One Year down, many more to go

Today is our first wedding Anniversary. One year ago today, we had just finished on with our Sangeet function and were gearing up for the big BIG day. We just had the most awesome dance of our life, posed for a thousand pictures, so much so that our jaws were hurting. And here we are today. I can’t believe how fast the time has flown.

It feels as if it was only  yesterday that we met, we remember it so clearly. Yet it feels like we have known each other for all our lives. Doing each and every little thing together, like having dinner together, to going for shopping. In Avani, I have found my best friend and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Things I learnt in the 1st Year of my marriage-

1. I learnt that Marriage is not always love. It is all the things including respect, sacrifice, understanding and patience.
2. That life is a journey, and enjoying the journey is the most important thing.
3. All times are not happy, Life has its own share of happy and sad moments. The key is to stay together in both the times.
4. Giving time to each other is very important. Luckily, here I get to come home early so that I can give Avani and our relationship a lot of time. And the thing about time is it goes by fast 🙂
5. “When are you planning for children?” this is the most common question that gets thrown, and 1 year past, the pressure to have a kid is only going to increase 🙂
6. “hows married life?”, the second most common question. I learnt the answer to this- Life is good. I have found my best friend for life.
7. The health challanges will come, and now it is not only your health that you need to be worried about. But I guess the fact that we are together gives the other courage to deal with it.
8. I love calling her my wife, my life, my shonu!
9. I am more boring and less romantic than I really thought I am. But again, it need not always be expressed in the grandest of ways. It is small things that matter.
10. She definitely loves me more than I do(not that I love her any less).
11. I am sometimes not very expressive(or most of the times).
12. We are basically the same person, we like the same kind of people, same kind of interests bla bla. The only difference being her love for TV serials.
13. Having someone always with me to laugh, to talk, to irritate is possibly the best thing 🙂
14. A simple hug, can take away the days fatigue.
15. It sometimes does become difficult to manage the expectations of the family. But touchwood Avani and moma have been understanding of each other.
16. Now that we are two, everything is double. Double the happiness, the joy, the laundry and also the bills 😛
17. Next anniversary, make sure that I take Avani out for a vacation. Missed it this year but next year will make sure it happens 🙂
18. All I have to say you is I might not express the love as loudly as others do. I also fail to surprise you. But all I can say is I will always love you, and hold your hand together. I love you more for all that you do for me. You not only fill in the role of my wife, but also my best friend, the best daughter for my parents. You are the best thing that ever happened to me.
19. We have a lot of mountains to climb, many places to see, but I bet if I have your company, the rest of our lives will also be a breeze.

Kapoor and sons…

We have been so used to look at perfect families in Bollywood. But in real life, is everything that perfect? Kapoor and Sons is the story of a dysfunctional family where everyone is fighting their own battles.

Rishi Kapoor is the dadu which every child wants. He fantasizes Mandakini from Ram teri Ganga maili Hoo gayi, cracks joints with his grand children, takes selfies with his iPapad, yes that’s what he likes to call his iPad. Ratna Pathak Shah character as the mother is so believable. She wants best for her children and also wants to start a catering business. Each time she hugged Fawad, i could almost see mom hugging me. Amazing warmth she had in her character. Then Rajat Kapoor as the unfaithful husband also burdened by financial crisis was top notch. The couple had been fighting to save their marriage.The arguments that the two actors have throughout first half will remind you of your own parents- they make it look that real. Fawad Khan as Rahul is burdened by the perfect son tag, he has been a show stealer. His chemistry with every character of the film was so perfect that you connect with his emotion and actually vouch for him. Siddharth Malhotra as Arjun who has made peace with himself being the runner up always. He is dealing with his own insecurities and doubts. He tries to explores himself by doing various things like photography to having his own website, but his true love being writing novels. Also, we have Alia Bhatt who misses her family  that she lost during a plane crash, where she didn’t have an opportunity to say good bye to them. She plays the girl next door character with much ease.

