Something I wrote - अदा

आपकी इक नज़र से न जाने कितने  दिल पिघलते हैं,
आपके हुस्न के आगे लाखों आफ़ताब युहीं ढलते हैं,
आपकी मोहब्बत ने तो सिर्फ़ हमारी ज़िन्दगी बदली है,
आपकी अदाओं से ही तो यह मौसम बदलते हैं.

Such a long journey

The greatest plans are made in the spur of the moment (except wars, of course). And so was this.

3 PM, 4th April
Me and Mohnish just realise that our stay in Bangalore may be longer that we had initially expected. I, as usual, started cribbing about lack of transport around Bangalore. I, in other words hate being away from my bike for too long.
I suggested, rather half-heartedly, that we should go get my bike from Pune. Monday being an optional holiday, we could take our own time in doing the 800 kms. The plan sounded ridiculous as none of us had ridden for that long. Plus, we had to make a move tomorrow. From Pune. And we were . Much to my surprise, Mohnish latched on to the concept! We had no idea about the roads or the time it'll take for us to achieve the feat.

We had a one line plan -"get the bike from Pune to Bangalore till Sunday". Booked the tickets for the next day (tickets courtesy the company - it supports weekly travel to the home city :-) ).

11 AM, 5th April
It gave me goosebumps looking down from the plane window thinking we'll be treading the same ground (albeit slower, much much slower) in a couple of hours. Landed at 12 in the noon the next day and planned to move at 2.

We packed my saddlebag, stacked it on my ThunderBird and out for the journey. But first things first - fuel up. Filled the tank to the brim at Wanowrie petrol pump and set about. well, sort of ...

I revved up the bike to begin our trip. The plan was to halt at Kolhapur, 225 km away. We stopped much earlier. 400m. Thats all we could manage when the bike broke down. Remeber the one line plan? Well, it did not include checking if the bike was travel ready. I opened up the battey compartment to check for the fuse (every Enfield owner worth his salt knows how to do minor repairs on his bike). My heart sank when I saw he sight that awaited us. I had forgotten that the battery needed replacement. It was leaking like a faucet.

We called up the garage only to be told we can not get help for atleast an hour. We contacted a local mechanic and waited for him to take a look. And waited some more. The mechanic arrived an hour later, turned the key, pushed the ignition switch and voila! the bike started. I, being scientifically inclined killed the engine and repeated the process again. Thrice. The bike was humming like it sweet honey bee. After the mechanic assured that he'll be on 24 hours assistance in case anything happens again en route, we started the journey again. And this time, it was on.

... end of part 1

Thoughts work. some times.

Hurray to my new job!
After spending a couple of years at the giant virtually adding nothing to my portfolio, I decided to call it quits. My decision stumped my friends and family. My parents couldn't fathom why I was leaving such a 'good' company. My previous employer had a name that some of my extended family had heard of. And that meant a lot for my folks.

But then, hard decisions have to be made. A lot of factors went into making me switch, but there were a few areas where my friends thought I was mistaken.

• I was doing pretty well at the current job
• I was the youngest team lead around
  
• I was the de-facto expert at the product I was responsible for (and could hold my employers at ransom for keeping me happy)
• Was earning pretty ok and my new job wasn't, well, very high paying
• I was recognised and highly rated by my previous employer

What made me switch then? Inertia.
Some people like to take it lying down. I don't. Why disturb the force when all's hunky-dory? I guess I am a nut. I dont like stability. I like the status-quo to be disturbed. Like to challenge myself. I hate stagnation and am always game for a challenge.

I was stagnating in my job. I love to learn, I love to explore. My job would not have given me that opportunity. I couldn't bare to think that my two years of association with the giant had given me no significant new skills. It was killing me that I was made a team lead so soon. I had to curtail my instincts as a developer and think about 'the greater good'. I felt I was not done yet. I needed to learn a lot more and knew that I will require a free hand at doing that.

The status quo had to be broken. I needed to liberate myself from the slew of processes and become something I always wanted to become - a programmer.

I would love to do bits and pieces job when I can. I want to lay the bricks rather than build the temple. There is a lot of time left for me to think bigger. But for now, being a bit selfish and doing what I love will do. Of course, it means giving up on fat bonuses and big chunky salaries but that am willing to do.

It has been a fun few weeks since I joined the new place. It has been fun, a radical change from the morose environ at the old do. I have been busy learning Ruby - a language I had last touched a couple of years ago but couldn't take the 'hobby' to work as it wasn't aligned to business commitments.

Am not exactly sure what am doing in the new company. Don't know if it will work out in the long run. But then, chances are meant to be taken.
Risks are not a part of life if you don't want them to be. Life is guided by vision and vision driven from thoughts.

and thoughts work. some times.