My typical day begins when I hear “just gonna stand there……….., love the way you lie”. That’s my alarm call. And as I get ready to get to the office, I hear the 12’0 clock siren from the nearby factory.
On my way to the office, driving on a newly laid airport road could have been fun had the traffic been some 100 vehicles less per KM. Braving the Bangalore traffic for over 20 KM, when I reach the office its already Lunch time…guys going out for lunch in groups…chattering and enjoying the little moments of life…transporting me back 3-4 years, when I too used to go out for lunch and enjoyed those little moments.
But then, I am brought back to the present when I see the office gates being closed by the security guards. “Oh!! Freaking Shit!!, not again”. The parking lot is full and I must now go around searching for an empty parking space on the streets. I have had heart breaking experiences in the past from parking on the streets. School kids get inspired to become artists when they see cars parked, I feel so, why else a sharp stone becomes their master tool and the body of the car their canvas???
But, today I am in no mood to indulge my car to a masterpiece from a genius; so, I decide to play buddy-buddy with the security guy. I sheepishly smile at him and ask him to let me in, I tell him that I will go around the lot and if I find a space well & good, else return back. Security guy too feels that it’s a fair deal and lets me in; little does he know how hard it was for me to put up such an innocent face.
Now that I was in, I knew that I was not going out..do whatever….I enter the basement as quietly as possible and find the “reserved” parking spot out there empty….That was the spot reserved for the company heads and at least one spot is always kept empty anticipating a top-notch visitor from our other branches. I knew that had I thought twice, I might never do what I actually did.
So, now that my car was safely parked, I take confident steps towards my cubicle to begin a great day at office….all the way through, scenes from various Hollywood movies play in my mind, where the camera pans on the confident stride of the hero….shoe in shoe out shoe in shoe out.
But that’s the end of it..coz as I enter the office space I know that unlike in the movies….there is no young pretty intern, no sexy secretary neither is there a stupid, dumb idiot of a friend, nor are there any vicious bosses or jealous colleague. It’s all just as plain as it gets… it’s all as boring as it is.
So then, I slump into my seat and start going through my mails, meeting schedules etc…. I open the Google, browse through the news.
As I get hungry, I know that it is 3PM, time for breakfast…..I am a full fledged foodie.. ..I love food. I think of going out and having a stupendous brunch, but that would mean taking my car out and loosing the parking space. I look at the other option, the option of having food from the dreaded cafeteria…!!! After long contemplation I realize that I value my car more than my own body & health; I decide to go upstairs and have the safest option available.
Now back at my workstation after having a bowl of noodles and stomach that is not sure how to react to the Chinese visitor, I turn to some serious work….as I get engrossed in the work, time flies by….
The alarm bell rings and I realize that its 7PM in the evening, it’s time for a quick snack. I decide against it as I feel that the Chinese guy and my stomach didn’t exactly get along nicely.
I continue on, sending mails and noting the progress of various tasks I realize that its 11:30PM, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea if I got back home.
I head back home; reach home.
I have my dinner. Quickly meet up with my folks and head up into my room. I connect to the net resume the download processes from the previous night. Go through all my social networking profiles and indulge as if there is no tomorrow. After couple of hours, I realize that its movie time. I Select a movie from the huge collection of downloaded movies and begin my jogging. Yeah, it’s my patented exercise regime….Put on a movie, watch it as you jog (always effective with adventure action movies, try that out with ROCKY, I bet you will enjoy it). After the movie, it’s the time to read, from the countless books I have piled up, I pick up one from many that have been half read and bookmarked. I quickly recollect what the plot is and am engrossed in the book. Suddenly, it flashes my mind that I had to add this song that I felt so good about to my playlist. I quickly download the song and am lost in the song……
I realize that outside birds are chirping and there is a slender ray of sunlight cracking into my room.
Uff!!! I had just begun to enjoy and its time to sleep???? At 6 AM I make conscious effort to sleep….
This has been my typical 24hrs day for the past 2 years. I am in a rut. I am lonely, no doubt… I am with out friends, no doubt…… my interaction with the family has reduced to around 2hrs a working week or so….I am without motivation..I am full of unrealized potential….I am aimless……..I am wasting a wonderful life GOD has given……
I have no idea how I have fallen into this vicious-cycle that I follow day after day…..
But after giving it a thought and by observing around… I realize that it’s the effects the job-life imbalance that crept in early in the career and it is like a slow acting poison…affect of which is visible at a later point in time.
