Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Magical Night


How do we define the word “together”? Out of all the definitions I thought of creating one of my own. I call it “to- get- there” phenomenon. We may not be looking for something material. Nah!!! That is really boring. Isn’t a day at work, literally grilling yourself working for others not enough?

Well, all of us are looking to get to a destination that has peace, happiness, and love of our dear ones #together.

Just think about it…
 
One fine evening, me and my husband returned from a typical social event, tired of wearing the fake smiles. My back pained of the 45 hours super hectic work week. As we walked in, the aroma that every house carries somehow brought a twinkle in our eyes. We exchanged a glance. The lights were turned off as everyone had already gone to bed. We slowly made our way upstairs without trying to make a sound. I almost tripped and surprisingly started to giggle…shhhh….

For some reason I just couldn’t stop laughing. Probably it was just the feeling of being home. I didn’t have to pretend or act or look happy or had to appreciate someone’s fake stones (popularly known as “diamonds”).

It’s 1:00 a.m. and we didn’t feel like sleeping. We moved to our verandah and started talking. The cool breeze was perfect to create the perfect ambience. We talked about how we met, our courtship, our travel adventures, our love, and most important of it all, the fact that we were #together. He poured me a drink and I kept looking at him. He talked and I listened. I felt as if all the volcanoes inside me had calmed down. The hot lava seemed to have been transformed into a free flowing river. My heart had new flowers that bloomed as we held each other’s hands. We drank, and talked and just looked at each other. It was a different two of us. We were the teenagers madly, truly in love. #together we gazed at the stars. It was our perfect date. There were no expectations, no expensive gifts, no flowers. Each other's warmth and company without any  noise was what we had been looking for long.

As I narrate you this innocent story, I feel empowered, filled with strength. Life comes with its own share of joys and sorrows, but sweet moments like these remind us of the optimistic outlook we should carry along. All the beautiful people out there don’t forget to wear that special, unique smile as you get ready for work it will make your expensive watch or the new matching lip color look even better. I am sure it will fill your lives with a magical sparkle that you thought was missing. This is what really makes me happy...

Monday, March 16, 2015

Second Chance

Life is strange and keeps on surprising you with its uncertainty. I call it the typical “roller-coaster” ride: *wink *wink. Who do you hold onto during this amazing journey? Family and friends, no matter how far they may be they could always bring that one smile on your face that may have been missing for a while. It was a snowy night, as I tried to sleep through, miles away from home. I had everything, a successful job, a house, friends, what else could I wish here. Someone would say, wow what a life amongst the skyscrapers. But deep down I knew there was a blank space in my life. My friends were miles away and so was my family. As I stared at the spotless white ceiling of my bedroom in the convertible apartment on the 43rd floor, my phone buzzed. At wee hours of night my cell phone was my best friend. #startanewlife

When I still think of that night, I feel that God truly heard me. It was telepathy. A long lost friend (well was he really a friend), reappeared from past. We started with a formal “hi” on the social networking site. We chatted for straight 3 hours. Looked like ages since I had laughed. My jaws hurt from laughing and giggling. Was I ready to accept his friendship? Who was he? Why was I sharing my deep, dark secrets with this guy? It was his honesty and the genuine concern that made me feel I was ready to leave the past behind and move ahead to a prosperous future. As we continued to chat, international calls/video calls became a part of our daily routine. He was looking for a friend, and I was probably looking for a solace. #startanewlife
 

Finally, the day arrived. He put forward the most important question of our lives. Was I ready to take our blooming relationship to the next level? Was he the one? That one yes changes my priorities, my reasons for happiness, my life. I decided to leave the states and come back to India. We met a couple of more times and I was sure. His conviction and the love he had in his eyes for me genuinely swept me off my feet. Was I doing right or wrong? I still don’t know. He brought the fresh air of optimism and hope that even I deserved. Did I deserve a better life that had more love than money, more fun than just office tasks, the feeling of belongingness, the feeling of being loved? More importantly, he gave me the reason to smile.

Every morning when I wake up and I see him next to me, I smile. Somewhere silently I say my prayer thanking life for giving me a second chance. All of us deserve that chance. We just need to identify the right opportunity and take that jump. You really won’t know what’s waiting for you at the other end. #startanewlife. /https://housing.com/.

