The First Time...

Last night I had very disturbed sleep. I got up late and  was already late to office and uber is yet to figure out my address, after few minutes uber arrived and I rushed in to cab with my stuffed backpack and a heavy laptop. after getting in to cab, my mind became calm but heart started beating fast, I know today is a important day for me and the wait will get over in few hours. With these thoughts in my mind, I reached office. Dropping my things in cabin, I rushed to the meeting, with half-minded and 100% unwillingly I sat in the meeting wishing that they may wrap up fast. Two hours later I walked out of the meeting hall looking at the googlemaps and calculating the travel time to airport. 

Traveling to airport was never so exciting to me. I took cab, asked the driver “ how long does it take to reach airport from here?” he answered “ 60 min “. The cab driver changed route, when questioned he said madam "this is Uber pool". My heartbeat raised and in trembling voice I said how many you need to pick? driver answered "only one". I said “bega hogabeku, please anna”, the driver picked another passenger and finally I was dropped on time at airport.

I entered airport and was waiting for boarding to start, butterflies in my stomach made me restless and I was neither thirsty nor hungry, only thing I want was to board the flight as soon as possible. My phone rang 

He : Hello
Me: Hi
He: Did u board?
Me: No not yet, boarding is yet to start,
He: My battery is low , call on this alternate number if it is not reachable.. happy journey!!
Me: Thank you, bye…

I landed in Hyderabad, turned on my phone and was waiting for the network. I walked towards arrivals gate, saw him waving hand. Yes, it is him, My Would be. We walked straight to one another with our tender smiles and happy faces. We greeted each other, had coffee and took walk towards parking, talking about ourselves which are unknown to each other. We uncared about our surroundings. 

We sat on bench, and I said “Thanks for coming”. With a single glimpse, he held my hand, said “I will always make time to be with you” my hand in his hand, he holding tight. The first touch felt like electricity has passed through my spine, felt like my favourite song was playing in background, I was almost melted, every sense became hazy.

I whispered to him “My heart is beating fast” and I pulled my hand away from his hand. We both smiled at each other with a sense of pride, as we choose to spend rest of our lives with each other.

I finally felt that spark of touch, when first time you held hands of someone you love.

With a spell that lasts, and a tender smile we left the place leaving each other and wanting more...

‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’

Just Do It!!!

"The key to change... is to let go of fear." --Roseanne Cash

Fear is a common factor in every human. But the type and intensity of fear differs from person to person. Most of us are held back by our fears. The result is that we don’t do the things that are important to us. There comes a moment in everyone’s life which is a regret or impact of fear for example public speaking, expressing your opinion, asking for things you want, rejection, saying no, losing a chance to play a sport etc . Fear restricts people.

As I said, even I have certain fears one among them is heights, or it could be Acrophobia” – Phobia of heights. Recently I have been to Diu where I got a chance to parasail, Mind says let’s do it, but heart says No No No…. Finally my mind won and I have set myself to do the sport.

I was decked up in life jacket, attached to a parasail wing and towed behind a boat. The person gave few instructions on how to land and when to pull the rope and meaning for his signals. I was all excited, but had a great fear mixed with some stupid doubts like what if the rope breaks, what if the wing has a hole , before I complete my list, the person started the sport and asked me to run for 3 or 4 m.. I closed my eyes for fraction of seconds but when I opened I was flying high, I looked down and it was so awesome, riding through wind over the sea was unforgettable experience. The boat has slow down so that the wing comes down and my feet is dipped down in water and again I was pulled up.. flying high..

When I am done with the sport, it was such a satisfying experience and it made me more confident than before.

The quotes “if you never try, you’ll never know what you are capable of” – John Barrow came true in my case

It may not look like a great achievement, it is really a great task for me to do it and the wonderful lesson I learnt for the game.

Conquer your fears and transform them in to action!!!..

'C' for Change

This is not a motivational post but these are words which run in my mind and remind me consciously every day. Life always moves faster than what we expect and it teaches us by giving different situations to deal with and to learn. Sometimes I think I am not living my life the way it has to be. So what is my life filled up with? Confusions sleep deprivation, work deadlines, office politics, pay-cheques, telephone calls, broken souls, maid problems, and stress/jealousy by social media, obesity, and acne and so on. 

