Getting a job in the U.S

I will write a long post on how to get a job in the U.S after I get one. I have an idea. :-) Well, I did get an offer, but I have not joined yet. So, it is like this: I was hoping for baby no.2 when I got my work permit, the so called EAD for dependent visas. I was so engrossed with raising my son, that my thoughts were uni-directional, it is as if, if I have another kid, I cannot work. So, I did not bother searching for a job, or upgrading my skills. Then, one fine day, I fell out with some very close friends of mine. Yes, the sisterhood broke and my world fell apart. I am putting it lightly here, but if I could write a song on that heart break, and if Adelle sang it, it would be record shattering; it is just that I have spelled "Adele" wrong. I added an extra 'l' out of self-pity. I am not yet pregnant, my son is turning 5 in May, and I have fought with some very good friends. Adelllllllllle, sing my song of heartbreak!

If it was a boyfriend, like in the past, I would have cried but looked ahead. Relationships come with a certain expectation from each other, but the friends you chose, there is no ego, there are no expectations, you bare all, and you are accepted  just as yourself and when that falls apart, it really hurts. You don't know anymore what to do, what to speak, to be yourself, or not to be, and worst is that as adults, if you are in the same social circle, what do you do? And since you have kids, it is even more difficult. You want to be a role model for your kids, and have to pretend for their sake that everything is alright. I went to a really dark place. I had to see Watsapp status and Facebook updates that kind of read out loud to me,"You suck!". I didn't know where to look, what to do and had to uninstall the app, and be quiet on FB for sometime. If we were teens, maybe I could scream "cyber bullying", shaming me because I questioned, or did not agree with your thinking; as we are adults inching 40, you can call it "Attitude", and I had no excuse for myself. It was also very embarrassing in front of my husband for some reason. He has always hated social dos and I have been the social butterfly, AND cut my own wings. I genuinely believed I am good in people relationships, and since this happened with people very close, there was self doubt too.

So, when all of these happened, I reached a stage where I asked myself if I came to the U.S for this, "why me?", and prayed to God to give me that strength and grace to come out of it. I have ten years of corporate experience, some in fortune 100 companies, with no personal issues (this is just to cheer myself up. I also looked up the rankings of some of the MNCs that I worked for). I have been living on my own since 19, and have maintained good relationships with people. why me! why me!

I started thinking that I need to be busier than I am, and started talking to my ex-colleagues who are in the U.S with jobs. Getting busy doesn't really solve personal issues; it requires work, it requires compassion, and kindness and shedding egos. I will not dwell more into that, but this issue was what drove me out of my comfort zone, or from the fear of trying out. I had also kept a deadline once upon a time that if I did not get pregnant by year end, I should think about my career. One of my ex-colleagues recently had her second baby and she continued to work. She reprimanded me, and said that you could work and still have a baby, just like the Steve Jobs movie, where he was shouted at,"you don't have to be an a**hole to be a genius; you can be a genius and still be a nice person; it is not binary." She said I am too smart to be sitting at home. I know, it doesn't mean stay-at-home moms are dumb, but at that point, her words resonated very well. Bah, I was waiting for this!

I updated my resume after getting this enlightenment and started taking interviews. I did not know that I would be offered in my first interview. It was a job, which is not in my line of work, but it would be close to home, and it would be good for a start, and at least, it had the word "Technical" in it. :-) I was supposed to join 2 days from now, but while the enlightenment was happening, my EAD expired and though I have applied for renewal, it hasn't come yet. The not-so-important job, ok-for-a-start has suddenly become all so important, and I am left waiting for the mail everyday!!!

The bubble wrap

As I waited for him at the airport, I went back in time to recollect if we had ever hugged. We had been friends from a very long time, but beyond the high fives and the pats on the back, we had never really touched each other. Oh yes, we had. We held hands in a school play. Thank God, I was the girl and he was the guy. Considering the way I was, I could have very much acted as a guy too. I have portrayed the role of a drunkard with élan and the trophy at home is witness to that.

I have hugged my boyfriends, I mean my friends who are boys, but I guess I have been a little reserved towards him from the beginning.

Suddenly, I could see his head and then the trolley. At one glance he saw me, and pushed the trolley towards me. Now that we were a couple, suddenly, I felt shy. Is there a phrase ‘shyly excited’ or ‘excitedly shy’? I was feeling that. He proposed me from across the miles and I accepted. It was inevitable in some way and somehow, I knew it all along that this is going to happen though I had dated other people.

A meek ‘hi!’ escaped from my lips and I just smiled. Had it been any other time, we would have been in a group shouting and cheering. His friends would have asked him which poison has he bought and then gang up to finish it. I remember us converting the dollars to rupees. If somebody used to spill a drop of the drink, we used to say that 50 Rs is gone.

We headed towards their apartment. It was the same place where I had met his gang of friends, the gang whom I named albeit fondly, the Trophy gang. They had this habit of lining up empty bottles-alcohol, deodorants, water, coke, and even ash-trays, as if they were some trophy. It was the same place where we had strummed the guitar and sang ourselves hoarse. I am sure the boys had their own pet peeves for having to run and get dressed, to look decent when a girl was visiting unannounced, while they laid nonchalantly in their bare basics on a hot summer day.

We met M in the apartment. Came to know B had moved out with his girlfriend in another flat and C had moved with his sister. M will be married in another 3 months and he decided to retain the flat. So, he would be staying with M for a month. The gang would be coming in the evening again I was told.

The room was suddenly quiet. I didn’t know what to do and took a bubble wrap from one of his gift items, and started bursting one by one. He took it from my hands suddenly and gave me his palm. He asked me to read his palm as I had often boasted of knowing palmistry. I played along. I traced the lines of his palm with all seriousness knowing very well, the trap. This was not a handshake; this was not our high fives, this was the first touch of new lovers.