She turned to the Sunlight...

She turned to the sunlight
    And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
    "Winter is dead.” 

― A.A. Milne

No matter how long the winter… the spring is sure to follow!

And this year, the astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere began on

Wednesday, March 20 and will be ending on Thursday, June 20..

Haha.. this was bit too technical ain’t it!

Don’t worry I m not writing this to bore u… I would just like to pen down how God changes this drab and dirty world into vibrant & vivacious one around March-April!!! Spring is when everything is alive! It puts a spirit of youth in everything! 

Each April morning I wake up to the song of the cuckoo..  (have to emphasize that i m talking about the real cuckoo! cos every other day of the year also i wake up to the song of the cuckoo... its the ALARM on my husband's cell phone!!!!) and the funny thing about this is that... during this time... as the alarm on his cell rings... the real cuckoo even responds to the alarm... or in their language the CALL!!!!!

Its so amusing... I can't even snooze it :P

Well then as my (spring) day starts... n I set out for work... on the way i see these Golden-Yellow blooms... the whole tree is full of these hanging yellow inflorescence and its a treat for my eyes to watch a full row of these spectacular flora by the roadside! 

I go further ahead and huge pink.. purple.. n red trees dot my way on either sides........ with no greens on them... the entire tree acquires the hues of these flowers.. creating a marvelous scene!

There is new foliage springing to life on the massive old trees.. the tiny.. tender.. pink hued leaves are immensely endearing on the over-sized colossals...

Another appealing sight is the mango blossoms... ('mohor' as we call it in marathi...) 

Come March and the mango tree starts bearing these petite, white flower blooms and by the start of the month of April, the plant is full of dark-green, raw mangoes... hanging from almost all the branches of the thick, broad vegetation... 

(and yes.. I love to munch on them too... the tangy taste tickles the taste buds !!!)

After a long hard n a dreary day at work................. (huh! was it a too long dragging day... nope i was just exaggerating!!... ) when i return to my home in the evenings.... its the time for the birds too... to go home... to their safe n secure nests. There is one particular tree... may be around a hundred years old... which is an abode to countless birds! The tree is full of chirps and tweets... (by this i don't mean that the birds are unusually tech-savvy as to use twitter!!!!) 

Well, coming back to the chirps n tweets... the sound is extremely melodious and when I pass by this tree I just get lost for the moment! 

To sum it up... I would say... that... 

"The Aprils have never meant much to me  before... 

..before I realized that Spring is the season of the beginnings...."

 

My First Appraisal!

You would think why would anyone want to describe an appraisal process… first day at college.. first date.. first kiss.. first night would b more interesting to describe…

Boss... (...this refers to you.. not my boss… generally people from aamchi Mumbai tend to call random ppl as boss) u’ll njoy my appraisal process as well…

After working for more than 3 yrs in a govt. office on a meager stipend… this was the first time I felt  a tinge of the corporate aggressiveness in me! (Not being used to the bargaining process… I guess I needed my mom or my friends to accompany me for shopping!)

Day 1: After filling up the KRAs and self-evaluation… the form came back to me after my boss’ review.. and as expected, boss had given me a “2.0 - needs improvement” tag everywhere. No matter whether I had rated myself as 5.0 - outstanding, 4.0 - exceed expectations or 3.0 - solid contributor!

He handed me the prints early in the morning and fixed the one-to-one after lunch.

I didn’t have the slightest idea that an appraisal is like shopping at the fashion street… he says a 2 & I say a 4 & we settle at 3!

After lunch he guided me to the conference room himself… I was in my usual jovial… bouncy way… smiling at the passersby… they were wishing me good luck and I casually greeted them n thanked them! Boss (this time I AM referring to my boss!) in turn would laugh and comment “There’s no need for that! She seems to be very casual” (I swear… and it never seemed to me that I was taken to the conf room to be grilled! …well there IS a reason to that… I have a rather cool boss…!)

Inside the conference room… he started the blah blahs of any typical boss… We have a lot of expectations from u… u r a young blood.. u shud b creative.. we saw ur track record… u topped in your grads… so keeping that in mind…………………………….

I was rather bored… he always keeps on telling this (obv. its his duty to!)…… and then suddenly he was like… “You don’t have to be known as any ‘pretty girl floating here n there’…” Looking at my dropped jaw he cleared, “U like it or not… everyone here knows you that way!” (he has a rather amazing observation & also knows each n every person on all the 4 floors of our office building!)

Boss! Now wat was that! A part of an appraisal talk!

He lectured some more.. & then asked me whether I had any argument against what I had been rated… No one has to accept what others rate them.. u can fight back… we r here to grow.. u, me, & everyone else.. so tell me.. defend urself!

By this time I was so lost… ARGUE… DEFEND… What! am I supposed to fight with d boss! Is it really.. actually… factually.. so or is it like this only with my boss! (coz… he’s really a cool guy.. but the prob was that he is a sensitive one too… ). 

I was silent & meditative..

He asked again “Do u have anything in your defence???” I was still silent and in deep thought…

The court was adjourned for the next day… I was supposed to present my justification by lunch time the next day..

DAY 2: I just read & re-read the comments given by my boss… just to find out some catch here and there on which I could argue with my boss! (Well.. there are many… but nothing to argue.. just needs improvement… needs improvement… & needs improvement…!!!

Improvement!... of course… there it was.. just right there… this word itself “Improvement”!

A girl interested in the miracles of the nature, the sea, the sun, moves completely in to the unnatural world of banking… debits, credits, transactions, accounting & what not! Learns all the basics… & can now even explain complicated bits and pieces of this... money-magnet world within no time, actually!

Is this not improvement??

Well I explained (read it as ‘argued’) all this to my boss… (confidently enuf) and believe me my arguments did confuse (& may be surprised) & pinched the boss’ confidence instead!

About me!

So to get started with the blog... let me introduce myself to you!

About me! 

This is the toughest Q when asked in an interview.. ain't it?  (I bet u agree with this!)

Ask my friends… 

n some will say I’m shy & reserved.. some will say I’m a talkative little monster!

Some will say I’m sweet & sensitive, while others will say I’m short tempered & get angry easily!!

… well I’m everything.. rather I am a bit of everything… yes…

As a child, I was shy & reserved, but as I grew up and had friends.. I sure am a talkative brat with my near & dear ones…

I am sensitive.. and sweet too (wink) and short tempered .. well.. with my mum and my hubby! :P… 

Yes!

I need to be perfect… perfection is the key to my sweetness! ...That's only in some necessary things (and yes! that does not mean my room and my cupboard is spec clean..!!)

To sum it up, I feel I’m like an eagle.. free like a bird.. authoritative, but often a solitary being, having difficulty sharing my personal and innermost thoughts! (dat counts on me being more on the 'shy n reserved' side.. one truly cannot change one's innate nature!)

I’m just like these birds of prey which are some of the wildest of nature’s beings… (but of course, harmless), withholding my pride!... I have an inner core of strength which I have to use quite often.. coz I just feel uncomfortable leaning on others!!!

Well this was to justify my post name... "a leopard cannot change its spots"..

"This is me! n I won’t b changing a bit!"