Mundane Musings

Facebook sometimes drives me crazy. I was a software engineer hailing from a state in India which churns out about 1 lakh such software engineers every year. And almost all of them got a chance to go to my dream destination which is the United States, while I sit around pessimistic about my future in Dubai! I dont post my updates on FB anymore. It just drives me nuts. I have no achievements so to speak , no exotic locations that I have ever travelled to and the one or two trips I took with my husband turned out to be nightmares, that I have decided not to repeat that mistake again and I shall do all the travelling sitting at home watching Highway on my Plate, Sanchaaram , Travelogue and all those programs on exotic locations in Discovery channel and National Geogrpahic. Let's face it I am not going to be able to travel to all these places in this lifetime and that is a bitter truth that I have got to accept at one point of time in my life. All I can think of now is to concentrate o...

How often we have heard the words "Best of Luck" from our wellwishers? I never thought much about the importance of this word until recently. I used to think it was just an obligatory statement that people made when they knew you are about to take an exam or in case of Dubai , a driving test. But I have realised that nothing in life is more important than luck. There are so many instances of people whom I have studied with or somehow been acquainted with who have marched ahead of me in life because of a windfall. And really a windfall it is, some professions just tend to pay you more than a crazy software engineering job. But it is not enough if you have got what it takes , you have to have that extra luck factor in life. It not only applies to professional life but also personal life. How many divorces and breakups we here of everyday. Why, there are so many people I know who are single because they werent luck enough to meet the right one! You have got to have luck to have ...

If there is anybody I know in my life who always wants to find a double meaning for every sentence uttered by any other person and who decides to get hurt by it , it is my husband. Honestly if there were an award instituted for such behaviour he would win it hands down. I mean which other Indian couple in this world would have fought after India wins the world cup?? Well, we did. And that I guess is why now the world cup is so memorable for me. For all the wrong reasons that is. Now I kinda half wish they hadnt wont it. I remember a saying by Emerson, which goes something like this.."I cannot hear what you say, because what you are shouts loudly in my ears". And this is precisely what went on on Saturday. I have just had enough of this attitude that I am now ready to call it quits!!

The last few weeks have been equally hectic and thought provoking for me. My folks came to Dubai after a lot of cajoling. They stayed for all but two weeks, and were generally not interested in going anywhere because of the great deal of walking involved. And well buying anything here is expensive. The only thing free is the air or rather the air-conditioner! Everything else is charged. To the extent that even relationships with people come at a heavy price. When my aunt recently became a widow, she requested her children two living abroad, and one in India in a different city to stay for some time, none of them could stay. Not that they could be blamed. They had all become successful after they left their hometown , after all what could they expect by coming back to the hometown which gave them nothing to begin with anyway. So my aunt had to finally settle for the maidservant who had to be paid a hefty sum and who had to be treated like a queen. I guess I am going to land up in the sa...

I have had enough of this place ! Every day I think why I chose to work in this place when I got the feeling that I was not suited here almost the minute that I joined here. Improvising the quality of anything or anybody for that matter is not easy. My salary is less, I am pretty sure I will get no promotion and I totally lack the motivation to continue working. All I can do is to curse my fate for coming to Dubai and ruining my whole life by coming here. When you apply for a job which you have all qualifications for you are not even given a telephone call. On the other hand when you apply for a job with which have no relation to you, you are scheduled for interviews. Makes me wonder about the quality of all the HR professionals in this city. Do they even read the resumes here?

If 2008 was the year of the recession then the year 2010 is now being hailed as the “year of scams” in India. Although the start of most of the scams this year can be traced back to two or three years ago most of them have come into light in 2010. It all started with the Indian Premier League and has now ended in the mother of all scams the “2G Spectrum” which incurred a loss of Rs 1,76,000 crores to the Indian exchequer . Wedged in between these were the stories behind the Adarsh housing scheme and the Common Wealth Games. The only difference between the corruption in the 20th century India and in the 21st century India is that earlier the amount used to be of the order of only a few crores, now it runs into a few hundreds or even thousands of crores. The 20th century did not see so many news channels or the rise of the power of the media as in the 21st, yet our politicians continue to loot the Indian treasure in broad daylight. Frankly speaking this makes politics a lucrative car...

Finally this year is coming to an end. Got to say its been more peaceful than last year. Last year this time I was fretting on what would happen to someone in my family and of course what was going to happen to me. While I achieved nothing this year I had some challenges to go on with. I started a new job and that too a different one. I realized that I am better than most people when it comes to work. And I still am a good writer. Even if not an award winning one. Since I am now left alone with no one to interfere in my life I am much better and almost back to the person I used to be seven years ago. Things might have been wonderful for me had I not got into the software profession so many years ago. How was I to know what lay ahead of me? But all said and done I have gotten older. I am stuck with dead weight that never seems to leave me. No matter how sporty I become I cant lose all the flab I have gained because of my depression. I don't have any resolutions as yet. I am not goo...