In one of the scenes, where the two brothers talk, Arjun explains why he likes keeping the ending to his novels realistic, because real life doesn’t necessarily guarantees happy ending. To that, the Rahul with a contrasting thoughts as novelists believes, that’s the very reason why people turn to novels, to get away from real life.

In one other scene, probably the most happy scene of the movie where the entire family reunites, singing songs and laughing. And later, mother tells father that “Hum firr se khush nahi reh sakte kya”,  to which father replies,  we can try. Beautifully done.

And that one scene where the family gathers for the family photo where actually all the secrets are revealed. Each character of the family is poised with a different truth about other. so much so that its puts their own very existence into question. This one was very intense. Also the one where Alia bhatt explains how rather than shooing away her parents in their last phone call, she could actually tell her parents how much she loved them. That brought me all teary eyed.

Kapoor and Sons showed how to love your “imperfect” family in the perfect way. This one is one after Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham that gives a true sense of nostalgia when talking about family is concerned.I laughed,smiled,cried,fell in love with each character of Kapoor and sons. A fantastic family drama after a long time.

I went there expecting a love triangle, what I got was soo much more. This is definitely going to my favorites list.

Our Engagement Story

I cannot say that this is exactly a love story, but then it has its own charm to it.

Mom and dad were looking tirelessly for the perfect match for me.I myself had been trying my luck hard at shaadi.com. After quite a few no-no’s and a few nowhere’s I finally dropped into A’s profile.

She has done her MBA from Amity, likes maintaining peace around her, and most importantly she is from Hyderabad. These were the key takeaways for me, and I immediately sent her a request. She took sometime to accept the request, but then I didn’t really know what to do with that. Her profile mentioned it was managed by her parent, but then her reply had mentioned it was her email and phone.

It took me about 5 days time to finally make up my mind, and decided to drop her a note. It was about 11 in the night, and I didn’t really want to bump into her father at that ungodly time. But I somehow gathered  the courage, and sent a meager  “hi”. After about 5 minutes or so, which seemed like an eternity to me, she replied back saying “hi, who’s this?” Now, this is one of those difficult questions to answer, given the time. But then I explained her that she had accepted my interest request at Shaadi.com, all the while wondering, it better not be her dad on the other side of the message!  Thankfully, she confirmed that she had also viewed my profile and was okay to talk to me. We had a good heart-ful and satisfying chat that night. Oh, and by the way she also sent her pic to me and I was completely bowled over. Also learnt that she is very ambitious as well as very open minded 🙂 Finally,  got to know that her mother was a believer of Kundali matching, and so we exchanged those details. By the end of it, we were very positive about each other. Ah! atleast I was.

After that we didn’t chat for 2 days. And Mom and dad were behind me as to what happened to this case. I got to know from A that am Mangalik. That didn’t completely come as a shock to me since I had viewed it on couple of sites, but then few others said I was not. So yeah, I didn’t really want to push her hard but I didn’t want this to end like this. In that moment, I felt guilty of a crime I didn’t even commit. A day later, I got a message from A, stating that I was clear of all charges and we could take it forward. Honestly, my heart skipped a beat there. I rushed to moma  to tell her the news and then our dads talked for the first time.

We had sometime, until we could formally meet with our parents. In between, she came up with the idea of me meeting her brother, and then we ourselves going out. We met at Prasadz for the first time. She was in Orange and looked totally gorgeous. My head kept repeating “She is beautiful, she is beautiful”, and I couldn’t stop myself from staring at her. We spoke for a good hour or so, and it was magical. The thing that struck to me the most was She had Delhi accent to her voice and she was a good listener listening to all my bakwas and ofcourse, she was beautiful!! 🙂 I was very hopeful, but then, I always made a mental note to myself-don’t get very overexcited. So after the face to face, more than what the answer was, it was important for me that she at least let me know. She didn’t waste anytime there, and that night itself, she told me that she was okay about it and wanted to take it forward, and that was the happiest moment for me. I was so nervous about it, and when she finally said yes, I could hardly breathe. I said to myself, Half battle is won 😀

