Earlier this week, I had a long conversation with my best friend (the one I mentioned a few weeks ago) about my life in Sydney, my career and her life and career. We ended up talking about 'destiny' for quite some time.
Destiny is a phenomenon... quite like God. Those who believe in one tend to believe in the other. Most people in today's world choose not to believe in it. Then there are those who blame God and destiny for everything that's wrong with their lives.
I believe in both... and I have personal experiences to prove it.
I work for a software company called RCS Australia (which is owned by RCS, Inc. - an American company, which in turn is owned by Clear Channel - yet another American company; a gigantic one). We sell software products and services to radio stations all around the world and also to TV stations. We have clients all over Australia from Austereo to MTV to SonyBMG.
My bachelor's degree is in Business Administration. I'm not doing what I thought I would be at this age; working in the IT industry never crossed my mind even once back then. I never decided what I wanted to do and still have no bloody clue. The reason I'm happy with my career right now is because I've accepted the fact that it's not me calling the shots (apart from the fact that I like what I do). Sure I have choice and if I didn't work hard, I wouldn't have what I have today... but I'm no different than my friend. She works really hard and excels at what she does (even though she hates her job and her industry). I think she just needs to come to realise someday that there is such a thing as destiny after all. That little thought in your head making you think about what to do next and considering other alternatives isn't all you. You are doing what you're meant to be doing and you will do what's planned for you. I've liked Australia ever since I was a kid for no apparent reason. I was close to moving to Europe two years ago but I got a promotion back in India and chose to stay put. A year later I find myself in Australia with a good job and the life I could only dream about not too long ago. Reality is the stuff dreams are made of I guess. :)
Monday, 24 September 2007
Monday, 17 September 2007
Business as usual?
Certainly not. This week has been so extra-ordinary. I celebrated my birthday earlier in the week and to most people, having to spend the entire day at work isn't the best way to celebrate your birthday... but it turned out to be wonderful for me.
At our office, normally a birthday cake is bought for a birthday. However, as everyone knows I don't have a sweet tooth and am a big fan of beer and pizza (the heavenly combination), my boss decided to order loads of pizza for everyone (there's never a shortage of beer at the office... our fridge is always stocked with beer and we're allowed to drink whenever we please). Just before we could relish the pizza, my boss decided to say a few words. It's worth noting that I'm an international student and have been in Sydney only since July 2006 (about as long as I've had my part-time job, even though I've been associated with the company for almost 3 years now). Back to the speech then... my boss said quite a few good things about my contribution to the company and my importance and then announced to everyone that they were going to hire me full-time next year and that I would receive a sponsorship from the company. Most international students spend their time in the country thinking about permanent residency and worrying about it. I chose not to spend my time doing that and just getting on with uni and work. The result was that in my second semester I earned 3 distinctions in the 3 subjects I studied at UTS and had a very productive year with my company. While it was great news to hear about my boss' decision and it was a fantastic birthday present, I'd be lying if I said I didn't half-expect it. The timing was remarkable though.
It's been a sensational week to say the least. I don't believe in luck so I shrug off comments like "you're lucky" from other people. You reap what you sow and if I didn't work hard, I wouldn't have been rewarded. I guess the key thing I've learnt from this is that if you love something enough, you put your heart into it and it does not go un-noticed. I love my job and I give it everything I have. If you can't put your heart into something you're doing, then you're probably not doing the right thing.
At our office, normally a birthday cake is bought for a birthday. However, as everyone knows I don't have a sweet tooth and am a big fan of beer and pizza (the heavenly combination), my boss decided to order loads of pizza for everyone (there's never a shortage of beer at the office... our fridge is always stocked with beer and we're allowed to drink whenever we please). Just before we could relish the pizza, my boss decided to say a few words. It's worth noting that I'm an international student and have been in Sydney only since July 2006 (about as long as I've had my part-time job, even though I've been associated with the company for almost 3 years now). Back to the speech then... my boss said quite a few good things about my contribution to the company and my importance and then announced to everyone that they were going to hire me full-time next year and that I would receive a sponsorship from the company. Most international students spend their time in the country thinking about permanent residency and worrying about it. I chose not to spend my time doing that and just getting on with uni and work. The result was that in my second semester I earned 3 distinctions in the 3 subjects I studied at UTS and had a very productive year with my company. While it was great news to hear about my boss' decision and it was a fantastic birthday present, I'd be lying if I said I didn't half-expect it. The timing was remarkable though.
