2016

A year that was filled with new hopes, dreams crushed and buried so deep that the remnants are unrecognizable, new beginnings, best memories to cherish for a lifetime, new cities and challenges to explore, new hair colour and a new lifestyle.

In a nutshell, it all started with a brilliant January keeping all my loved ones intact.  !dea Cellular selected me in the placement season on January the 12^th. Hence began my first step towards the career I had always desired for – HR.

February was the last month of my stay @ IIM Indore. The feelings are hard to pen down. We did everything on campus like it was our last time – the last bus ride to city, the last morning jog around the 3km campus perimeter, the last free movie, the last punch in to our lecture rooms, the last mess food, the last gym workout, that last selfie together..... and the list goes on.

My farewell was scheduled on the 28^th of February. In that moment of happiness, I remember myself sitting in the parking zone and crying to the worst of my nightmares. February changed my life. It was one of those months which make you realize that the time you are very happy and so sure that your love is very stable and under control is the very same time you lose your grip over it. If birds flying south is a sign of changes, at least you can predict it every year. Love...... you never know the minute it ends suddenly. The worst had already happened.

On one side, I was making a cute Valentine present for my love. I travelled to Jabalpur on the 15^th of Feb and got our names carved on the marble rocks of Jabalpur dreaming about gifting the antique to him on his birthday in July. The thought of the gift lying in the show case of my permanent residence in Bengal still haunts me. On the other side, I never realized that my love was long gone. It was much before we met the last time. It was much before that last good bye, that last kiss, that last time he held my hand and said he will be mine forever. It happened over time, like a slow poison engulfing me suddenly one fine day. I hate time. It unravels the truth and gets us in close proximity with one’s true character. We all love to be in the myth that everything is just fine and nothing is gonna change.

March was the month of retrospection. It was a time of reasoning and analyzing as to where I was going with all the recent incidents. The more one broods, the more it swipes off the peace of mind. The same was my situation when I was dominated by my anger and when I operated from my zone of negative influence. If I have to remove any time line from my life, that would include all the rough and harsh things I have said to a human being who had departed without reason only for him to silently listen and walk away forever. April and May continued in tears and turmoil.  The only good memory I have from those months was my convocation which was scheduled on the 26^th of March. I wore a saree and we had multiple rehearsals of our ramp walk on receipt of our degree. We all feared falling down and tripping over our high heels. We did imagine a lot of weird things that could happen on that stage. It was a wonderful moment. I remember fear before I got on the stage. I remember joy after I got down the stage. I have no words for that very moment when I was on stage. It was magical. It was perfect.

June was all about planning for my career and my next destination – Mumbai, where we were given a one week grand induction at the Grand Hyatt in July. I started following spirituality and read a lot of spiritual books to tame my mind and loosen my resentment. My favourite was “Happiness Unlimited” by Sister Shivani. That book helped me in different ways to come out of my depression.

Soon I found myself in the vicinity of unknown !deans – about 140 of them in Mumbai some of whom became my friends for life. Our training destination was a surprise.  On our last day of induction, I was given an envelope with a boarding ticket that said “From Mumbai To Lucknow”.  Hence began my training stint in the beautiful city of Lucknow.

If I have to sum up my life in the last 26 years, I must admit I had the best months of my life in Lucknow. Its not just any random city, it’s a city where you find your inner peace in the serene and clean roads taking you to wonderful destinations. Low on traffic and daily hassles, very warm in welcoming people and the amazing tunday kababs with paranthas can only be cherished here. The prettier than never before chikkan embroidered apparals are an icing on the cake. I found the best roommate of my life - Sirisha in Lucknow. The best part about her is her patience to hear all my tragic and funny stories till 4 sometimes 5 in the morning. The 3 months have bonded us together from roomies to being soul sisters and best bros. If you need all life’s funda about loveee... Basu was the go to person for us. Electronic will always be missed for his “mass appealing” thadki songs and Saket will always be remembered for getting us the “Narcos Addiction” along with his 7 grand JBL Speakers which we deeply exploited. The training was overall a great learning experience with my different stints in Sales, Marketing and Service Delivery. It was indeed our honeymoon period. I had a great 26^th birthday in September. The bigger work surprise was still pending.

In the midst of my time from July to October in Lucknow, I met this amazing person on Tinder. We all know him by the name saved in my contact - “Akshay Tinder”.  All the above descriptions about Lucknow which I wrote would not have been the same had I not met this blessing in disguise, a boon from the Almighty. I don’t believe in God, but I do believe in his messengers who come down to you in times you need them the most to heal your life - give you a right direction. I met Akshay at a time when I was mentally fearful to love again, a little unstable on my decisions and viewed the world with a spectacle of doubt if good things could ever happen.

Akshay was the epitome of good and the things he has done for me can only be felt, never explained.  He restored my faith in believing that the good men are not extinct from this planet. He has always done more than he has committed. No matter what, I deeply honestly hope we can stay in each others’ minds and hearts till death parts us.

In October, life changed yet again. It was time to bid bye byes to all the friends from !dea Lucknow since we all received different final locations in India. I got PUNE. It was a new city for me. I moved in to my new apartment in November and since then, life has been moving faster than the speed of light. 2 months have passed and they seem like just the beginning. Work is very challenging here. I push myself hard every day to live up to my expectations and so far so good.

This year on New Year Eve, I travelled to Mumbai and began the New Year with old friends from 2013. The trip was refreshing and a mood lightener. My new year resolutions for 2017 include the following :-

1.    Reduce 24 kgs – from 74 to 50

2.    Have a hard copy photo album of all my pictures so that I don’t lose any further when this laptop goes down.

3.    Be on the lookout for that one guy I would want to spend the rest of my life with.

4.    Do complete justice to my HR work life and try out experimenting new things to keep my work place excited and of course never working post 7 PM

5.    Get into the habit of reading news daily and pursue my hobbies – reading, music, and dance.

Cheers to a successful new year 2017

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