I am used to having
people around me who complain, who are dissatisfied, regretting decisions and
wanting change. Not many, but enough. If I used to come across as one of those
kinds, I am not anymore!
After an eternity of
wait, I do have a job in the domain that I want. A first step of sorts in the journey
that I wanted to start on since long, even if a bit late. So, I’m quite happy
if you haven’t noticed it yet. The job involves relocation to Pune from Hyderabad
without much in terms of compensation for the same. The overall income did not
change significantly either, considering everything. Which I am fine with. I
was willing to agree to a lot lesser or worse. I just needed this job badly.
But my employers being the professionals they are didn’t even try to short hand
me. The offer was fair and accepted without much resistance on my part. I
rarely find myself complimenting organizations but I must this time. This
organization is really good. It is as good as it claims to be in its websites
and policies. People here are actually worth taking the time out to find out more
about. Many people here are above or equal to me in terms of intelligence and
experience. It usually is not the case where I come from. I don’t need to
inspire and look around for company here but live up to the standards already
set. Motivations are right in front of me just in case I needed any. I am
looking forward to growing. That is not usually my experience.
My family had trouble
understanding the job change at the beginning. I mean I could have had a job
with a great hike in pay if I didn’t shift the domain. Even at the same place
with even better conditions. But you can’t have it all. You always make a
choice. And I made mine long back, so I simply followed up. Then again, my
family consists of my brother –who has gone through hell just to try his hand
at what he believed (And returned with fire on his back), and my parents who
know enough about me to trust me blindly. Therefore, there was not friction as
much as sadness about my departure. Mainly because I never left home for long
periods before. But even that was not for long because there was a circus
called marriage in our house for two whole months until the day before I left.
My brothers marriage was nothing short of hell for the family, except of course
my brother. His troubles start where ours end.
I am at a new place
with new faces and new work. That is another part of my excitement. I get to be
alone and adapt to new environment. I get to concentrate on my new job. Work on
my passions and goals rather than spend time the usual ways. I anticipate
productive change. Pune is a good city, but the office is in the outskirts and
I decided not to travel from the city but to take a PG right beside the office,
in the same outskirts. Saves the logistics head-ache and gives me some walking
distance to cover, which I like. Also the mental peace of knowing there is
nothing else outside the room – nothing that would tempt me, pull me. Pune is a
good city, but any other city would have made no difference to me (but I am
lucky to get Pune, weather wise)
I tend to get a bit
proud of myself concerning my adaptability. I know people who never travelled
and those who travelled a lot. The people who travel a lot still do not
necessarily enjoy it. They simply are used to adjusting. They are not really at
home, away from home. People have trouble getting used to places, people, food,
what not. Not me.
I am proud because that
stuff does not bother me. I don’t need people to talk to. I can stay silent for
hours on, even days without feeling disconnected, as long as I have a book to
read or stuff to do. I am not prone to getting bored. Not at all, not in the
near future. I am quite happy with a laptop or a book. An internet connection
helps. And I don’t have a preferred food. I eat rice as well as chapatis as
well as burgers and enjoy them too. I do not mean occasionally, as a staple
food. The canteen of the PG I stay in serves tasteless food. The quality is all
right but it is a torture of the taste buds. I didn’t even notice the first few
days. I get so hungry by the time I come back from office that I am practically
an animal while eating. Only when I had time and patience to notice did it
strike me that there was no curd, that the curry was lame and the palak dal was
really green sambar. Yet, a small pickle bottle solved all the problems in that
regard.
I am self-sufficient if
I am allowed to say so. In the sense that I am not emotionally dependant on
particular places or foods - or to some extent people.
I do connect with
people but I don’t feel the need to keep them in my presence or ‘touch’. A call
a day to family is good enough. And a call a month if a close friend. Or two
months. I am like that, nothing abnormal.
These days, I am
enjoying having all time to my selfish self.
Really, it’s hard to describe the peace that I am going through. Mainly
the peace of knowing that I don’t need any more changes for some time. That the
uncertainty part is, at long last, over. The change I wanted is already here. Ah,
and how much I wanted change! Now I just have to push and make the most. It is
like looking down a road with its map in my hand. However hard the terrain may
be, I know that the direction is right and all the bumps you endure will be
worth the while. Even better, it will not be a road not taken.