Meanwhile, the night chats also continued, where I got to know her better.One fine day, I shared my insecurities with her. I didn’t want to keep A in dark about anything so that she could make an informed choice. There shouldn’t be any disappointments later. So I told her about P, that I couldn’t drive, and that if her ambitions are too high(Read: spending habits are too high :P) then probably she might want to reconsider her decisions. This is when I got to know how open minded she is, and she truly understands what values the most. When she said “Jaisi aapki family hai, waisi hi humari family hai”, this gave so much confidence in her. This was truly the defining moment for me. Also, the maturity, the care which she showed when she told that she was angry with me since I had hidden that mom will not be able to walk up to a restaurant. That was the moment I knew she was for me.

The next day, we were to meet again at our house, in a formal arrangement. I couldn’t let this slip. I couldn’t let her go. I was so damn nervous that day, that I didn’t sleep the whole night and had stopped eating since 2 days. I thought it was only me who was knowing about it until her Mumma asked me what’s wrong with my eyes and why are they so red 😛 She was beautifully dressed in Pink. I so wanted to talk to her for a while, but it couldn’t really happen and before we knew it, humara tilak hua. I could see mom clearly had tears in her eyes. She had won a battle. She finally found her daughter. I had my girl.

I wouldn’t like to call it totally a arrange marriage. Amma’s coming here late was a blessing in disguise, as we got to know each other so well before we finally took it to parents. I wonder what would have happened had it been a perfect Arrange marriage set up, where we get to talk for 15 minutes, just once, and we have to make a decision of a lifetime. Am glad we had so much time to understand and then commit. I would rather our marriage a arranged love marriage 🙂

So, this is how we met. There were lots of butterflies in the stomach, lots of blushes, lots of mental notes and off course lots of love. My whole life has changed in the last 1 month. At the end of it, all I can say is am really lucky to have found A. Am absolutely proud of her as she made the right choice by selecting me 😛 We are going to have great time together.

The final goodbye…

Greetings Team,

I wish to let you all know that tomorrow is my last working day at Bank Of America.

 

I have lots of sentiments attached with this place because it has been my FIRST STEP in a Career of a lifetime. I got my First Job, First Salary, First Financial Independence, First Office colleagues, First interaction with Clients, First Project and a lot of other firsts.

 

I have been very lucky to have a really involved and closely knit team and work up to my satisfaction, and I am taking back with me volumes of knowledge. I would like to thank each one of you for your co-operation, always being there and giving me a platform to grow and prove myself and to learn things better. The responsibilities and appreciations I got have done huge value add to my attitude and behavior.

 

A special thanks to Ashwini Tyagi, Prosenjit, Ramya, Deepali, Santhosh and Rajani for sharing their wealth of technical knowledge with me. Thanks to Risis, Umang, Praveen, Jigesh and Faiz for being  manager with fantastic flare. They have managed to keep my morale high as a true friend whenever required! Thanks a million to all the onsite folks including Selina, Gouri, Nasir, Narayana, Sri, Sirisha for the extended co-operation that you have provided with extended hours and extended calls. Also, would like to call out Srini, Soumendra, Vikrant, Aish, Thenmozhi, Veera, Satish  and all the other folks with whom I have interacted here. Also, to the others whose name I have not called out here, please let me express my gratitude to every one of you.

 

I have mixed feelings while I part ways and a strong feeling that destiny is gonna give me lot of chances of accidentally hitting up somewhere in this small world. Though I can’t take anything from here, but I am taking along with me the immense wealth of knowledge and the memories of the really good time I spent here…

 

I wish all of you continued success and a lot of happiness. I can always be reached at ronakagr@gmail.comand would be pleased to be in touch. A million thanks again for the wonderful time we spent together. You have all become a part of me and I’m very grateful for that.