My encounter with hope

What a day!!! what a day!!! It was one of those days when somehow everything manages to go wrong. Amongst the long list of disasters the following topped. My roommates kept on fighting. My fiancĂ© wouldn’t hear to my career aspirations. At work, there was a heated argument with my supervisor over a real pity issue as we tried to firefight. My subordinates managed to miss all the deadlines together. It was disappointing and frustrating at the same time.

My client who is usually extremely pleasing and supportive seemed to be completely off track. We had to struggle for almost three hours straight to explain her the relevance of the requests that we were making. She just wouldn't understand. She just wouldn’t hear. The meetings went on and on.

In short it was a day that was full of unexpected, tough conversations. If this was not enough, to top it all our project manager wanted to keep the amazing touch point on the same day. What did this mean to us? This meant that discussions from follow ups to delays to our inefficiencies would add on to the frustration that kept on building.

After all the drama I literally had to turn off my laptop. My brain was fried completely. At 6:00 p.m. as everyone already started to head home I sat there thinking what should I #lookup to? My head kept spinning, going round and round. Was this the end?  Had I failed to deliver?

I managed to gather my strength, started loading my stuff and began the journey back home. I felt extremely weak. I had tears. Tears of anger, frustration, disappointment. https://housing.com/lookup.

Usually when I head back home, my brain is still working. I start planning for next day. Today was different. I drove into what seemed like a black hole. Where was I going?

 Right before the highway exit that I usually take, I saw a sign. There was something glowing outside a school. In bold letters the sign said "HOPE". Somehow that grabbed my attention, I pulled over to the side and kept staring at it like a kid. Was this written for me? I was a fighter. A bad day at work didn’t mean I was finished. A weak moment and I thought of quitting everything. I smiled at the glowing signboard. I felt as if it smiled back at me. “everything will be alright” echoed in the silence. My heart filled with strength and zeal. A zeal to keep moving forward. A will to keep going on.

 Everyday when I still cross that sign, I ensure to slow down, take a deep breath and think that the hope is still alive. The hope to succeed, the hope to be happy, the hope that things will fall in place one day.

Second Chance


Life is strange and keeps on surprising you with its uncertainty. I call it the typical “roller-coaster” ride: *wink *wink. Who do you hold onto during this amazing journey? Family and friends, no matter how far they may be they could always bring that one smile on your face that may have been missing for a while. It was a snowy night, as I tried to sleep through, miles away from home. I had everything, a successful job, a house, friends, what else could I wish here. Someone would say, wow what a life amongst the skyscrapers. But deep down I knew there was a blank space in my life. My friends were miles away and so was my family. As I stared at the spotless white ceiling of my bedroom in the convertible apartment on the 43rd floor, my phone buzzed. At wee hours of night my cell phone was my best friend. #startanewlife

When I still think of that night, I feel that God truly heard me. It was telepathy. A long lost friend (well was he really a friend), reappeared from past. We started with a formal “hi” on the social networking site. We chatted for straight 3 hours. Looked like ages since I had laughed. My jaws hurt from laughing and giggling. Was I ready to accept his friendship? Who was he? Why was I sharing my deep, dark secrets with this guy? It was his honesty and the genuine concern that made me feel I was ready to leave the past behind and move ahead to a prosperous future. As we continued to chat, international calls/video calls became a part of our daily routine. He was looking for a friend, and I was probably looking for a solace. #startanewlife
 


Finally, the day arrived. He put forward the most important question of our lives. Was I ready to take our blooming relationship to the next level? Was he the one? That one yes changes my priorities, my reasons for happiness, my life. I decided to leave the states and come back to India. We met a couple of more times and I was sure. His conviction and the love he had in his eyes for me genuinely swept me off my feet. Was I doing right or wrong? I still don’t know. He brought the fresh air of optimism and hope that even I deserved. Did I deserve a better life that had more love than money, more fun than just office tasks, the feeling of belongingness, the feeling of being loved? More importantly, he gave me the reason to smile.

Every morning when I wake up and I see him next to me, I smile. Somewhere silently I say my prayer thanking life for giving me a second chance. All of us deserve that chance. We just need to identify the right opportunity and take that jump. You really won’t know what’s waiting for you at the other end. #startanewlife. /https://housing.com/.