5 Most Stupid Questions

Starting from number 5:-

5.  "Kitna package hai beta" translated in english as "How much do you earn" ?

Best answer to this question is that, I earn enough to manage two meals a day for me and my family. This question can be asked by variety of people, it can be a totally strange fellow train traveler or can be your close relative. You can use above answer to strangers but you are mostly in fix when asked by an elderly close relative. Problem is not that you are ashamed to share but you know that post sharing , you will be judged and also that this information will be shared without consent to the entire society.


4. "Onsite kab jaa rahe ho" translated in english as "When are you going out of india on a trip sponsored by your company" ?

If you are working for an IT company, it is mandatory for you to go out of India.People think that companies are there for serving this very purpose only. If you have still not crossed indian boundaries, you are doing something wrong in your career and here you are , you got your instant appraisal rating from a relative.

3. "Shaadi kab kar rahe ho" translated in english as "When are you getting married" ?

Now this is most irritating question faced by teenagers, As soon as person crosses legal age of marriage eligibility, no matter what the situation of person, he/she will be constantly reminded that marriage is the next goal in life. Imagine a guy living in a small room shared with 2 other males , earning 20K a month and he gets into the thinking mode, is this something which I can afford now?

2. "Ghar kab le rahe ho" translated in english as "When are you buying a house"?

As soon as you start earning for few years, you will start facing this question. This is the one of the critical questions in the arranged marriage interviews. Sometimes, this is a deciding factor in your proposal of the marriage. It might be the case that the person asking the question has owned a house in his sixties, but still expects you to buy in your twenties.


1. "Khush khabri kab suna rahe ho"  translated in english as  When are you giving birth to a child" ?

Now this tops the list after you have actually answered all above questions in real life.
What kind of a stupid question is this. How can one possibly know the answer to this question.
If a couple is not trying to conceive, they don't know when will they start trying and when will they be able to share good news..
If a couple is indeed trying to conceive, they cannot precisely answer this question because of all the complicated nature of the process.
Basically this question is not meant to be answered, it is meant to taunt you. For newly weds it is intended to trigger a topic of discussion among the couple and for rest, it is intended to get the details of underlying plan.

Travel Tips

                  I love to travel. Since my childhood, I used to count the number of cities and states I have been to. Earlier the count was restricted to the grandma's place and few religious places. It got increased when I attended a outstation school picnic. I wanted to grow this count as my life progressed. Fortunately, during my professional life which started 10 years ago, I got ample opportunities to travel in and out of the country.
                Travel generates lot of emotions and one gets overwhelmed with new and varied experiences. We realize that there are so many different kinds of people, culture, establishments, processes, rules and colors to explore in this world.  As said by one genius :

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” 

Based on my travelling experiences so far, below are some of my travel tips which I follow as rules of thumb to make my journey a satisfying one.

• Travel light
• We do not want to get stressed by always having to take care of huge luggage and expensive stuff inside it. Our luggage should enable us to move fast and free.
• While in Rome do as Romans do 
• Old phrase but very true. Eat the specialties of the region you are visiting. When in indore, eat poha breakfast, in pune eat misal pav ,in mumbai eat wadapav and in Italy have Pasta and pizza. Also, try to come out of the shackles and wear the clothes that match the culture. Like,do not shy to roam in shorts in the streets of goa. 
• Try to walk and roam around in public transport
• One of the enriching experiences of travelling is getting to know people of that place. This can be experienced only when you go out there on the streets. Walk to the nearest restaurant. Take local bus and observe people aboard it. Talk to people. Engage in discussions. You will be amazed to converse with some of the locals and you will come back knowing more about the place.
•  Enjoy Night Life
• Go to most happening place of the city and enjoy the hustle bustle of the night. Enjoy the way night embraces the people. Go club hopping, make some friends over the bar counter. As Paulo Coelho, noted author once said,  A city is like a capricious woman she takes time to be seduced and to reveal herself completely.
• Read about the place
• Every place has its history and it is its glorious past which makes the place great. Read about the place to know about it and try to catch the interesting facts about the same.
• Do not travel for the sake of checklist
• Do not make a tight schedule. Give yourself enough time to relax and enjoy. Wherever you go, give enough time to enjoy the place and do not make itinerary which compels you to always think about next destination. 
• Spend as little time in hotel room as possible
• If you want to spend time in inside four walls, its better to do at your home. Why to spend and come to a distant place to stay back at room.
• Avoid going to malls
• Malls are same everywhere. Similarly avoid watching movie in a plex. You can do that in your home town as well. 
• Keep your hotel address and emergency contact handy
• You always want to come back safe. Keep your hotel address handy and also contact numbers to avoid getting lost. Be alert enough to not get yourslef in trouble.
• First Enjoy and then click
• Don't start on the clicking spree. Roam around , see through  your naked eyes , absorb the moment and then take few snaps just for the memory purposes. Do not ruin the moment of pleasures by stressing out to take pics for social media. I will recommend to cutoff from social media to avoid going in spiral shell called internet. 