I wonder, had I been doing something that I am passionate about and not only good at…would I have been any different… I don’t know… it’s an open question to me and many others like me…
On my way to the office, driving on a newly laid airport road could have been fun had the traffic been some 100 vehicles less per KM. Braving the Bangalore traffic for over 20 KM, when I reach the office its already Lunch time…guys going out for lunch in groups…chattering and enjoying the little moments of life…transporting me back 3-4 years, when I too used to go out for lunch and enjoyed those little moments.
But then, I am brought back to the present when I see the office gates being closed by the security guards. “Oh!! Freaking Shit!!, not again”. The parking lot is full and I must now go around searching for an empty parking space on the streets. I have had heart breaking experiences in the past from parking on the streets. School kids get inspired to become artists when they see cars parked, I feel so, why else a sharp stone becomes their master tool and the body of the car their canvas???
But, today I am in no mood to indulge my car to a masterpiece from a genius; so, I decide to play buddy-buddy with the security guy. I sheepishly smile at him and ask him to let me in, I tell him that I will go around the lot and if I find a space well & good, else return back. Security guy too feels that it’s a fair deal and lets me in; little does he know how hard it was for me to put up such an innocent face.
Now that I was in, I knew that I was not going out..do whatever….I enter the basement as quietly as possible and find the “reserved” parking spot out there empty….That was the spot reserved for the company heads and at least one spot is always kept empty anticipating a top-notch visitor from our other branches. I knew that had I thought twice, I might never do what I actually did.
So, now that my car was safely parked, I take confident steps towards my cubicle to begin a great day at office….all the way through, scenes from various Hollywood movies play in my mind, where the camera pans on the confident stride of the hero….shoe in shoe out shoe in shoe out.
But that’s the end of it..coz as I enter the office space I know that unlike in the movies….there is no young pretty intern, no sexy secretary neither is there a stupid, dumb idiot of a friend, nor are there any vicious bosses or jealous colleague. It’s all just as plain as it gets… it’s all as boring as it is.
So then, I slump into my seat and start going through my mails, meeting schedules etc…. I open the Google, browse through the news.
As I get hungry, I know that it is 3PM, time for breakfast…..I am a full fledged foodie.. ..I love food. I think of going out and having a stupendous brunch, but that would mean taking my car out and loosing the parking space. I look at the other option, the option of having food from the dreaded cafeteria…!!! After long contemplation I realize that I value my car more than my own body & health; I decide to go upstairs and have the safest option available.
Now back at my workstation after having a bowl of noodles and stomach that is not sure how to react to the Chinese visitor, I turn to some serious work….as I get engrossed in the work, time flies by….
The alarm bell rings and I realize that its 7PM in the evening, it’s time for a quick snack. I decide against it as I feel that the Chinese guy and my stomach didn’t exactly get along nicely.
I continue on, sending mails and noting the progress of various tasks I realize that its 11:30PM, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea if I got back home.
I head back home; reach home.
I have my dinner. Quickly meet up with my folks and head up into my room. I connect to the net resume the download processes from the previous night. Go through all my social networking profiles and indulge as if there is no tomorrow. After couple of hours, I realize that its movie time. I Select a movie from the huge collection of downloaded movies and begin my jogging. Yeah, it’s my patented exercise regime….Put on a movie, watch it as you jog (always effective with adventure action movies, try that out with ROCKY, I bet you will enjoy it). After the movie, it’s the time to read, from the countless books I have piled up, I pick up one from many that have been half read and bookmarked. I quickly recollect what the plot is and am engrossed in the book. Suddenly, it flashes my mind that I had to add this song that I felt so good about to my playlist. I quickly download the song and am lost in the song……
I realize that outside birds are chirping and there is a slender ray of sunlight cracking into my room.
Uff!!! I had just begun to enjoy and its time to sleep???? At 6 AM I make conscious effort to sleep….
This has been my typical 24hrs day for the past 2 years. I am in a rut. I am lonely, no doubt… I am with out friends, no doubt…… my interaction with the family has reduced to around 2hrs a working week or so….I am without motivation..I am full of unrealized potential….I am aimless……..I am wasting a wonderful life GOD has given……
I have no idea how I have fallen into this vicious-cycle that I follow day after day…..
But after giving it a thought and by observing around… I realize that it’s the effects the job-life imbalance that crept in early in the career and it is like a slow acting poison…affect of which is visible at a later point in time.
I wonder, had I been doing something that I am passionate about and not only good at…would I have been any different… I don’t know… it’s an open question to me and many others like me…
