A re-look at RELOCATION

Change is the only constant in life is what I had often heard. Having worked for more than two decades in Britannia, I had witnessed several changes of various kinds. Yet, I, like many others, was not ready to accept the fact that we were going to relocate soon to a newer swankier office in a remote part of the city.

We did many things to cherish the memory of having worked in Britannia Gardens, including a couple of potluck lunches, a photograph of seniors who had worked there from as early as 1989 (when Britannia set up office in Bangalore), and individual photo sessions at various spots which we liked. A Look and See visit to the new office, not only helped us to get familiar with the new location but set us thinking of options to reach the new destination. I had always envied those who commuted to office in AC Volvo buses and now that that would be my only recourse, I started looking forward to going to office sitting by a huge window inside an air-conditioned bus, listening to the latest songs played on the local FM radio by the bus driver. A few others confirmed the trains that would bring them to the new location. All this warmed us to the idea of relocation, to a large extent.

Before we knew it, on 9^th February, we started working from our new office. All of a sudden, the Outer Ring Road that my buses took to and from office daily, earlier the proverbial ‘road less travelled’ now became my regular route.

Fast forward to the current time. Five months after relocation, I believe the relocation has transformed me and others around me. Firstly, a quick walk to the nearest bus stop has become an unavoidable daily morning ritual for me, while a couple of my team members have taken to cycling to office. The long commute allows me to catch up on pending phone calls, jot down thoughts for my articles and poems, list To-Do’s for home and office, and even catch up on sleep. Having only seen high-rise buildings earlier, working on 17^th floor is something that still excites me, and at times, looking far into the horizons through the large glass windows around the break-out areas, relieves me of any workplace stress. The open office structure with most of us seated in cubicles, now allows employees to know each other by face rather than only by an email name or a Sametime Contact. Earlier colleagues have turned friends.

In short, all is well. All that was required of me was to RE-LOOK-AT my circumstances – or RELOCATE my thoughts.

Published in BYTES June 2015 and in LinkedIn on 13th August 2015

Rising above rejection

The two of us – myself and my colleague Leah – were waiting at the bus stop for our respective buses. Minutes passed and the number of people gathered increased but not a bus was in sight. Soon a bus came and stopped in front of us. Quick to recognise it, I pointed out to Leah that her bus had ultimately come and she could go home before me.

Leah wondered if the bus in front of her was actually for her, as she was so used to the standard red colour bus, while this one was painted bright blue. So stuck she was to her belief that only red bus would serve her purpose, that Leah was not interested to even check whether the bus in front would help her  – something that intrigued me and got me thinking.

How often do we ‘see’ people and decide they are not good enough for us or to be connected with, just because they don’t look the way we think they should or behave like most of us? We find it so comforting to deal with the sameness and routine of life that something or someone slightly different from us unsettles us.

I still cannot forget how my classmates sidelined me as I belonged to a sub-sect, albeit the same community speaking the same language. I would not be taken into group games and taunts would be thrown at me in the absence of the teachers, whereas the teachers saw what I was made of and unanimously selected me to be the school pupil leader for that year.

An otherwise well-settled single woman shared how usually friendly women of her neighbourhood suddenly huddled together during festival times excluding her, for she did not have a husband. The girl she adopted gets ignored at gatherings, her cousins not considering her worth talking to or going out with, at times.

The mother and daughter duo seem to be on a never-ending journey, using their time to learn interesting things, involving themselves in worthy pursuits, empathising with others in the same boat, all of which has helped them to discover hidden strengths within themselves. Consequently, they have grown resourceful to many people around them.

Intolerance and rejection are two sides of the same coin, I believe, that has been going around in our society over ages. The former gives rise to the latter and most often it is unfair to the one at the receiving end, however justified it seems to the doer.

Rejection cannot be wished away, so the antidote to this malady is to develop our coping skills, in the sense learn to wear slippers instead of expecting the world to be carpeted. Maybe a good sense of humour is required to realise that the perpetrators are not worth bothering about and the time spent to tackle them is better invested elsewhere.

Rising above rejection takes us to a new lofty level just as an ugly caterpillar transforming into an attractive butterfly or a lotus blooming out of dirt becomes a cynosure to all around.

Published in Deccan Herald, dated Saturday 5th March 2016