A week ago I have celebrated my birthday and since then I feel I am stuck in life and no progress is made in my life on personal and professional front. Then I decided to do some kind of introspection.

We all need change in life, which brings progress to life. When we are young, we feel our life is not monotonous and it changes fast and we see progress, but as the years pass, we think there is no much change in our lives. Why it feels so? This is not because there is no change it is because we resist change. So why do we resist change? We do because we have to make choices and we have fear of taking chances. If we are living in a comfort zone, it is pretty hard to move out of it and this impacts the acceptance of change. 

The strings attached with comfort zone are dangerous for anyone who want to progress in life. In my case, I am pretty much depend on my salary, when I think of leaving job and doing something interesting in life, I have fear of losing this financial comfort. Unless I take risk of coming out, I can never do something which I love to do. 

Change always creates ripple effect in life and it further more alarms the risks involved. But we should keep in mind that resistance is the first step toward any good.

 Don’t wish for it, create it. Understand the resistance, accept the change. 

Don’t let the “change”, change you…

The lies of Modern World

One study found that people tell two to three lies every 10 minutes, and even conservative estimates indicate that we lie at least once a day. According to another study conducted by the University of Massachusetts, 60% of adults can’t have a ten minute conversation without lying at least once. 

We all are liars!!!

The lies that do not hurt anyone and are for a good reason we call them as white lies. Everyone tells a lie, sometimes they help to escape from a uncomfortable situation or hold on to someone, buy you time, save relationships or comfort someone and I guess this is a big list and it goes on. Here are some lies of modern world  which we here every day:

• I am fine
• I will be there in five minutes
• I would have reached on time, but hell lot of traffic
• I am busy, call you back
• Your table will be ready in 5 minutes.
• Don’t worry; medicine has improved a lot these days
• I am on diet
• From tomorrow i will exercise for sure
• This is my last cigarette 
• I will quit drinking
• I am not drunk
• Nothing is wrong.
• you are the best thing ever happened to  me
• Definitely I will attend (invitation for wedding/any social gathering)
• You are not fat
• He/she is just a friend
• I will finish the work ASAP
• Aww wow! That’s a nice gift and thank you 
• We will try our best.
• It’s ok!
• It happens for a reason
• I make sure, this will never happen again.

This is all I remember as of now.. Admit it that  you've lied, and contribute to this list...

A Strange Journey

I was travelling to my home town on December 31st. When Clock clicked twelve and the calendar changed to January –its New Year, everyone in the bus started calling their families, friends and wishing a "Happy New Year". Suddenly someone wished me “Happy New Year” I looked at him, he was a guy in ripped jeans, messy hair like a bird’s nest and with a huge yellow  headphones. Talking to stranger was never easy for me but wishing him back was the only option I had and I choose it. He started a conversation with me enquiring details. I politely refused to share and closed my eyes and got lost in my thoughts. I was restless with mixed emotions as a guy is coming to see me in the morning.

Next day, as usual practice I got ready and was waiting for the guy and his family. They arrived and are talking to my parents in the hall. My mother asked my aunt to bring me. With huge butterflies in stomach I walked in to hall and sat before the guy. To my surprise it was that ripped jeans guy with a nest on his head. I have widened my eyes and starred at him without any second thought,  he was neatly shaved with a decent haircut, with a formal dressing . I recollected his face; yes he is the same person. I smiled at him and said "hello" and that’s when it all started…

No one falls in love by choice, it is by chance, January 1st is the day I have met him for first time and I had no idea that He is the one for me. The past few months with him has been absolutely great and I started believing in destiny.

Every day we come across many strangers, some come as blessings and some as lessons, few stay and be few chapters of life and few become part of your life in my strange journey the stranger became "love of My life"

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

January Beginnings

The year 2014 is just done and it was learning year for me. Though I didn't make much of progress on personal and professional front but I learnt life’s best lessons , became stronger than before and much more organized in doing things. It was a year with 50-50 % of Ups & Downs.