P.S. Check out my travel reviews below
https://www.tripadvisor.in/members/raunyy

What Diwali means to you ?

                                    Diwali is a festival of lights. It is celebrated across India with much enthusiasm and excitement. As I celebrate diwali this year, I see a change in me. There is a lot of difference in the the way I used to celebrate diwali in my childhood and the excitement of diwali during those days. I have realized that Diwali means differently to each individual and at different stages of life.

So what does diwali actually means to people around us .. I tried to capture few of the observations around in the process and compiled below meaning of diwali ...

1. To small kids (~3 years), its a mix reaction. They start hearing loud noises of tikli and bombs. Most of them are generally scared to go out. However, some brave children starts liking the noise and lights around. They start lighting fuljhadi and enjoying chaklis and anaars. 
2. To children (3-16 years), diwali becomes the most favorite of the festivals. They get 5 days of vacations. Day time is spent playing and night time bursting crackers. Its the most joyful time of the year.
3. To working professionals living away from native place, it is the time of the year to apply for full week leave and go to home town. 
4. To businesses, it is the opportunity to monetize the maximum. They offer discounts and offers to attract people. Shops are decorated beautifully to lure goddess laxmi.
5. To lower middle class people, it is the time of year to get bonuses.
6. To housewives, it is time of year to clean the house and make delicious snacks. And not to mention it is the chance to get ready in beautiful traditional attires.
7. To some families, it is the time of year to travel and go on vacation.
8. To those who love shopping, this is the time of the year when shopping fever is at pick. They become berserk and spoilt for choice. The market hustle bustle makes them crazy and more than the actual stuff, they like the entire process of shopping. 

Every individual in india has a special place for diwali in their hearts and above list will be unending.. 

So what proampted me to write this blog ? It is a strange feeling which forced to me look around and observe. 

As years pass on, my excitement level is dipping. I see fervour around and think, why there are no emotions being stirred inside me. Why am I not looking forward to this festival of of lights? What has changed in me ? 

Some of it might be attributed to growing up, some might be the realization of futility of all the activities. I am yet to figure out the exact answer to it.

For now, To me Diwali means the time to relax and enjoy with family to spend time at home, prepare food and eat together.. Its the time to cleanse the inner and the outer world.

Last thought...
During childhood I always wanted to earn so that I will be able to buy and burst as many crackers as I want and now when I am earning, all the zeal has faded away. This is the irony of life.

Happy Diwali.

Hiring and Firing

                     During the last 3 months, I experienced certain events in office which I had never experienced in my last 8.5 years of corporate life.
Events ignited varied emotions and forced me to think more about whats right and whats wrong.

Our company fired around 220 employees in a span of 3 months in 2 batches.

We never faced such situation and were totally unsure how to react.
It led me to think about different aspects of this event and to question whether company is at fault or not.

At the onset, we all blamed the company for taking this decision. There were bad reviews posted on glassdoor after the event and everyone blaming the company for following hire and fire policy.

There were questions raised like:

• Company didn't meet target revenue for 1 quarter. Is this the right decision to react on 1 quarter failure?
• Company had an aggressive hiring in first half of the year. Was the planning not proper.
• Company invested in multiple innovations and which failed to deliver. Was market study not done before investment ? Or was it the sales department who failed to get this to market ?
•  Company invested in projects where focus was on quality, so was the repercussions of such a project not estimated in terms of volume/revenue ?
• Company never had restricted expenses in past and cost approvals for parties and travel was very easy to get.

However as they say, "time is the best healer". As time passed by , remaining 300 people started to forget the event and move on. Some were still recovering and some moved on already.

Higher management  had justifications for everything and one cannot question them really.

