Sunday, August 27, 2006

Brand New Day

A few people were wondering about why there was such a long gap between my previous two posts, Koval-ummm and Kanyakumari. Well, the thing is, I have gotten a job! The timings are from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM. So all this while, my entire system has had to rearrange itself and get used to waking up at 6:00 AM in the morning, every single day! Thank God I get the weekends to myself. But all I do on weekends is to sleep, sleep, and then sleep some more! :D

And that is the reason why I could not blog as much as I wanted to. Now I’m somewhat used to this new routine.

During the last few weeks of my post-grad course I was quite worried about what I was gonna do once the final exams were over. I thought that I’d most probably be sitting at home twiddling my thumbs. So I decided to put up my resume online. And then one day I got a call from this company, asking me to come down for an interview. So I wrote my last exam on 16th May and went for the interview on 17th May, and got selected after a short test and an interview. To say that I was euphoric would be an understatement!! I just couldn’t wait to get home and tell my Mother!

As most people know, I have done Clinical Psychology. My current job profile is slightly different. The company where I work is all about Usability. We make websites and other electronic gadgets user-friendly. So at first I wasn’t sure what exactly I would be doing here.

I’ve completed exactly seven weeks at work now, six of which were spent in training. And they have been wonderful weeks! We are a bunch of 14 trainees. As a part of our introduction at the office, we were asked to put up a play. So we put up this silly play, which was about usability in a very filmy context! We were sure we’d be booed off the stage, but thankfully most of the people were laughing really hard! I played (very reluctantly, I might add!) the role of a law enforcement agent who was a cross between a Charlie’s Angel type and a bumbling havaldar! The best part of this experience was when my role ended! LOL!!

After the play was over, there was this big jam session, where our CEO played the guitar, and a bunch of other people began banging on drums, dholaks and other beatable instruments! I too got a chance to play a drum. The noise levels were really, really high, but it was just sooooooo much fun!!! And I must add that our CEO has to be the coolest of all! He’s terrific!

Last Thursday was our certification test, which all of us were quite tense and nervous about, as the passing grade was 70%. I hardly ever externalize my stress, but it eats me up from the inside, and I keep on picturing the worst-case scenarios over and over again! But, we passed! And now I’m even more ecstatic!

These past seven weeks have made me realize something. I was unhappy for the past two year. There! I’ve said it! I never thought I would be able to admit this to myself! Back then it was a sort of self-preservation thing, I suppose. If I’d admitted to myself that I was unhappy, then I would really have been unable to be even a tiny bit happy!

And a lot of the happiness in my life has got to do with my fellow trainees. At last I have found people who I can relate to, who share the same brand of humour as mine! The girls in my college were quite nice, funny even, but it was rather hard to connect with any of them, save one-two.

It’s a different story at work. I’m grinning like an idiot most of the time, so much so, that I catch myself grinning even while walking or sitting in the train on my way to work or going back home! I’m not even the angry lout that I’m most mornings! I’m not a morning person, you see, and am pissed off in general, whenever I have to wake up early!

One time last week, I was going back home by train, and I kept recalling this really funny incident in which this guy at work was imitating someone (and doing a brilliant job of it!). I found it really hard to stop myself from bursting out laughing. So I tried to just look out the window and smother the laughter by pressing my hand down on my mouth, but a few giggles escaped along with a lot of shoulder shrugs!!!

I thought to myself that I was glad that there weren’t too many people in the compartment at that moment. But then I happened to look at this girl sitting before me, who was looking at me with some alarm! She started giving me strange looks, and having decided that it wasn’t safe to sit anywhere close to me, picked up her bag and sat at the other end!! :))

I’m actually laughing out loud (and scaring my grandma in the process!) while recalling this incident!

I feel so blessed! Blessed to have landed this job, but most of all to meet such wonderful people!

Now I just hope that I will continue having fun even after I’m assigned to a project…

11 comments:

~ Deeps ~ said...

good luck and congrats for ur new job......seems like u r having fun with ur work and thats a very imp reason if u wanna do well in life....

hotICE said...

hey! congo on your new job!!! me working too... and hey, I'm back to blogging after long long time. been through a bad phase. read it on my page....

cheers!

Harish said...

lol..happens when someone thinks we r kinda weird :-)

s0ulasylum said...

heyy first off, congratulations!! its sooo cool u landed this job... :) u must be sooper-dooper excited.. its always fun when there are people ur age to work with.. was the reason why i had as much in denver.. :) have fun!

Manish Kumar said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Manish Kumar said...

Nice that u have got a good begining with cool friends !

~ Deeps ~ said...

vkthanx for adding my blog link...but u wanted this fotoblog or Photocurry.blogspot.com here ?

VirD said...

Hey there "Phoenix!" What a coincidence...last night I also wrote something about our training batch! :) I feel much the same! It's been a real gift and privelege to meet so many wonderful ppl in the confines of that training-cum-laughter room!

I love this post of your's...it's candid, emotive and funny all at once. I'm curious about the identity of the mimic you mention!

the Monk said...

ah, but you're lucky, finding a job you like...

hotICE said...

hey! new post up! improved my frequency now;-)

when are you updating yours?

Urvashi said...

Hey Niki!
You sure are enthusiastic about me getting up early!! LOL!! Thanks a lot!

Hi Deeps!
Yes, I agree with you!
I actually wanted to blogroll both, but figured I could jump from one to the other anyway, so blogrolled your first blog. :)

Hi Hotice!
Good to see you back!
Thanks a lot, and congratulations to you too!
My freqency of posting has decreased unfortunately. :( But am gonna try hard to fish around for topics.

Hi Harish!
Hehe! So you've also gotten wierd looks from strangers directed at you??

Hey Soul!
Thanks a lot!! :D

Hey Manish!
Thanks! And I hope that it continues this way only!

Hey Vir!
Thanks a lot! :)
Well, you know by now who the mimic is! :D

Hi Monk!
I do feel incredibly lucky! But am still crossing my fingers that the feeling lasts...