I lost a friend and moved out from few friends. Got a good hike in salary, changed more than half of my wardrobe, couple of shoes added to the rack, I am back to my love (i.e sketching), started reading loads of books, pampering self more, connected to new people in my professional network, learning a new language and important thing is I discovered my passion for cooking and improved it a lot :)

I must say, it is not a bad year !!

We just rushed in to New Year and here comes January- a month for setting goals, making resolutions, new beginnings. I am wondering what 2015 has stored in for me and I am all excited for that. Instead, naming resolutions I like to pick few things to work on throughout the year. Now I'm ready for a new set of challenges . Here go my challenges 

• Get rid of negativity
• Come out of comfort zone and to take a risk
• Be punctual- a key to success
• Make time for exercise and stay fit
• Take care of health and eat more of fresh fruits and veggies
• Pray more
• Learn baking
• Overcome a fear 
• Importantly just be awesome because it’s a time to reflect on the changes I want to make.

Here ends my post with "Cheers to a New Year and for another 365 chances".

Wishing you all a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year ..

Do share your thoughts/resolutions/challenges..

Rock the world with love and peace

Love,

Bharathi.

Do you need certification in your career?

I have been playing role of Project Manager off and on, it was my goal to focus on project management and prove my managerial skills in handling huge & versatile projects. That has not always been facile. 

The first impediment I faced was how to present myself as a Project Management professional. 

While I have a diverse background with vigorous project management skills, relying on just a resume, especially in today's economy didn't seem sufficient so I decided to get certified. One of my friend suggested that PMP (Project Management Professional) is the most desired certification. I enrolled myself and took the exam, but sadly I failed to clear the exam in spite of putting good efforts.

Then I tried to understand more about the certification and its relevance to my career path and my field of specialization. Dolefully the certification I have culled was not apt for my field. 

It was puzzle for me did I waste my time and money on a certification that might not mean anything? Of course I acquired knowledge.

This wasn't enough for me. I took further step to do a small research on do we need certification in career?

First thing I did was examining the people in the positions which I relish to aim for. Obviously, the best places to search are LinkedIn and the company job listings. I checked what kind of certifications they have and whether they are titles given by becoming a member of professional groups or exam based certifications.

After few interactions with few people and reading blog & articles, I learnt that

• You need them because companies make it mandatory for  certain jobs. 
• You are ought to take up certification because they are position specific.
• You need it to beat the competition around and to stand out in the crowd.
• You have the real urge for the knowledge 
• The most significant benefit is in the pay check it brings (if only a specific certification matters to the place you work)
• Last but not the least , they show that you are on learning curve and capable of retaining ( you have renew your certifications once in 3 or 5 years based on the organization that certifies) and committed to career path you have chosen.

So my take is Yes Certifications Can Avail You Get a Job...As Long as you choose the right certification.

And for the people, who do not want to take up, don’t worry still you  can make great career, for inspiration  have a look at these top people.

• Mr. Anil Manibhai Naik - Group Executive Chairman of Larsen & Toubro Limited has degree in mechanical engineering from the prestigious Birla Viswakarma Mahavidyalaya Engineering College. His hard work ,commitment ,passion towards career and his best managerial skills has made him one of the India’s Best CEOs and bagged him with outstanding business leader awards.

• Mr. N.Chandrasekaran - Chief Executive Officer, TCS  has completed  Masters in Computer Applications from the REC , Trichy is highest paid CEO in India’s IT sector and received  Honorary doctorate for his significant contributions toward business and society from Netherlands and is one the top India's CEOs ,2014

• Mr Kapil Mehan, Managing Director,Coromandel International is one of the best CEO Agriculture & Allied (Large Companies) holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM, Ahmedabad

• Mrs. Chanda Kochhar, MD& CEO of ICICI, is honoured with Padma Bhushan Award and ranked as the most powerful business woman in India in Forbes list. She holds Masters Degree in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.

and the list goes on..

The world gives you plenty of opportunities to make your dreams come true.

keep the fire in you  burning and follow you passion..

Love,

Bharathi.