 

Thanks and Regards,

 

Ronak Agrawal

BA Continuum Solutions Pvt. Ltd,

Mortgage Technology- Home Loans BPM

Mobile-+91 – 8142150005/ +91 – 8142012288  Extn:61717

Tuesdays with Morrie-

Tuesdays with Morrie is a self help/inspirational book written by Mitch Albom. As the front cover says, the story is about a young man, an old man, and some of the life’s greatest lessons.

Mitch is one among those millions of people who is lost in the monotony of life. He is a sports reported, and his only aim in life is to get rich and become famous. He is now very much a part of the rat race. He is so greatly engrossed in his professional life, that he ignores his wife, his brother, his family, and a lot that comes with it. He had no clue what he was missing on his life until one day, when he saw an interview of his long lost Professor, Morrie, on tv with Kopel, and learnt that he was suffering from ALS, and was counting his last days. Many of us know ALS because of the more recent Ice Bucket Challenge, which had towards the end become more of a publicity stunt, but well, it indeed is a a very cruel disease. It leads to a very slow death, where you see yourself decaying.

Mitch had done his thesis in college with Morrie and had high regards for him. He called him “the Coach”, and Morrie called Mitch “the Player”. They decide to catch up every tuedays, as they used to when they were in college, for their final thesis where Morrie would talk about the life’s small but great lessons.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a true account of re-discovering oneself through the words of Morrie, in the ocean of life. It is a book that teaches you the value of life in the context of death. It teaches you how little things go a long way. Bit by bit, as chapters unfold, you smile and you cry, and by the time you reach the end of the book, you know what really matters.

In his first interview with Kopel, Morrie says- ” When all this started, I asked myself, ‘Am I going to withdraw from the world like most people do, or am I going to live?’ I decided I am going to live, or at least try to live-the way I want, with dignity, with courage, with humour, with composure.”

Morrie’s greates fear being- “One day soon, someoe’s gonna have to wipe my Ass”. And that day does happen, and Morrie deals with it bravely. He says that he is trying to enjoy the process, as he gets to be a baby again.

The two meet for fourteen tuesdays, where they dealt with one important life lesson. The lessons being as follows :-

1)The first tuesday- They talk about the world

2)The second tuesday – They talk about feeling sorry for your

3) The Third Tuesday- They talk about regrets

4) The fourth Tuesday- They talk about death

5) The fifth Tuesday- They Talk about family.

6) The sixth Tueday- They talk about Emotions

7) The seventh Tuesday- They talk about the Fear of aging

8) The eighth tuesday- They talk about Money

9) The ninth Tuesday- they talk about how love goes on

10) The tenth tuesday- They talk about marriage

11) The eleventh Tuesday- They talk about our culture

12) The twelfth Tuesday- They talk about forgiveness

13) The Thirteenth Tuesday- They talk about the Perfect day

14) The fourteenth Tuesday- They say good-bye.

Maybe I’ll write about each of these chapters in a separate post, the broad idea of each of these chapters so that we can use this as a guide. I think the above fourteen chapters answers all the questions we have regarding life.

Some of the quotes from the book being-

“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”

“Don’t let go too soon, but don’t hold on too long.”

“The truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”

“Love wins, love always wins.”

“If you’re trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down on you anyhow. And if you’re trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.”

Brimming with sweetness amidst the bitter truth, Tuesdays with Morrie is a feel-good book that will leave you a little better than you already are. 🙂

The Intern-Movie

For the last couple of months, I have heard about this movie called “The Intern”. I finally saw it today, and I must say, that it was a great movie that was so tastefully done. It stars Robert De Niro, and Anne Hathway.

My Favourite quote comes early in the movie when he speaks of how “Musicians don’t retire. They stop only when they have no more music in them. Well, I still have music in me.” This very quote sets the tone of the movie.

