2019 - An year of shock and surprises

2019 - a year of surprises

2019 seemed to be dawning only yesterday and here we are - at the end of the year already.

This year had brought a lot of surprises and shocks to me personally and officially.

Personally, my dad underwent a major procedure and thankfully he is alright.

I am expecting my second child is another pleasant shock.

Officially, I gave up my freelancing to a more steady and safe permanent job. It does not mean I wont be in freelancing anymore, as I am working on how to start my own venture.

Another good thing was my family was on the press for the topic 'Indians in Belgium' and it gave me a good popularity ;-)

Another shock is I had quite a huge number of fights with 'so called friends' and had a strained relationship.

Eagerly awaiting what 2020 is bringing to the table.

Wish each and everyone of you a very happy new year 2020

Petta - A tribute

If you are coming here, looking for a movie review, I am sorry to disappoint you, as I am not a movie analyst.

‘Hero’ worship:

This term achieved real meaning in Tamil Nadu right from the days of MGR, who later on went to become the CM of Tamil Nadu.

Coming from the same genre of acting, Rajni entered the industry in 1975 much before Maestro Raja Sir Debut.

A man who cannot talk proper Tamil. A man who was very dark in complexion.

Everyone thought how long he will survive. But the fact is, he not only survived, he has ruled the industry for now 40 years like a King.

Doing commercial movie is not a joke and doing it with style and charisma for 40 years is definitely not as easy as it looks.

The man has the ability to reinvent himself. He is a Sachin Tendulkar of Kollywood will be an understatement. Sachin Tendulkar was in fact a Rajnikanth of Indian Cricket.

Having watched his movie Raja Chinna Roja, ask any kid of the 90s they say how they longed if they had an uncle like Rajni.

Rajni is a kids hero. And that will always work with everyone. My uncle used to joke in 1997 that If Rajni has to stand in elections, then all kids needs to be given voting right, otherwise he won’t win.

Now, that statement is partially true and the wait is now over, as all the kids have become adults and are still looking to Rajni as their superhero.

So, what has made him likeable all these years? I would say, his simplicity outside the sets plus his straightforward speech. One of my friend joked that Rajni cannot do a political speech. Who needs them? We only need a person who talks his heart out and not a person who talks rhymes in front of the mic.

The worship for Rajnikanth is a different level. And unlike other stars, he never uttered the name of MGR to garner fan base. Rather,the only big actor name he utters in movies is Kamal Haasan who was his direct competitor. Such is his humility and attitude.

Only actor who can give advises in life in a song and gets away without getting trolled has to be this man for he worked his way to the top, He is a self made man. And people like me realize the importance of the term ‘self-made’ as there are not too many people around to help you.

Every hard worker can realize a Rajni in him if you observe and the connect is what makes him the real Super Star. The energy which he manages to rub off on the audience is just unbelievable and a different level.

Everyone said, there was a Management Lesson on MS Dhoni. Not sure how many of you know that there was a management study once upon a time on Rajni isms..

Everything said, I am eagerly waiting for my day to do the darshan of ‘Thalaivar’ as he is famously known way before he announced his political entry.

There can be many Stars before and After him, But There can never be Another Rajnikanth.

The name is Sivaji Rao Gaekwad. Do NOT Forget. 

Mother Tongue Importance

               This is one area where every parent (including myself) need attention. Of late, I see many Indian parents don't encourage kids to talk in their mother tongue. While the parents' urge to master English as an international language when the kid is young is commendable, ignoring mother tongue at the expense of this language is not something that is advisable.

               I always believe that any child can best express his or her emotions in the mother tongue. In other words, kids get a better emotional connect with the parents and with the society that he/she lives in. Never mind, even if you are living in a foreign land. The language of the land will automatically come to the child by timely exposure to the native kids.

               It is here the Mother scores above the rest, as she is the one who should acknowledge the importance of making her kid talk in mother tongue at home. With proper exposure, the kid can easily switch to English outside. Parents should be ready to acknowledge this fact without a mindset block.

                We should always remember that English is a language which has destroyed many other languages just because of its fake attraction. Our very culture depends on our mother tongue that we talk to express ourselves. All said, I am not against making the kid learn English.

LEARN IT, DO NOT BREATHE IT.

