Networking - Human interactions

One of my co-workers opined that meetings and townhalls are waste of time and how returning to offices is equivalent to loss of productive hours. Bombarded with statuses on how return to office will make life hell from many colleagues, it triggered my need to put across my views. 

I too have enjoyed and discovered the benefits of remote work such as reduced commute times and increased flexibility, but in-person interactions provide much more value in terms of building relationships, fostering creativity, and addressing complex issues collaboratively.

Networking  and human connections are indispensable part of work life. Sadly, covid 19 has had a profound impact on human interactions. