The last few days have been extremely exhausting at work with planning for this year and all going in full swing, I just haven’t had time to update my thoughts on the blog. Even now I am updating the blog because I have a few minutes to spare before I get pulled into some other meeting or get busy updating another deck. I know this is not helping my Project 365 and I am way off course now. I need to close the gap as much as I can in the next few days. I should probably also start blogging in the morning, rather than writing in the evening when I am occupied with work and all. Hopefully, I will be getting back on track in the next couple of days with regular posts.
Category: Life
Day 67/ 365 – Anchor at beach
I clicked this picture while walking on the beach. This picture is metaphor for all my family members and friends who have been a rock solid anchor in my life, without which my life boat would have either drifted away or sunk in the sea.
Day 66/ 365 – Desires of my heart
I have been thinking on this for quite some time now. I have been working since the age of 18, doing what I need to do to survive in this rat race. There have been lot of choices made – some intentional, some out unintentional and some out of compulsion. Those choices have basically changed me to become the person that I am today. However, what I truly want to do right now is to simply drop everything and explore the world on my bike along with my wife, and take tons of pictures. I have been bitten by the travel and photography bug. Want to live my remaining life on the road like a nomad – there would some thrill in doing that. Want to sleep under the open stars, wake up and watch a beautiful sunrise over the seas, over the desert, over the mountains. Walk through shallow rivers, dive in freezing waters, jump from the sky, and glide like bird. There are so many desires and so many things which I want to do. May be one day I will do those things – hope keeps me going – until then continue to enjoy what I am doing right now.
Day 63/ 365 – Bringing in the New Year
This year we, me and my wife – along with some of my best friends, welcomed 2014 in the most unique manner. We celebrated New Year’s at Tarkarli – which is some 500 kms away from Pune. Tarkarli is famous adventure water sports – one of the few places in India where you can do scuba diving, and snorkeling. We had already finished doing the water sports and decided on the spur of the moment to hire a boat and celebrate New Year’s eve on a secluded island. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about doing this as I had never done something like this earlier and was not sure how it would turn out. However, Saurav and my wife, convinced me otherwise and we decided to go ahead with the plan. We got our food and drinks packed, got wood for the bonfire and also got firecrackers. With our stuff all packed, we headed out to accomplish our plan.
As it turned out, the skies were clear- and we got to see plenty of stars something which is a luxury in a city like Mumbai where we have way too much pollution. Under the starry sky, we were in the boat in the middle of the Karli river and not a soul was around us. This was just too good to be true. As we reached our destination, we found that due to high tide the whole island was submerged and it would take atleast another 30-45 mins for the low tide to occur for our island to appear. The same island is used for water sports during the day and we could see the bamboo stands in the middle of the water. It seemed like, we would not able to celebrate on the island after all. The boatman who had accompanied us told us that we can use one of the stands to get the fire going and wait for the low tide. It was around 11:30pm by then. We were in two minds – whether we head back or celebrate in the boat or get down here and wait for the low tide. This is where Saurav and I got down to evaluate the depth of the water and found it to be about knee high. We decided that it was good enough for us to celebrate and decided to get the fire going on one of the stands.
With the fire going, the spirits started flowing and soaring. Come 12am, we started bursting firecrackers and welcomed 2014. This was very different compared to the way I have been celebrating the New Year’s eve. I couldn’t have imagined a better way to bring in the New Year. Thanks to Saurav, Geeta, Tushar and family for making it an awesome evening.
Day 61/ 365 – Retrospective for 2013
Wow.. 2013 is almost about to be over. Cant believe time has flown by so quickly this year. Personally this year has been very satisfying for me. Though I didn’t really set out with a to do list for the year, did manage to do some of the things which I wanted to do. Here are my top 10 things for 2013
- Trekked for 2 days in Himalayas – this was one of the best trips ever for me. I am never going to forget the time I spent in the mountains.
- Visited Leh – Ok – this was in continuation of the trek – but if there is one place which anyone should ever visit is Leh. It is just beautiful.
- Brought my first car – Always wanted to get a car and was finally able to get one. Really happy for that
- Donated blood for the first time – Had never donated blood ever in my life. Thanks to Saurav Roy’s persistence, was able to donate blood and felt proud about the good deed done.
- Clicked a lot of pictures – Captured a lot of pictures this year and learnt quite a bit of photography and thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures – birds, landscapes, covered an engagement and a wedding.
- Ran Vasai Virar Marathon – this is something which I am not too proud about – finishing a half marathon in 3 hrs and 17 mins without much/ any practice.
- Scuba Diving/ Snorkeling – Ok.. this hasn’t been done yet, but will be done in the next couple of days. Saurav Roy, this better be good else I will have to take this off my list of achievements.
- Started Project 365 – Started writing again. I know I am running late by approx. 10 days but what the heck, I am enjoying writing down my thoughts and sharing some of my photography work with everyone.
- Completed my Executive MBA – Ok. This is also not yet done. But would be completed on Saturday. After almost 18 months done with it. Finally Saturday’s would be mine, mine and only mine.