The movie is about Ben, who joins All about Fit as a senior Intern. He is tagged with Jules, the founder of the company. Though underestimated at first when people consider him out of place, but Ben makes his mark pretty smoothly. Jules, who at first was very hard on him, finds a true friend in him, the one who she can look upto. I was really enchanted by the never say no attitude of Ben. He was up for any and everything that came his way.

One night, late at office, when Jules helps Ben set up his facebook account, that is when she got to know him better. and Ben says his favourite quote being ” You are never wrong, when you do the right thing”. Which is absolutely true 🙂

Ben has a lifetime of experience. He has a old school way of doing things- for instance wearing suit to work, carrying a handkerchief (which he very nicely says that girls cry, and you must always carry a handkerchief to give it to her-Point noted sir! ), the briefcase he carries to work- the classic. The movie soo clearly shows that old school is not always bad, the younger generation could relate to him very easily, and he assisted people on doing the right thing, and well, Ben was a big hit in the company!

But at the focus of the movie is Jules and Ben, the bond that they share. The scene here in which Ben reminds her that when he saw her teaching the people from wearhouse how to package the dress, that clearly showed her love and passion for the company. “About the fit needs you and you need it. It’s your dream. Are you going to give it up?” and she comments that he is such a comfort and that “it’s moments like this that you need someone you can count on” and this person is Ben. What Ben taught Jules was that never give up on what you worked so hard for.

This is one of those movies, which leaves a smile on your face, and a broad one at that. it really made my day! so thought of capturing this quick review before i forget.

By the way.. Merry christmas!!

Kumari 21f

Not very often do we come across a movie which is so bad in the beginning that you just can’t wait to get out the theatre, but then am glad we sat through, and by the end it was quite a satisfying experience I would say.

The movie is about a young girl Kumari. She falls in love at first sight with our hero Siddhu. Siddhu, who is very much influenced by his friends is always insecure about her. He is puzzled by the advances she makes, in terms of being the first one to ask him out, being the first one to kiss him, being the first one to take him out for drink etc. Once the seed of doubt is planted, it can grow like an unwelcome weed. He becomes suspicious of her, and then ruins her relationship with her for that. He is unable to decide if she is as bold as she looks. His biggest doubt is that if she is a virgin or not. And the lady then explains him that he is not ready for love as he is still not mature enough to handle the relationship, as he lacks the most essential part of it that is trust. She explains the importance of loving the person as a whole, with all his qualities as well as shortcomings, that is when you truly love someone. She tells Siddhu, if I do anything right, you must love the Correct Kumari, and if I do anything wrong, even then you must love the incorrect Kumari. Also, in the cricket ground where she tells him that, Love is when you can do anything to satisfy the one that you love, even if it means that you let him go away, if that is what will give them happiness.

Also, there was a message in the movie, which said that we are very quick to take judgements based on half known facts. We don’t try to get complete information, and which can be fatal for any relationship. Also, the other message in the movie was how we stereotype women. If she is wearing skirt, if she is talking to any guy, if she smokes, drinks, we are very quick to make judgements about her, about her character.  Yes, I do too sometimes. Maybe all the time. I wouldn’t be very bothered if it was done by a guy, but if she’s a girl, yes, it happens that we start painting her character. Mental note to self. I don’t know her story, and am nobody to make any judgement about her.

Not to forget there is a side track about his friends robbing an ATM and all that, but I wouldn’t count that as really important, and choose to ignore that.

Like all movies, our hero does get matured in the end, and happies endings 🙂

Coming to performances, I was pretty happy with the heroine. The actor needs help though. Songs are pretty bad. Nothing much happens in the first half, and only in the second half the movie picks up really well. Only if the sexual content of the film could be toned down a little, it would be a great watch.

Tamasha!