It's been a sensational week to say the least. I don't believe in luck so I shrug off comments like "you're lucky" from other people. You reap what you sow and if I didn't work hard, I wouldn't have been rewarded. I guess the key thing I've learnt from this is that if you love something enough, you put your heart into it and it does not go un-noticed. I love my job and I give it everything I have. If you can't put your heart into something you're doing, then you're probably not doing the right thing.
Monday, 3 September 2007
My Friends
September... you just gotta love it! It's my favourite month of the year (although December comes pretty close). Most of us tend to like the month our birthday falls in more than any other. Why is that? Why do we feel so special on our birthday and so full of excitement and happiness? ...so much so that it spreads out to almost an entire month!
I'm not certain of the answer but I have a few ideas...We consider the day we're born special of course because we're such special people (modesty goes out the window). Now if only we were excited enough by our very existence that we reminded ourselves at least once a week of the fact that we can do so much with our lives on any particular day. Cynicism wouldn't stand a chance. But of course, human nature isn't going to allow any of that... tut tut... no happy thoughts beyond the acceptable limit. Frown. Complain. Criticise. Ah... the "joys" of life! I suppose complaining about human nature here is yet another example of human nature... converting really happy thoughts (first couple of lines) to really cynical ones.... *sigh*
Anyway, I would like to make a quick note about my friends, what they mean to me and what I mean to them. I refuse to use the term "friend" loosely and it takes years of trust (or very rare exceptions) for me to consider anyone a friend. I guess that's why they trust me so much. They trust me enough to always come to me first for advice even when I'm in no position to help them. Somehow, I always have something to say, which turns out to be useful. A friend of mine sent me an e-mail this week talking about how good my life is and how things have turned out for me just the way I wanted them to and asked for my advice with regard to her life. Of course I know her well enough to let her know what I think she's really good at and what would suit her quite well. That's when it struck me though... I really don't know what I want to do and I don't think I ever have. And that's when I realised that the best advice I could give her was to live today as if there was no tomorrow. If you don't think about tomorrow, is there really anything to fear?
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode. By the way Shankar, if you're still awake and reading this (I'd be amazed), I've decided to publish a post on my blog just once a week. This is a practice I used to follow a few years ago and it worked for me back then. I think it's a bit hard to find the time to reflect 3 times a week and after a couple of weeks, it feels like you're just doing it for the sake of the assignment. I really don't want that to happen here as this is an opportunity for me to get back to writing... maybe if I'm motivated enough, I'll start writing poetry again!
I'm not certain of the answer but I have a few ideas...We consider the day we're born special of course because we're such special people (modesty goes out the window). Now if only we were excited enough by our very existence that we reminded ourselves at least once a week of the fact that we can do so much with our lives on any particular day. Cynicism wouldn't stand a chance. But of course, human nature isn't going to allow any of that... tut tut... no happy thoughts beyond the acceptable limit. Frown. Complain. Criticise. Ah... the "joys" of life! I suppose complaining about human nature here is yet another example of human nature... converting really happy thoughts (first couple of lines) to really cynical ones.... *sigh*
Anyway, I would like to make a quick note about my friends, what they mean to me and what I mean to them. I refuse to use the term "friend" loosely and it takes years of trust (or very rare exceptions) for me to consider anyone a friend. I guess that's why they trust me so much. They trust me enough to always come to me first for advice even when I'm in no position to help them. Somehow, I always have something to say, which turns out to be useful. A friend of mine sent me an e-mail this week talking about how good my life is and how things have turned out for me just the way I wanted them to and asked for my advice with regard to her life. Of course I know her well enough to let her know what I think she's really good at and what would suit her quite well. That's when it struck me though... I really don't know what I want to do and I don't think I ever have. And that's when I realised that the best advice I could give her was to live today as if there was no tomorrow. If you don't think about tomorrow, is there really anything to fear?
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode. By the way Shankar, if you're still awake and reading this (I'd be amazed), I've decided to publish a post on my blog just once a week. This is a practice I used to follow a few years ago and it worked for me back then. I think it's a bit hard to find the time to reflect 3 times a week and after a couple of weeks, it feels like you're just doing it for the sake of the assignment. I really don't want that to happen here as this is an opportunity for me to get back to writing... maybe if I'm motivated enough, I'll start writing poetry again!
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