2015 Week 28 Update

The last week was a short one because of the public holiday for the end of the fasting month!

But the weekend was far from the idyllic one that I envisioned. We didn’t get the magical email which would push BB to the next round at his dream school, which put a damper into everyone’s lives. I was shattered – for some reason I had already envisioned him in the school and now to realise that he’s not going to make it, somehow put me into a complete funk. I was depressed the whole day and at night, went to BB’s room to talk to him and completely lost it! I started crying – something I am not proud of – but if this makes any difference to BB’s mindset for the exams, I’ll take what I can get.

We go into the Prelims orals this week with both languages happening one after the other.

So here’s a nice quote to brighten up your day and another one for the week ahead! Ok, Monday, lets roll!!

2015 Week 27 Update

Not a very happy week for me, this one!

I’ve had two ‘conversations’ with my boss and the first one last Monday was so, so depressing that I was in tears during and after it. I kept brooding over it the rest of the week and we had a follow up conversation on Thursday which was more of a mid year conversation. I don’t want to explain the whole thing in detail (which if I do, will take up more of your time than I care for you to lose :-)).

To summarise both the conversations is that I can’t escape the admin part of my current role anytime soon. With the team expanding, it only means more of this for me. Also, I don’t see any promotion in the cards, at least in the near future (within the next year). So now I really need to figure what I want – do I stay here and hope for the promotion in say a year’s time which may or may not materialise? Or should I move on?

I’ve been stewing on this, and at this point what I think I will do is wait it out. I will apply for new positions and see where that takes me. If I get a great opportunity, then maybe I will take it up or at the very least give this organisation to match that offer. If it does not pan out, then I’ll leave…

Well, that’s my life this last week. This week is a short one with Friday being a public holiday for Hari Raya Haji or Ramzan Id as I’ve always known it. For Muslims all over the world, it’s a time of feasting after a month of rigorous fasting!

Childhood Reminiscences

Growing up we didn’t have access to the entertainment options that are available now. Television was mostly the single state run channel, Doordarshan where the weekly Chhayageet or Chitrahaar (a 30 minute back-to-back Bollywood m.usic show) or later on Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (This is Life), a brilliant show helmed by Kundan Shah.

This meant that most of our time was spent playing outdoors. We used to have a big group of friends and in the holidays (summer and winter) all those who didn’t go for a holiday (holidays in those days meant going to your native place aka, your ancestral place to meet your grand parents), we’d have a schedule which went something like this:

Wake up by 7 and meet down at the building compound to play, run etc.By 9, the mums would have done their chores and would start hollering for the kids to get back home to bathe, breakfast etc. Then it would be in someone’s house to play indoor games till the call for lunch came. After lunch again we would meet either in someone else’s house or at the landing outside my house which was on the top floor (less chance of people disturbing us, you see). There we’d gossip, play games like word games, card games, traditional Indian indoor games like cowri etc and then in the evening after a snack we’d be back down playing hide-and-seek, running etc till we were tired and our dads came home from work. Evenings would be spent watching DD and bedtime would be quite early.

Life was fairly uncomplicated then and the biggest worry at the age of 12 for me was if my decided to fight with me or not play with me on a particular day…

I really miss those days and the friendships we had. The life got in the way and we became busy and as friends grew up and started high school, slowly all this petered away…

Today, when I look at GG & BB, they are so bogged down with work – playtime is an indulgence for them. I am happy that most days, given a chance, they would go down to play, but these days are becoming rare and I guess by next year, they’d probably disappear.

2015 Week 26 Update

Another week has gone by!

I have quite a busy week starting today and so my complaint of being bored will not work this week. I also have a “conversation” with my boss later today about my role here and what I can and should do for better opportunities in the company. Guess this conversation will decide for me whether to stay or to start looking for newer opportunities. I like this place and about 60% of my job, which is why taking that step to go out is a bit hard!

On another note, I’ve been having a bit of problem with my right shoulder and arm for a while now. I’ve been putting medicated plasters and muscle relaxants on it, especially at night, but since Saturday evening, the pain is quite bad. After googling the symptoms, I have now decided that I should mention it to my doctor when I see her next week for my routine checkup because one of the symptoms of a heart attack or stroke is pain in the arms….

Also, good news for Singapore during it’s 50th birthday. The Singapore Botanical Gardens has been deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The news came yesterday and it’s nice to have a UNESCO site in your backyard. More about this one of these days….

Massages and reflexology: Painful, but oh, so worth it!

Wearing heels almost the whole day means that at the end of the day, you have aching feet!

I started doing foot reflexology on a whim some time last year when I used to take GG to ballet. I used to have an hour to kill and in the mall next to her class, I chanced upon this chain which did foot reflexology and massages. I did foot reflexology a couple of times and was hooked – I paid up for a package and since then have been enjoying it on and off!

After GG stopped ballet, I also stopped going to the shop, till one day a couple of months back, my foot was paining so badly, I decided to see if there was a store nearby which does this – I lucked out and found the same chain close to my workplace and since then almost once a week (sometimes twice a week), either after work or during my lunch hour, I go and get either a foot massage or a shoulder massage.

So what is foot reflexology? I am not sure if this form of alternative medicine is popular out of Southeast Asia, but here, you see them everywhere! Foot Reflexology involves application of pressure to the feet with specific thumb, finger and hand techniques with the oil of a lotion. This technique claim that various areas of the feet correspond to the different organs in the body and by pressing and kneading these points in the feet, remove blockages in the different parts of the body.

The massages for the back and neck do not involve lotions, but only kneading, pressing and massaging on your neck/back using a towel as a shield. These also tend to be quite painful, but given that pretty much everyone is on a computer at work, muscles become rather stiff. I try to do a neck massage once a week to remove the kincks in my shoulder

The masseuse, even the old aunty-type masseuses have such strong hands, that at times it’s even painful, but oh, so good once it’s done…

While having my massages, I have the most random thoughts. Here are some of them….

Yesterday while having a shoulder massage, I was wondering if I should write a book set in Southeast Asia, where the murderer is this old auntyish lady who is a masseuse and who murders people who have wronged her by giving them massages so strong that it triggers some parts of their body to malfunctions and so some hours later they die and the police and detectives are baffled at these murders and no one comes close to finding it out until this old sinseh (a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner) figures it all out! Now that the plot is here, if anyone writes the book, you know where to find me to send me the share of the royalty 🙂

Another time, I felt I was having an out-of-body experience, something akin to floating around till I came crashing down when the massage ended 😦