

There is something which is stirring my thoughts these days. I have decided to call it "uncertainty".

I have come to learn that life keeps presenting one or the other hurdle and keeps throwing questions at you for which you have to come up with the best possible answer. When I thought I have sorted one question, life presented another one...phew!!

I have decided that this restlessness has to be contained now so that I can start thinking beyond the obvious. Let this serve as a reminder to me :-) I have noticed and have been told by many also that few people feel crushed, few struggle a lot and few fight it out and handle the challenge.

This uncertainty needs to be answered and the interesting thing is that I know that the answer is within me and may be I even know the answer :-)

Now, all those reading this post - please do not curse me for writing something way too philosophical here. Let me assure you that this is just a reminder to myself!!

Well...its time to hit the sheets now. Good Night :-)

Reality shows on TV!!

The other day I was scanning the television for some entertainment. It was not surprising that most of the channels including some popular ones were airing mostly reality shows!!

Most of them are game shows, talent hunt shows for music and dance, game shows where families come and earn money, makeover shows, cookery skills show and what not. You name it and they have it on some or the other channel!! Well I agree that they do bring a lot of entertainment to your doorstep but at times isn't it too much to handle?

As I was looking for some entertainment to bust my stress of a long day at work and not having any other choice, I started watching this specific music reality show where they boasted of giving India her best singer. I didn't really understand the concept of audience voting system. As audience they would vote for their favourite contestants right? How would you then come up with the best singer when the person who is really talented and genuine is eliminated just because he/she is in short of a few votes?? In that case the contestants can just come and sing instead of being judged by a couple of famous music directors and singers and then going to the next level based on the audience vote instead of talent.

The channels are popular. People are watching these shows like crazy. Intelligent businessmen are making loads of money by great marketing strategies and by tempting the masses. Sometimes I just laugh that there are people who really spend money and SMS for their favourite contestants. Are they earning anything out of it? All I know is that I am satisfied as I am getting my entertainment to bust my stress and nothing else...

End of the day, that is all that matters :-)

A long day!!

It was a long day today! I was completely tired and exhausted when I reached home and didn't know how to bust the stress. Tried buzzing a few friends but bad luck there too. I just felt I've become way too old in seconds!!

I was lucky that the movie "Bruce Almighty" was being telecast on star movies and yeah Jim Carrey always lightens the mood...thanks a ton to him and the makers of the movie.

I feel a lot better now.

Anxiety -> Excitement -> Satisfaction....

This is my first blog. I've actually postponed writing this piece for quite some time now. The major problem in starting this blog was as usual the topic. After rummaging through my brain, I came up with this one. Better late than never, isn't it?

It was the first time I was travelling abroad, alone. You can very well imagine the state of my family! But I enjoyed this experience thoroughly, made a lot of friends en-route too! I cannot even describe my euphoria in words when I saw snow for the first time. Well, now its been some time since I left home and came down here to Germany. Its such a beautiful country with nice scenic beauty and nicer people to give you company.

Initially in the first few days of arriving here, everything I saw was new, exciting and euphoric. I started anticipating everything that I was about to experience. I was eager to learn German. I went out every weekend and saw different places and even clicked many photographs.

Slowly, as time passed, all that initial excitement began to wane. I started feeling frustrated and lonely. I felt really bad at being called a foreigner. I was missing my family terribly. The feelings of anxiety and homesickness began to creep in.

Then, slowly I started developing an understanding of the country I was living in. A more balanced view of life. By this time, I had made new friends. I analysed the good and bad between the new country I was in and my home country. Over the time, I felt less like a foreigner and was more confident that I could live successfully in two different cultures.

But, the initial child like excitement of seeing new places and meeting new people, the anxiety, all the prayers that I sent up to god (hope he isn't very unhappy with me now) to make things right for me at every stage, the new culture and a completely alien language (culture shock) , missing my family, wishing they were here with me in such a lovely place experiencing the same joy...all this is, just "priceless".

Here are some photos to share that excitement :-)