Today was Rishika’s birthday. It had been long since I had attended a birthday party with balloons and cakes. But well, here I was with a teddy in my hand. The birthday cake, the birthday song,  over hearing the small talk of children was all great. There was a guy, whose name was “fundoo”, yes Fundoo, who believed that the silver balls on the cake are poisonous. and then there was this other guy, when asked if he wants raita, he wanted to see it, and smell it before he wanted it on his plate. and then in between all this, there was Rishika, the birthday girl. I think she would be sad that her friends from school refused to turn up for her birthday bash. and yes, at their age, its a big bash! I know how excited she was with each gift that she was receiving. I could see it in her eyes. Well, lets admit it. Birthday Gifts are the most special part of a birthday party, not to forget the birthday cake. It was quite endearing to see all that.

But then, we adults on the other table were having our own conversation. There was one bhaiyya, who asked Risis, what did Rishika wanted to become, a doctor, an engineer, a teacher or what not. and she is just 10.

Our childhood is like a vicious serpent that tells us that we’re Special, that we can achieve anything in the world.  As we grow, we become the part of a rat race. Rat race to excel in everything we do, and yet we remain very much simple, very much mediocre, very Ordinary. We allow the world, our situations, our own limitations to kill that childhood and the innocence that comes with it. Now no one tells us that we are special.

We are all running in a rat race. What are we running for ? We don’t know. Since each one of us is running very hard, are we really leading it? Not really. We are somewhere in the middle. Do we know who is leading it? No. Are we running in the right race? Well…

If only we were running in the right race, towards our passion, wouldn’t we be in a better position. Yes. Who knows, even leading it. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

and that’s the essence of Tamasha.

In an animated conversation with an Autodriver where the later explains how his aspirations to become a singer were crushed. and the driver tells ”

“Andar se kuch aur hai hum, aur baahar se majboor”

This pretty much sums the movie. This is what Ali is best at. This was one of the better scenes of the movie where the auto driver shows the mirror to Ranbir. Brushing teeth, breakfast, fidgety with the tie, traffic signal, meaningless good morning wishes, powerpoint, first dates, beautiful flowers that go in the backseat just like the beautiful Corsica, mineral water or regular, red or white wine, vegetarian or non-vegetarian, was this restaurant ranked the best, a kiss and goodbye until next day. Rinse repeat.

Yes, we have seen Madhavan wanting to become a Photographer in 3 idiots, and telling his father “Jis kaam mai maza aaye, usse apna profession banao. Firr kaam kaam nhi khel bann jaayega. Agar mai photogorapher bann gaya to kam paise kamaunga. Choti gaadi hogi, chota flat hoga. But i’ll be happy. i’ll be very happy”

And then we have seen Amir Khan explain to Ishaan’s parents : ” Har kisi ko awwal number chahiye. Doctor, engineer, management isse kam to bardaash hi nhi hota. Har bacche ki apni khoobi hoti hai, apni chahat hoti hai, apni kabiliyat hoti hai”

Each of these movies have made their own special mark, and I hope Tamasha is able to do that as well.

Am I a part of the race? yes. Am I doing well? Very ordinary, very simple, very mediocre. Am I happy doing what I am doing? maybe not. Is this what defines me? No.

But well, Is it really that simple, to get out of the rat race?

My First Job

There always has to be a first that will be forever remembered. And I’d like to think that first is remembered for all the right reasons.

“My first job”. When hearing these words, many students or graduates start asking themselves how their careers would start, or if they would make the right choice regarding their profession. Luckily, I had the opportunity to start my career in a great company,

Three years ago was my first day at Bank Of America. I was so, so nervous. Walking into the office building, walking into the elevator, pressing the 8th floor- it was scary. Somehow I had convinced these smart people to give me a job.

But I had done it and now I had to deliver. I didn’t know if I could deliver. But I also knew I could- it was this weird mix of blind faith and insecurity. I walked out of the elevator and decided, go In, play cool. They decided to hire you and it’s irrelevant how inexperienced you are.

The first few weeks were rough. Everyday I sat in front of my computer trying my damnedest and thinking it wasn’t good enough. But everyday I got a little bit better. Over the last few years, I’ve learned a lot, made stuff I’m proud of, and gained a lot of confidence in my job. But I still have plenty of insecurities. The gap between me and the incredibly talented people in my team seemeed insurmountable at times, but everyday I close that gap just a little bit.

