Happy New Year




He was an infant a year back,
Now he is grown so old, he can hardly walk,
He is done with his share of joys
And his burden of sorrows

His body's frail but twinkle in his eyes,
A sweet smile and laughing lines,
Furrows on his forehead that
Show how learned he is

As he packs his bags and turns to leave,
He can't help but think
Of all the days that he brought along
And of all the things he taught us

He turns back to take one last look
Of the world that he is leaving behind
And sees an infant in his place
All ready to take on the world
He gives a warm smile, pats the infant
And says "Welcome, 2007"

Another year comes by
And I know not what it brings
But I do know it offers the same number
Of days, hours, minutes and seconds
And I plan to use it wisely

Time to say good-bye

As I take a backup of the required things and clean my PC, I have a heavy feeling in my heart. The place where I spent 8 hours a day, five days a week for more than two years is going to be alien to me. The same place where I could come and go whenever I wanted, will demand my credibility the next time I come here. Funny, huh?

I spent 2 years and 7 months in this place which I call my work place. It has taught me a lot of things. It has shown both the good side and bad side of the corporate world. Not only has it helped me add weight to my resume by teaching me technical jargons, but also groomed me on a personal level. I take people's words with a pinch of salt now. Yeah, you can say I have become wiser.

Will I miss anything when I am gone from here? Certainly not the cafeteria food. I will miss the magnificent view I got from the office terrace. I will probably miss talking to a few of my colleagues. Oh yeah, I will miss the comic books that my colleague used to lend me. Now, that's a big loss. I will miss his witty remarks, his irritating PJ's. But, more than the people here, I think I am going to miss the building, my desk, my machine, my shelf, my phone and my board markers. Ironical, isn't it? People react, non-living things don't. But, I'll still miss these dead things rather than my co-workers.

As I pick up my bags and turn back, I see a place which made me wiser, stronger (and definitely richer), but above all I see a place which I can call my second home.

Adios, friends. Thanks for bearing with me for so long.

Your humble abode, no more?

Of all the other things I did over the last weekend, I visited my Mom's place. It's an ordeal for me. Not because I don't like visiting her place, but it is so far away from my house, that I call it a little picnic. Pack your bag (no lunch required, that's taken care of by Mommy dear), grab a book and off you go for a long, long ride. My husband is patient enough to ferry me all the way and back while I spend the time judiciously reading. I drive sometimes, but that's quite rare.

Nothing special about this visit, but it led to a start realization. A revelation, in its own sense. I was helping my Mom in the kitchen and every time I wanted some thing, I had to ask her where it was. Want a kadhai, ask her. Want the lighter, ask her. Need water to drink, ask her. As this ask and fetch went on for sometime, I felt so sad that this is the house where I spent more than 20 years of my life and now I am a stranger! Yeah, my Mom has moved to her own house now, but that's not enough reason not to know where things are located, right?

The sorrow that engulfed me after that, didn't leave me for the whole day. My husband tried to console me by saying that I have got my own house in exchange of my mother's house.

A girl's life is quite weird in that sense. She grows up in a house thinking that it's her own and one day lightning strikes and it's no longer her house. She has a sparkling new house with new and not-so-friendly faces in exchange, whether she likes it or not. From that day, everything changes.

Belgaum

This weekend, we ran down to Belgaum and back. Not literally, but that sums up our trip quite well, considering that we were in Belgaum for just 12 hours.

We traveled by Pai Travels, Volvo and it was extremely comfortable. No noise of the other vehicles on the road, good, comfy seats with leg support. They even give you a warm shawl. Nice, huh? Talk about customer car. VRL, are you listening?

I woke up to the lush, green fields of north Karnataka. The beautiful trees and the mist greeted me with a wide smile. The road seemed to dance along with our bus and looked like a small kid who is excited to have guests come over to its place. The whole place was covered with light mist, giving it a very hill station look. My eyes reached out till the horizon to take in as much beauty as they could.

I found Belgaum to be a peaceful. laid back city. Not much traffic on the road, all people seem to have all the time on their hands. No hurrying off to work or to catch a bus. What's the hurry, let's take life slowly, right? With Marathi words falling on his ears, my husband felt at home.

The best part of the town is the military camp, of course. The camp spans over a wide area (I don't know the exact figure, but it sure is huge). British military were based here in those days and this area does have a very regal look. It's green everywhere, houses peppered here and there, one black road runs in between as if ripping the greenery apart. Houses have a vintage look, black stone walls, red roof and so calm and quiet as if nobody stays there at all!

Wouldn't it be nice to stay in a place like this? You bet.