Second Chance

"Sometimes life gives you a second chance with people. Not just lovers and family but people who you missed befriending. Grab that second chance before it goes. It’s almost always great. And people who are meant to be part of your life – will be a part of your life. No matter what you do to push them away." ..........

A dear friend wrote this on facebook (yeah, yeah, we all have an addiction to that too), and it struck me as so basic, and so profound at the same time. Isn't this the story of all our lives? Haven't we all walked away from all the "What ifs..." in our lives feeling a little hollow inside? Do we trust our intuition as much as we should? I don't know about you, but I certainly have done so. And as my good friend had written, it almost always comes back to you - in another form, in another situation, another frame of mind..... and poof! it hits you... "Why didn't I do this earlier?"
Whether it is the classmate you studied with for years, and didn't know existed till you were pitched together in an adverse environment.... or its the sibling or cousin who was just another face in the family photo till you discovered how similar you both were..... or the colleague who was just a warm body - till you discovered the high ideals they lived by, or the difficulties they live through to reach where they have today. Why do we always let destiny determine who we will strike a relationship with - even one of hatred?

Don't believe me? Think of the worst enemy you have. Why are you enemies? Because the person is a "bad" person? Or because your expectations from this person was not lived up to? Lets be honest - the face of my biggest enemy might be the face of your best friend... (well ok, that was a dialogue from a movie...) then who has determined that person's role in your life? Not you, for sure! You may make the decision, but you certainly aren't making an unbiased one!

I have had situations where I have been so blinded by what I had heard or read, that I had already formed an opinion about the person I was going to interact with. Not bad to research. But should we allow our intellect be clouded by an others'?

And yet other occasions where I have lived with the effect of a singular statement, act, or appearance to haunt all my future interactions with a person. Only to be rudely reminded by Destiny that I was wrong in my choice. Choice of reaction; choice of turning a situation into a more favourable one; choice of making one more meaningful relationship in my life.

Thank you Jyo, for writing this statement out! I have been determined hence, to HELP destiny determine my 'What ifs' .... after all, they are MY 'What ifs' too!

Vanity thy name ...

Happy new year! The nip in the air is getting to be a little more irritating than I thought! Well, this too shall end. And when it does, we shall be cribbing of the heat.

Just food for thought..especially for all you HR guys out there...what is an MNC? I had to write a blog dedicated to the HR manager of a particular MNC that sent in a mail, and then a call to speak about a job position in their company. Nothing new in that, even if I must turn around and ask - shouldn't you wait for a mail reply before you call up the person again?

Well, this gentleman was a very interesting dude. He had what you could call a chip on his 'MNC' shoulder. When he was introducing himself, he did mention something about seeing my profile or something. Well, there I was, basking in the glory of having completed a Train the Trainer successfully, and this very interesting gentleman decides he wants to have some ego massaging conversation. So he calls.

I like to play this very entertaining game... especially if the person on the other side has an accent that looks somewhere in between Texas and Jhumri Taliya. One of the most interesting questions was "So u've never worked in an MNC?" (the 'r' s rolling and the 't's hissing).

Now I began smiling to myself.... heres my entertainment channel for the day! So I start using the accent my dear friend taught me of a 'humble and simble' Indian. Enough to say, this guy really didn't know what hit him. He took a minute to recheck my resume, and then fumbled something that sounded like he wanted to catch a flight or a rocket or something...

Which brings me back to my original train of thought.... what is an MNC ? Well, I do agree there are best practices that exist there which the whole world apes. But tell me, did the people who work in those MNCs get cloned in a lab or something? If thats the case, well, our good friend HR-Guy-from-MNC was truly just having a fun time calling up people to talk to!

But my guess is, MNCs are made up of culturally diverse people who learn the art of adaptation quite quickly, and contribute to the existing culture. Well, guess what? Many Indian companies are success stories too. Just like many MNCs are failures too.

And my take on the English language? Well, its essential to know the international language well, but then again "No one cares that you know till they know that you care"...... ciao all, and a Happy twenty ten !!