I’m sitting in the Pune Airport, checked in and awaiting my delayed flight. Harking back on the very eventful four days of my stay, I thought I’d write about it…for time pass atleast.
I’ve been to Pune many times between 2004 and 2007 mostly on business. I never had to mix business with pleasure coz the pleasure was always a part of the business I was here on. I must be thankful to the people I’ve worked with and the friends I made, for making this happen. The line between business and the friendship was well defined. There have been instances where I would have fought eye and tooth to protect the interest of my organization to the utter annoyance of the other. But just 10 mins after the meeting, the very same person, even though a very senior person, would have his arm around my shoulder joking and giving me ideas to spend my evenings. This delicate balance was an asset that I’ve been used to most of my working life. When I think of Pune, I am always reminded of many ppl I know, FC, our hostel situated close to FC, Vaishali and Rupali (restaurants…not girlfriends), the road side tea wala where we used to sit and chat for hours, a bench where we would be sitting way past midnight eating ice cream or kulfi, many friends to catch up with and so much more.
This time, even though I was forced to visit pune, I was looking forward to it. It was a pretty simple job, known territory and a good chance to re-live pune….old eshtyle. Everything was planned and taken care of before I left. An intricate plan was in place and an alternate plan to accommodate problems. I was all geared up to have fun. Little did I know what was in store.
Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Even things that could never go wrong went wrong. I had no idea that Murphy was working overtime here! When I’m faced with a problem, my thought process is always directed towards what next? Once the problem is resolved, I look back and analyze what went wrong and learn from it. This had helped me more times than it has harmed me. But this time it was different.
I felt like a lizard trying to climb up a slippery wall. It doesn’t go any higher, tries it's best not to slip further. Effectively it is going nowhere but exhausting itself. Same thing; I was slipping against my wish and I was trying too hard to bring it back on course. Effectively I exhausted myself physically, mentally and emotionally.
Last night I thought of an interesting concept I read in ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’…detach yourself. “Let the experience penetrate you fully. That’s how you are able to leave it”. Although Morrie said it in the context of relationships, I found it useful here. I was feeling vulnerable and I was doing my best to make it go away. Instead I embraced it. Early in the morning I called the people who were troubling me and made them a part of the problem. An honest plea and a little bit of my broken Marathi worked wonders. Everything fell into place and I could deliver according to my original plan. Now I’m going back home instead of having to spend my long weekend in Mumbai :)
I’ve been to Pune many times between 2004 and 2007 mostly on business. I never had to mix business with pleasure coz the pleasure was always a part of the business I was here on. I must be thankful to the people I’ve worked with and the friends I made, for making this happen. The line between business and the friendship was well defined. There have been instances where I would have fought eye and tooth to protect the interest of my organization to the utter annoyance of the other. But just 10 mins after the meeting, the very same person, even though a very senior person, would have his arm around my shoulder joking and giving me ideas to spend my evenings. This delicate balance was an asset that I’ve been used to most of my working life. When I think of Pune, I am always reminded of many ppl I know, FC, our hostel situated close to FC, Vaishali and Rupali (restaurants…not girlfriends), the road side tea wala where we used to sit and chat for hours, a bench where we would be sitting way past midnight eating ice cream or kulfi, many friends to catch up with and so much more.
This time, even though I was forced to visit pune, I was looking forward to it. It was a pretty simple job, known territory and a good chance to re-live pune….old eshtyle. Everything was planned and taken care of before I left. An intricate plan was in place and an alternate plan to accommodate problems. I was all geared up to have fun. Little did I know what was in store.
Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Even things that could never go wrong went wrong. I had no idea that Murphy was working overtime here! When I’m faced with a problem, my thought process is always directed towards what next? Once the problem is resolved, I look back and analyze what went wrong and learn from it. This had helped me more times than it has harmed me. But this time it was different.
I felt like a lizard trying to climb up a slippery wall. It doesn’t go any higher, tries it's best not to slip further. Effectively it is going nowhere but exhausting itself. Same thing; I was slipping against my wish and I was trying too hard to bring it back on course. Effectively I exhausted myself physically, mentally and emotionally.
Last night I thought of an interesting concept I read in ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’…detach yourself. “Let the experience penetrate you fully. That’s how you are able to leave it”. Although Morrie said it in the context of relationships, I found it useful here. I was feeling vulnerable and I was doing my best to make it go away. Instead I embraced it. Early in the morning I called the people who were troubling me and made them a part of the problem. An honest plea and a little bit of my broken Marathi worked wonders. Everything fell into place and I could deliver according to my original plan. Now I’m going back home instead of having to spend my long weekend in Mumbai :)
I threw in a little bit of Prof. Pausch’s idea too. I’ve left a post-it on the monitors of the entire team who troubled me the most, but eventually helped me. It reads “Thanks for your help. Couldn’t have done it without you. गुडीपाड्वेच हार्धिक शुभेच्छा” It was not apple polishing. I really meant it. The fact is that they were the ones who created the problem. They were doing their job and I was doing mine. So no one is to be blamed.
Anyway, entangled in this mess, I was working 14 hours a day and had absolutely no time for anything else. But one thing is for sure…. My memories of Pune are tarnished :(
Cheers!!
Cheers!!
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