- Discovered a passion for traveling – covered so many places this year – Indore, Manali, Ladakh, Nathdwara, Pune, Nasik, Bangalore, Chincholi Morachi, Tarkarli (will happen in the next couple of days) etc.
The next year will bring about its own share of adventures. Looking forward to them eagerly.
Day 53/ 365 – Plan work better
Recently my wife has been spending a lot of time at work as she is handling multiple projects. Each of those projects are requiring a significant amount of her time resulting in her working pretty late into the night. Now I personally don’t prefer to spend more time at work unless there is some deadline or something unplanned has come along. However, most of the times I prefer working my 9 hours and then head home. Since my wife has been working overtime (and not getting paid for it also), I just thought to share some of things which I follow which helps me plan my day/ work better. Not to say that my wife does not do this.
Warning: All of the below does not work when you receive unplanned tasks or something from the management (which is always, usually urgent).
1. Plan your day
I spend at least 30-45 minutes planning my day and the activities which I need to accomplish in the day. I set out a to-do list every morning and allot numbers on those activities depending on the urgency level. The to-do list keeps getting updated once the day has begun with all the new activities getting added at the bottom of the list. The goal of the day is to accomplish everything that I have identified that needs to be completed today. Obviously, if any un-planned work occurs, the above does go for a toss. However, 90% of the times this works.
2. Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize
Normally we have tons of things which we need to do and more often than not they are always urgent and someone, somewhere is always waiting for it. So what I do in such scenarios is, think and analyze if they are really that urgent. One of things that help me do this – I always ask the person by when he/ she needs the data or the report. I always request for dates which ensures that I am working on only those things which really need to be done today. This helps me avoid spending my time on other things which can be dealt later.
3. Learn to say No
I had read somewhere “Always find a way to say a Yes”. I tend to disagree to this saying. I believe there are times when you need to learn to say No. I prefer saying a No, rather than agreeing to deliver a task by a certain amount of time and then failing to deliver it or not doing a quality job. Normally we have a tendency to please everyone and we tend to bite more than we can chew. Initially I would feel, if I say a no, what would the other person feel etc. However, as I grew professionally, I realized that it is alright to say a No if you have valid and genuine reasons behind it. Most of the times, your boss would understand and tell you not to worry about it.
4. Meeting Prioritization
We all have a lot of meetings that we need to attend. I haven’t yet worked in an organization where I haven’t had multiple meetings scheduled in a single day. The best way to gain sometime is to analyze and understand whether you need to attend all the meetings. I normally identify the meetings which are absolutely essential for me to attend and plan my work around those meetings. There are a few days when all I do is attend meetings – during those days I ensure I don’t have any deliverable assigned for those days. Normally such days are few and far between and you would normally know them about a week in advance. Kindly check the your meeting Calendar on a regular basis. Seriously. It is the best tool to the plan your day.
These things have been working for me. Feel free to share what works for you.
Day 52/ 365 – House Hunt – Meeting with prospective seller
As mentioned in my earlier posts, I have been searching for a home for quite sometime. This weekend, we finally found something which we were interested in buying and so we asked the real estate agent to arrange a meeting with the seller this week. The meeting happened today and it didn’t go as planned. Since me and wife are both salaried professional, we wanted to get a home which would be financed by the bank. The bank normally finances 80-85% (depending on your credit scores and eligibility) of the agreement value. The seller however was only willing to make an agreement which was less than Rs. 49 lakh as he wanted to avoid the TDS (tax deductible at source) which needs to be paid if the agreement value is more than Rs. 49 lakhs. The total cost of the house was coming to 80 lakhs, so this would basically mean that bank would give a loan of Rs. 40 lakhs and the remaining 40 lakhs would need to be managed by me. I was very surprised on hearing this. The reason the seller cited for not making the agreement for more than Rs. 49 lakhs was that once the TDS is deducted, there is no guarantee that money would be refunded by the Income Tax officials. Apparently the seller had some really bad experiences with the tax authorities and he didn’t want to take any further chances. The estate agent asked me if there was anything I could work out. I replied in negative saying that since we are salaried, this does not work for us. The meeting finally ended with the estate agent promising to revert back to us with some kind of decision by the end of this week. Not feeling very hopeful about anything being worked out for this place. 
