The Other Side of Life

Annoying tragic comedy has happened.  I went to Japan for a week long holiday and ended up returning the day my company announced that people returning from Japan have to do a mandatory 14 day self-isolation. So here I am, at home, trying to not be distracted and failing so badly that even writing a post on my long lost blog seemed like a good idea. The thing with flexible work from home arrangements is, they work best when they are flexible and a choice. When mandated, it feels like a loss of agency and a forced move. It's like me telling you not think about a monkey. You are picturing a monkey now, aren't you? Not telling me to go to office is making me want to go to office.  Anyway, no one asked, but here's what my day looks like now: 8 am: Wake up and ponder over breakfast ideas, a meal that I never cared much for. I quickly Google for "interesting but easy to make breakfast items". Alas, one of the links leads me to Instagram. Scroll. ...

In crass Hindi, this moment would have been aptly defined as "Laut ke buddhu, ghar ko aaye".  Exact translation would mount to "Fools return home" and that's what this post is. So, after taking a break from work, doing a second Masters, getting a job in Singapore and moving countries, I am back on the blog.  Who would have thunk? An year back, I had no idea this is what I would be doing in an year. But then again, do we know what we will be doing an year from now?  Lesson learnt. No planning, no guessing.  Just keep exploring, keep doing new things, keep learning, keep meeting new people. Things will happen. Trust. Like a fool (who returned home!) So, while I discover this part of my life, Singapore, I thought I need the blog more than the blog needs me. Because moving countries is not in the least as glamorous as it sounds.  There's the whole deal with selling all belongings which you have hoarded lovingly over the years. A...

High time I am honest to my blog's title - Preeti Reviews.  I can't recall why I thought 8 years back that I would be posting reviews of anything on my blog, but I did. And so, I got stuck with this lame URL. What's done is done. After 8 years, I decided to honor that commitment and write a real review. I don't think I can even call this a review. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight is the story of Nike and for me, easily one of the most influential books I have ever read. Probably even the most influential book. Everyone wants to know how Nike became Nike. What we don't expect is the story of a normal guy, with a normal background, a normal upbringing, to fight the worlds to make his "crazy idea" come alive. He makes us all root for him, cheer for him and in doing so, cheer for every person who has ever had a passion and fought for it. I have often said this, that for many of us, careers have become an easy way to play catch. I like marketing. No, I...

If you have never taken a real hit on your self-worth, may I suggest you to try giving your car for service?  The service person's diagnosis of your car will make you want to go home and tear into shreds that precious Engineering degree certificate that your parents have saved so proudly, along with a picture of you in the black graduation robes, and go join whatever course the chap in the blue uniform took, that gave him the ability to give such an astute diagnosis with such intellectual sounding words. Like today, my service technician told me that, "There is an urgent requirement for me to get a zinc oxide coating on the Silencer because the existing anti rust treatment of the underbody was not sufficient for the silencer, since the special alloy based chemical composition of its exterior makes it immune to the anti rust coating and hence, is susceptible to damage from water and hence, the need for me to spend a holy Rs 4500 on getting this absolutely essential zi...

I have great news to share. Possibly the most famous economist ever, Keynes, in 1930, predicted that by 2030,  we will have so much money that pursuit of money will become worthless. Hence, we will be working only 15 hours per work. The remaining time, we will be doing what we love. To that I say, Mr Keynes, may you find lots of purified butter and crystallized sugar in your mouth. Or as the friendly neighbourhood Aunty in Janakpuri would put it, "Aapke mooh mein ghee shakkar." As always, for the rest of the post, please please come to the new blog. I promise you, the post is good!  https://preekonomy.wordpress.com/2017/02/12/on-the-possibilities-for-our-future

I was flying in a horribly delayed flight on my much haunted Mumbai-Bangalore circuit yesterday. After sitting on the runway for nearly 1.5 hours, the passengers started complaining and shouting at the air hostess. She smiled and tried to pacify them somewhat and went back to her corner behind the cockpit. From where I sat, I got a private viewing into what happens behind the scenes.  She went there and slammed the tray angrily. Her co-steward patted on her back and pulled her cheek to humour her. Suddenly, some irksome passenger pressed the calling bell and she turned back - Full smile back on. I was amazed. Like, really really amazed. I have never ever thought about airhostesses as this human. Of course, they get angry. Of course, they find some passengers irritating. Of course, they bear the brunt of fog in Delhi causing delay of flight to Amritsar, which adds up to the return flight to Delhi and then the flight from Delhi to Pune and from Pune to Mumbai and from M...

If I had to describe the year 2016 in one word, I would choose "Meh". That's exactly how it was. Work, which occupies a majority of my awake life, was meh. Sure, we did some exciting stuff, but nothing the way I would have wanted. When I don't use my brains and start agreeing with others' plans, I become meh. As always, there was a lot of travel for work, which was also meh because it was mostly Mumbai or rural Karnataka, both of which I have had more than enough of.  The one thing I always look forward to is meeting more people and learning more from them. That didn't happen much this year. So, another point to Meh. I should have done something to change things, but that did not occur to me till the end of the year. By the time it occurred to me, looking back at the year that was became agonizingly painful. Meh. Meh and meh. On the personal front, Sherlock made some changes to his work, which was good. But we asked ourselves a lot of...

