Wednesday, January 21, 2009

For better or for worse

Now that shes back in the atmosphere
With drops of jupiter in her hair, hey, hey
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that theres time to change, hey, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like june, hey, hey

Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated

Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there.


Bade goodbye to my organization. i join another place on the 27th. The goodbye was a little tough this time. Looking back, i realize i really enjoyed it here and learnt a lot. In fact, i don’t know how fast time passed. 3 years-almost.

SMSed to my old boss R saying 'i am leaving X to join Y. Not a meaty position but i am getting somewhere.' i love reporting to him about what is happening in my career. That company, though it was a very small firm, was another place where i lasted for more than 2 years. He gave me the freedom to do everything i wanted- write, service clients, co-ordinate, move to HR and back. Other places in between have been just few months' wonders. Mr. R was genuinely interested in Paddu and my affairs too. i told him that she married someone we did not hear about and i married someone whom they have not heard about. His reply was, "I am not surprised." Well!!!

After his wife passed way, the company did not last long, he wrapped it up and moved to Mumbai to another line of business. While discussing projects, he used to give nit-bits about his wife and sometimes questioned, 'why she had to leave everything behind?". i never asked anything. He had asked me to take him to coffee when i was leaving, but i don't subscribe to the idea of coffeeing with bosses alone, no matter how much the mutual respect and never did it.

In that small organization, the office boy was Chintan, the coffee-guy was Salaam, the Admin and Facilities lady was Sapna. Every face in the office had a name i knew. i graduated to MNCs and learned not to smile to anybody in the lift, to be a non-existent entity when two people laughed over a joke even if they were standing close to me and i heard it all. The office boys, security guards and everybody else i didn't know became 'excuse me’.

This time, i felt a sense of loss on my last day as if an affair was ending, even if it was for the better. i had a good look at the access card and was quite sentimental when i surrendered. Walked slowly from A block to B block taking in the landscape of the campus and its beauty and how much of a stranger i would be from the next day onwards. It’s tough to bid goodbye to a place you loved so much, a brand so much respected, a cubicle you were possessive about and wonderful colleagues to work with. Analysts claim that it is one among the 3 companies to tide through the recession in the best way. i am not sure if i am throwing it all away. With the recession happening and people losing jobs left, right and centre, i take this plunge hoping this is for the better. Time will tell if i was the greatest fool or i took the right risk.

Have a week to fill in. Thought I’d go for some adventure sports. S is worried I’d slip and fall and perhaps, die. Reason for his worry he says- he has invested a lot of money on me to woo and get married.

Now that shes back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey
She checks out mozart while she does tae-bo
Reminds me theres room to grow, hey, hey

Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back to the milky way
And tell me, did venus blow your mind
Was it everything you wanted to find
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out thereDrops of Jupiter by Train.

30 comments:

austere said...

Congratulations.
I'm terrible with leaving people and places, so I tend to stay put. :)

That poetry is lovely.

Arunima said...

thanks Austy. I hope this time stay put for 5 years atleast.

Anonymous said...

wonderfully written!! i can identify with it a lot... "i graduated to MNCs and learned not to smile to anybody in the lift,.." :) here's hoping that the new one proves great, and you stay there as long as you wish :)

Stone said...

Ahh...first job and first love are lot similar, they remain with you whether you like it or not.

Shrutzz said...

Hi Arunima, this is Shruti here. Was browing in net, when I came across your blog. You write really well :) I enjoyed it ( which was much needed before I start my day today )
Take care

Shobana Jayaraman Srikumar said...

I enjoyed this piece a lot. Very well expressed in words that which is hardly spoken about!

Anonymous said...

Hey.. we miss u lot too.. There is no more giggling around here, like we used too..

Now, Lenley saab is here and its quieter than a grave!!

Pooja said...

oh wow really well written Aru-ni-ma.Cheers and congrats. Am sure you will love the new place as well. Actually, the new place will love u cuz u spread a lot of cheer and bubbliness wherever u go!!

NotFunnyNotFamous said...

Looking at Dee's comment.. I am damn sure that you'll love the new place.. and the old one will miss you dearly..

and what is life without a little risk.. don't worry.. you'll be fine!
Amen.

AmitL said...

Hi,Arunima-congrats and good luck at the new job!!(Like Austy,I'm also a bit of a 'stay put' person, so,this one is only my third job)

I agree-the difference between a simple company and a MNC is just that- the difference between friendly and cordial.:)Again,of course,it's a matter of adapting,which I'm sure you're 'adept' at.:)

LOL at S worrying about his 'investment' falling!!Ask him to post one of these days-sounds like a real fun person!!

sadsadas said...

Look before you leap but, don't look back after you leaped.

Arunima said...

@khuman: thanks. I'll remember that. I will know only when I joined whether I looked enough before I leaped.

Nithya said...

Wish you all the luck in your new job!! :-)

Anonymous said...

Congrats!
Good Luck with your new job!

Anonymous said...

Good luck :) I am about to complete five years in this organization after a stint of 3 months in a firm of fifteen people. My husband literally trained me to be a "nobody" which I overdid hehehehe, that is I would not even know all people of my own department.

~Meenakshy

Arunima said...

@Meenakshy: thanks a lot. Hope I do the same this time. Else, my resume is going to look too colourful for any HR's liking.

DewdropDream said...

Lovely poetry there. Congratulations on the new job and all the best... hope it's one of those things which you will look upon as one of the best things Life gave you.

Also wanted to let you know that you've been blogrolled.

Unknown said...

For the better Arunima...always for the better!!! :-)

Arunima said...

@Ritu: yes, for the better. :-)

Quest4veracity said...

I don't know how it would feel like leaving an organisation. But it would be a little senti.Anyway, a very nicely written post.And all the very best for ur new job.May it turn out to be the right risk.

Anonymous said...

good luck with the new job! am getting out myself too... tom being my last day.
what's life if we have to sit on the same chair and look at the same walls every day?
anumita

Thangjam Hindustani said...

All the best in the new place. :)

Anonymous said...

Love this song!!!!! and the way you have mixed this song with your life is real nice....
So tell me "Did the wind weep you off your feet"???:))
Good luck....
Yours is one of the blogs that I dont miss to read...Keep writing...

Pallavi said...

All the best on your new job. Its a tough period for many. I am glad you got a better one.

Silverstreak said...

You have been tagged!:)

Arunima said...

@Ping: Thanks, I'll let you know when I do it.

Papa Pancho said...

Yeah.

Cynic in Wonderland said...

Testing. where are you?

Canary said...

As lovely a read as ever, Arunima... :)
Waiting for the dope on the new place!

Arunima said...

@cynic: guess I laughed too much reading about your hubby in the kitchen that I am yet to recover. :-)