Day 41/ 365 – House Hunt continues
After a lull of almost 5 months, I resumed house hunting a couple of weeks back. I am looking for something close to my house and prices in my area are simply too high. I went to check out a house at 15 mins walking distance from my current house. The house was a 1 room kitchen. The owner had converted the kitchen into a bedroom by converting the space in the passage into kitchen. The carpet area of the entire house was not more than 280 square feet, which is very tiny even by Mumbai standards. However, the location of the house was extremely good and the building was old with minimal water issues. But the price asked by the seller was really exorbitant. He was asking for Rs. 70,00,000 (70 lakhs). I was really surprised to hear the price and felt it was too high for the space which was available. I decided to measure the flat and it came only around 232 sq. feet. For such a small flat, I felt the asking price was too high and gave him an offer which he promptly refused. From there on, I moved to other flats and found the average sq. feet for 1 bedroom kitchen flats in my area is around 400-450 sq. feet and prices range anywhere between 70 lakhs to 85 lakhs. Oh and this amount does not include stamp duty and registration money which needs to be paid to the state government (all for doing nothing). I have been told by some agents to not calculate the price per sq.feet as it would always sound audacious. If I am considering buying a house in my area then the price I am paying is for the area. It is like the cost you pay for living in Orange County or Fairfax County, but I am not staying in the area which is even remotely close to that, so paying such absurd amount of money is just being plain stupid. I even found some sellers who were asking 50% money in cash and remaining in cheque. I started to wonder, where do these people come from and how should I person like myself arrange so much money in cash. Anyways the search is still on and I am hoping that I should be able to find something of my liking, within my budget very soon. Or may be I should play some lottery and hope to get lucky one day!!!
Day 33/ 365 – Poems from ZNMD
Was watching Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara today on TV. It happens to be one of my favorite movies and I am never tired watching that movie. I watch it almost every time it comes on TV. One of the best part of the movie is poems which written by Javed Akhtar and recited by Farhan Akhtar. I am posting those poems below.
- Ik baat honton tak hai jo aayi nahin
Bas ankhon say hai jhaankti
Tumse kabhi, mujhse kabhi
Kuch lafz hain woh maangti
Jinko pehanke honton tak aa jaaye woh
…Aawaaz ki baahon mein baahein daalke ithlaye woh
Lekin jo yeh ik baat hai
Ahsas hi ahsas haiKhushboo si hai jaise hawa mein tairti
Khushboo jo be-aawaaz hai
Jiska pata tumko bhi hai
Jiski khabar mujhko bhi hai
Duniya se bhi chupta nahin
Yeh jaane kaisa raaz hai - Jab jab dard ka baadal chaya
Jab ghum ka saya lehraya
Jab aansoo palkon tak aya
Jab yeh tanha dil ghabrayaHumne dil ko yeh samjhaya
…Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai
Duniya mein yunhi hota haiYeh jo gehre sannate hain
Waqt ne sabko hi baante hain
Thoda ghum hai sabka qissa
Thodi dhoop hai sabka hissa
Aankh teri bekaar hi nam hai
Har pal ek naya mausam hai
Kyun tu aise pal khota hai
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai - Pighlay neelam sa behta hua yeh samaan
Neeli neeli si khamoshiyaan
Na kahin hai zameen
Na kahin aasmaan
Sarsaraati huyi tehniyaan, pattiyaan
Keh rahi hain ki bas ek tum ho yahaan
Sirf main hoon meri saansein hain aur meri dhadkanein
Aisi gehraiyaan
Aisi tanhaiyaan
Aur main sirf main
Apne honay pe mujhko yaqeen aa gaya - Dilon mein tum apni
Betaabiyan leke chal rahe ho
Toh zinda ho tum
Nazar mein khwabon ki
Bijliyan leke chal rahe ho
Toh zinda ho tum
Hawa ke jhokon ke jaise
Aazad rehno sikho
Tum ek dariya ke jaise
Lehron mein behna sikho
Har ek lamhe se tum milo
Khole apni bhaayein
Har ek pal ek naya samha
Dekhen yeh nigahaein
Jo apni aankhon mein
Hairaniyan leke chal rahe ho
Toh zinda ho tum
Dilon mein tum apni
Betaabiyan leke chal rahe ho
Toh zinda ho tum
Day 32/ 365 – Kaccha Limbu
Couple of days ago, me and a colleague were discussing about playing billiards over a cup of tea. I have played pool a couple of times, but am absolutely not good at it. I have always been confused about pool and billiards. Since I haven’t played much of either also don’t have much knowledge about it. So my colleague was explaining the key difference between the two games and how in billiards is played between two players or two teams and how he used to partner someone who was extremely good at the game in his previous organization. For his partner he used to be “Kaccha Limbu”. I had heard this term used after a very very long time and it immediately brought back floods of memories of my days as a kid.
A “Kaccha Limbu” is a term given to someone who is relatively new to the game and is allowed to have certain liberties because he does not know the game or is younger compared to the rest of the players. During my days as kid, when I used to play cricket with older players – I used to be a Kaccha Limbu. Others would bowl at me with slower pace, I was allowed to bat twice and sometimes I used to play from both the sides. It used to be fun playing with older kids and they really used to ensure that you were pampered and allowed to play but at the same time not at the expense of them losing. The best part about being Kaccha Limbu was you would get to do your favourite twice and at the same time get to learn so much. I wish this concept was applicable in our professional lives as well. If you commit a mistake, it doesn’t get held against you and you can redo the same task again. But that’s not how the real world works L and mistakes are held against you, perceptions are formed and you end up living with them throughout your tenure in the company or sometimes throughout your work life.
My thoughts...My story 