During this course of healing, many thoughts and questions came in my mind like :- 

• Should company be liable to provide job stability to employees, what exactly is job stability or job security ? 
• Company is formed with sole purpose of making money and the owners of the company have all rights to take decisions no matter how brazen they may seem.
• Employees are hired to do a day's work and they are paid for that day's work.
• There are certain expectations from employee and employee is paid at the end of month for his job of fulfilling those expectations.

I realized that employees feel bad because of emotional attachment to the company. He expects more than just the salary from company. In process of giving 100% to job expectations, he sometimes thinks that he is working for his own company.

Another aspect of this is that employee feels insulted on getting fired. This is very normal human behavior as no one likes the rejection. The feeling that one's contribution is no longer required is scary.

Also employee finds himself in too much comfort zone, that such an event feels like a bolt from the blue.
All of a sudden, he has to find a job . He has to face interviews.
And the most daunting task is to face society, family and peers.

So what is the solution?  Who is right and who is wrong ? 

In my opinion it is never easy to face such situation.  However there are some best practices which can just make one stronger to face such situations.

One should consider his job just as a job and should know that he is paid for the services is offering.
One should understand that this is not permanent and no one is liable to pay him for eternity.

If one is confident of his talent, he will be least affected. Today, a company is paying you for your services and if you are good enough some other company will need you and hire you at same cost or higher.

So the onus is on the employee to be professional and a continuous learner which will help him face such situation with more courage and confidence.

What makes me happy?

Amid chaotic life , I often wonder what is the key to happiness. I stop and think about the things which makes me really happy. I tend to remember these sources of happiness and make it a point to acknowledge it.

There is a subtle difference between "khushi" and "ananda" !
Its very important to understand the difference so that we can seek ananda as much as possible.

Following are some things/scenarios which give me happiness :

1. Meeting an old good friend and remembering the good times spent together.
2. When my mother shares her past stories.
3. When my mother says "You did this thing real good" , "Ye achha kaam kiya"
4. When my mother asks for something and I am able to fulfill the same.
5. Fulfilling a dream or fantasy and having life partner along with you to acknowledge and congratulate.
6. Relinquishing old stuff like clothes,toys etc and giving it to someone who needs it and is not capable of affording currently
7. Sharing an experience and learning that it helped somebody.
8. Watching some video/movie/art creation which makes u watch the same again and again.
9. Travel from outside India to back to India.
10. Friday
11. Beer burp
12. Smooth Car Drive on a good road with favorite music being played in background.
13. Good Decisions
14. Playing Cricket on a pleasant day.
15. Really good dessert
16. Alone time(not too long) once in a while !
17. Sound of sea/river waves
18. Feeling of having someone in life to speak to about anything under the universe.
19. Time spent in swimming pool
20. Learning new things which you always wanted to learn like swimming, skating , driving car etc
21. Remembering achievements of past, happy events of past etc
22. Being a good host by showing warmth and love (not by material pleasures)
23. Getting oil massage from my dear wife
24. To see my dear wife happy and make her small wishes true

To be updated as I experience more .... :)

Weekends

Fridays are always special.

At the end of this day the weekend starts.  And weekends are for filling up .

Entire weekend is spent in filling up. Just go through the list and everybody will relate and concur .

Its weekend and its time to fill up : 

1. Your bodies with alcohol
2. Your car with diesel
3. Your bike with petrol
4. Your utensils with groceries
5. Your refrigerator with fruits and vegetables
6. Parking spaces at malls with your vehicles
7. Your soul with motivation
8. Your heart with renewed faith in existence of life
9. Relationship gaps
10. Lost sleep during week
11. Scrap shop with old newspapers and bottles
12. Restaurants


So get refilled and prepare for the next week :)

EVERYTHING AT ONCE !!!!

As sly as a fox, as strong as an ox
As fast as a hare, as brave as a bear
As free as a bird, as neat as a word
As quiet as a mouse, as big as a house

As mean as a wolf, as sharp as a tooth
As deep as a bite, as dark as the night
As sweet as a song, as right as a wrong
As long as a road, as ugly as a toad

As pretty as a picture hanging from a fixture
Strong like a family, strong as I wanna be
Bright as day, as light as play
As hard as nails, as grand as a whale

As warm as the sun, as silly as fun
As cool as a tree, as scary as the sea
As hot as fire, as cold as ice
Sweet as sugar and everything nice

As old as time, as straight as a line
As royal as a queen, as buzzed as a bee
As stealth as a tiger, smooth as a glider
Pure as a melody, pure as I wanna be

All I wanna be oh, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything

EVERYTHING AT ONCE !!!!