When I look back, these 3 years have passed rather fast. I have made some great friends. I have had some great mentors at work. Also, some not so good experiences, which am saving it for a different post for some other time maybe. But at this time, I want to talk about the experience called Bank Of America. I always took pride in the place that I work.

I am very grateful to my colleagues, who shared their knowledge with me and helped me through the learning process. I learned a lot of things about new technologies, software development life cycle and, most important, about teamwork. This is where I learnt that many of the things that we learnt during our graduation don’t make sense after all.  One has to unlearn and learn a lot of things.

First and foremost, would like to thank Ashwini. He was the perfect mentor I could have got at that time. He was friendly, funny, and at the same time very technical, and also most importantly Very Patient. He gave me a solid start, that really helped me in shaping up my career.

Deepali, Prosenjit and Ramya helped me when I needed the most. They are the one’s who have heard me the most. They are the one’s from whom I have learnt the most. They are also probably the first friends that I made at work. Until then, work was the only reason that was bringing me to office, but when I had these friends, work had actually become fun. In them, I think I have made friends for life.

Not to forget Rajani and Umang too. They have been dear friends of mine. All time encouraging me, giving me the confidence, always providing me the right opportunity.

Lastly, I would also like to give a huge shout out to the most special person of my journey at BankAm. and that is going to be Risis. For the world, he might be my Manager, but I can see an elder brother, a father figure in him. The kind of support he gave me was unparalleled. He was always all ears whenever I had a problem. I found a great friend in him. and definitely he had found one in me. It might look to the world that am probably buttering him, but I think the kind of bondage that I have with him, that is the last thing I would want to do. I have learnt so many life lessons from him. He was the finest coach, not only professionally but also personally. He was the shield that was protecting me at all times, and even after all this, my staying late at work and other things, I would say that I did it out of respect for him. He generally stayed late at work, and I never felt like going before him. I don’t know why, but I felt wrong. Well, as I also told him, if there is anything I am going to miss after leaving from here, it definitely has to be him. Yes, am going to leave a great friend, a life coach behind.

Also, my journey at Bank oF America, is incomplete without the mention of FRR. Lol, this has been on my back ever since I joined. From being the only project that I wished I didn’t work on, to becoming the SME of the same, I think we have come a long way. Its not all hard feelings though. FRR was my play ground, my practicing field. Whatever I am today, its all because of the countless hours, emotions I have given to this project. And I think it paid me well 🙂

Lastly, they say “The first job is like a first kiss – always remembered. Best make it a good one.” am glad I had a good one.

As easy it is…it is THAT Hard

As easy it is to tell someone that “I am missing you”, it is that hard to pretend you are fine with the fact of not hearing it back from them.

As easy it is to tell someone that “nothing is bothering me”, it is that hard to tell that to yourself because deep down you know how it is.

As easy it is tell others that “no one means the world the to me”, it is that hard to tell that to yourself because deep down you know how it is.

As easy it is to tell others that “we are just friends”, it is that hard to tell that to yourself because deep down you know how it is.

As easy it is to tell others that “no, I am not missing anyone”, it is that hard to tell that to yourself because deep down you know exactly how it is.

As easy it is to tell other that “Yes, I have moved on”, it is that hard to tell that to yourself because deep down you know exactly how it is.

As easy it is to tell someone that “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me”, it is that hard to behave normally when they completely ignore it.

As easy it is to appreciate someone for being there for you, it is that hard to pretend that it doesn’t hurt when they don’t even remember what you did for them.

As easy it is to give someone priority over others, it is that hard to act okay when they don’t even acknowledge you and go shower their love and attention to others.

As easy it is to tell someone how important they are in your life, it is that devastating to never know your position in their lives.

As easy it is to miss that one person you trust blindly with all your secrets, moments you never share with anyone & even your life, its THAT devastating when you are never missed by same person, ever!