Dear Airtel Aunty, How are you doing? Hope this letter finds you in great spirits and a brand new locale, what with the exotic location spree that you have been on. Last I heard, you were regaling your friends with stories at Umian Lake, Shillong. Oh wait. By the time I finished typing, I hear you are riding a Bullock cart in Ettimadai, Coimbatore. Good for you. I say, good for you. You will be glad to know, I have been doing a little bit of roaming around myself. You see, at my office desk, bang in the middle of Bangalore, we don't get Airtel network. So, I keep roaming around in the Parking lot below to talk to my team, who sit out of the Mumbai office.  In a way, it is good. I always believed that sedentary lifestyles will be the cause of ruin for the human race. I take pride that I am a single army crusader against this. Just yesterday, because of back to back conference calls and no Airtel signal in office, I spent almost 4.5 hours walking in the parking lot...

(This post was a Tangy Tuesday Pick! You can see the whole list here -  http://blog.blogadda.com/2016/02/02/tangy-tuesday-picks-february-2-2016-weekly-blogs-indian-bloggers-blogadda ) This, as per me, is how interviews with me should be like: Interviewer (Ir): Hi. Welcome here. Great to meet you. Me: Hi. Please take me in.. Ir : So, tell me about yourself. Me :  I am a nice person. Most times.  Bangalore traffic gets the worst out of me. I curse while driving.  I was a geek in school and am not great at sports. Some may say that makes me lack the sports spirit. I can't say they are wrong. I can be competitive as hell. Sometimes, that means I compete even for silly things like who ate first. If I win, I do a rain dance to a song that goes, "I won, I won, I won.", while pumping my fist in the air. Also, I am a sore loser. Sometimes, when I lose to Sherlock in Poker or Jenga or even 10 Questions, I cry and threaten not to make dinner. I work ve...

It has been a good day, so far.  I just crossed my own record of maximum versions to a file, with version 41 for a business case that I just saved and mailed. It feels good.  Version 41 in 6 months is around 7 versions per month. That is around 2 versions per week. So that's two times a week when someone changed their mind and asked me to make 1 very small change in the sheet, hence changing all the 16 linked sheets and hence, the word doc and hence, the presentation.  It's ok. Worse things have happened. By the way, Version 20 is always similar to Version 1. It's a full circle. Always. This version thing in, my opinion, is a disease. I am pretty sure even the guy on top suffers from this. As in the guy on the very top, God. I don't think he could have made this entire complex world without at least a few million versions. Darwin, of course, lovingly gave my theory the name "Evolution". I am sure some MBA kid up there would have gone ...

Duration of Exam: 30 minutes Please write your Roll Number clearly. Subject: Real Life Math Skills Question 1: "Ms. X lives in Bangalore. Her office is 15 km away from home. She leaves the house at 08:00 am, in a good mood, at 60 kmph. Within 1 km of her house, she runs into an Auto Rickshaw going in the opposite direction, without a care in the world. Refer diagram for details: The auto-rick continues driving at 30 kmph and passes by, while Ms X slows down to 5 kmph, with lots of honking behind her. She has now added atleast 800m more to the already 1.5 km long traffic jam on the road. Calculate: 1. The approximate time by which Ms. X must delay her meeting at 9:30 am. 2. The numeric equivalent of the stress the Auto guys caused Ms. X. 3. The number of times Ms. X must curse before she feels better. Question 2: Ms. X is an MBA. She makes Powerpoint presentations for her living. The number of versions of a presentation she makes befo...

One of those days today. Nothing much to say. But honoring the Blogathon! Cheers! Preeks Image Courtesy: Calvin & Hobbes

(This post was a Tangy Tuesday Pick! Yay! Check it our here -  http://blog.blogadda.com/2016/01/19/tangy-tuesday-picks-blogadda-indian-bloggers-blog-posts ) It's ok to feel bad when something good happens to someone. It's ok sometimes to want to shoot with a gun. It's ok to be irritated when someone scratches fingernails on Teflon. It's ok to miss a post or two in your first Blogathon. It's ok to not want leave Goa and come home. It's ok to suffer a severe case of Monday blues syndrome. Its ok if your motivation level is not that of Aragon. It's ok when bad connectivity makes you miss Blogathon. It's ok to eat good food everyday, like Cheese Patty. It's ok even if the food is unhealthy and fatty. It's ok even if you resolved this year to run a Marathon. It's ok even if while eating, you forgot the Blogathon. It's ok to never ever want to go to work. It's ok to sit at home when office has a vintage Wifi network...

In the same league as that of superheroes, There exists another clan that deserves your bows. They are the rare few, the strong, the doers, They are the clan of Saturday office goers. When on Thursday you prepare for the weekend, When mails for "Friday Fun at Work" you send, When Friday dawns and you debate which jeans to wear, That's when the Clan silently sheds a tear. But they are the clan of strong, eternal optimists, In just 1 Sunday, they complete all chores on their lists. They take joy in whizzing through roads on Saturday, While you still recover from your wild Friday partaaay. It builds character, they say, To work while your FB feed reads like a teen's typical day, To see check-ins to Fennys, TGIF and Chilly, While you work your ass off silly. In ways you can't imagine, it changes them. At job interviews they use this new wisdom "Do you have any questions for us?" "Yes. Is it true? Saturdays ...

Do you have consultants in your life? If you don't, you are missing out on something. Almost akin to being the only one on your Facebook timeline not watching Game of Thrones. #ReferringToAFriend #NotMe Being with consultants brings structure to your lives. Suddenly, everything is crystal clear.  Q: Should I sleep on the sofa and watch random movies on Romedy Now, or should I do something constructive, like say, go jogging or learn swimming? The answer is in the wind, my friends. What should I blog about today? Random stuff, gyaan post, a well thought out post, a short story? Everyday choices suddenly become simpler. Ask me a question.Go ahead. Ask me anything. Q: How is married life? You get the drift. Q: What are your future plans? Q: What do you make of people in office? You get it, right? Just give a structure to anything and your life becomes peaceful.  Just to check if you have been following me seriously, please tell me what y...