Career - Success or Failure

Blogging my experience on request of my very good friend:

Being an Indian, It is very difficult for any kid to have desires. For example, when I was in my school, I aspired to become a cricketer one day. But I was forced to drop that desire, due to the break neck competition in sports field and my family's financial status.

Cut to 2018, where I am working as a freelancer in my client's place. When I started my career in 2005 in this never forgiving IT industry, I always had to come the second best. The break neck competition in the field has not dampened me a bit. I always say with pride, that I always had a good work-life balance by running my own race (or competing with myself). Yes, there were company standards, yes there were client demands, but that doesn't mean I will have to lose my sleep over a job which only occupies 8 hours of my daily life.

Being Different:

I still remember sometime in 2007 (almost 2 years after started working in IT), I asked my team mate as to where should I go to catch the night shuttle at midnight and the entire team burst out laughing, as they knew I will never lose my personal life come whatever may.

While all others were busy jumping from one project to another, to get on-site, I believed in persisting in the same project. Many of my friends and well wishers were not impressed with these decisions including my IT mentors who thought it was going to backfire as I neither wont get promoted not get any on-site assignments.

Attitude:

I see lot of people with 'can do' attitude when it comes to work. The same should be followed for 'outside work' as well. For instance, the 'can do' attitude can be shown to finish the work on time or searching a new opportunity or making your own path.

PS: In 2009, my best friend had asked me what eligibility I have to do a Manager role.

In 2015, when I was without a contract, my co-worker asked me if I need a salary without a job.

My answer to them was plain simple. 'I know what I need, so I will ask you when I need something'. A king always remains a king, remember when Alexander defeated Porus in the war and asked him how he wanted to be treated, Porus boldly said 'treat me like a King'.  The same goes to all of us. Each of us is a King/Queen in our own right.

We don't need others to lift us up in morale. We only need our own hero worship(self worship). And more importantly, we don't need to belittle others to project our achievements or to motivate ourselves.

Coping with Negative Yearly feedback:

This is the most trickiest thing for any employee. A negative feedback or an average feedback would mean the next promotion and a good salary increase is already postponed for an year minimum with all conditions apply. This is where our attitude helps in tackling this tricky thing. Through out my career, at least 1 year in every 2 years I got this type of feedback. While I don't see much decline in my performance, I personally feel it is clearly a stunt by management to keep employees working for 15-16 hours instead of 8 for increasing their revenues.

So in hindsight, promotion in IT industry has kept on evading me for the entire 9 years I worked.

Decision Making:

As an aspiring free bird employee, I needed to take really bold and tough decisions and be prepared to sit at home when there is no work. This could be possible due to the moral and financial support that I received from my entire family members including my in laws. My dad went to the extent of giving his retirement benefit money to me to support my financial needs.

Tasting Success:

As they say 'success is a journey and not a destination'. My journey of so called success started since 2015 Feb, when I started my career as a freelancer, one who decides where to work and how many hours to work etc. Many people call it sheer luck that I am here, while my best friends tell me how happy they were and how much hard work and stress that I had underwent to be myself all these years. Last year, I had lost my contract due to health and budget issues. Some of my colleagues told that I cannot make a come back anymore. But here I am live and kicking and still going strong after all the hiccups that I had faced.

Facing Challenges:

A person can oppose his manager, not the management to be on his own. That is the very success of corporates in keeping people as their slaves. Breaking the shackles needs lot of guts and an ultra positive mindset and attitude which luckily I had.

Road Ahead:

I know the road ahead is not that easy, but I will make sure I listen to only constructive feedback from people around me (no more negativity).

Running our own race and competing with our own self is the key to success in any field.

Even now, I leave it to the readers here to decide whether my career is a success or failure, but to me as I already wrote, I will always be a Lion, roaring positively.

Jai Hind!

NEET

During my post on 12th exam, I mentioned how we should not be running the rat race that all others run. But, for NEET, I don't know what to say. Its a entrance exam for aspiring students who wish to become Doctor.

For strange reasons, already students from TN have been allocated centres in the North. Already due to stress, we have 2 parents who died due to cardiac arrest. Each and every media covers the news. We have one set of people who always oppose the government come up with all stories and as usual the other side, is damn silent.

Of late, politics in India has been becoming vengance filled. When these dirty things end, we would have lost many more precious lives who are in no way related to the actual issue.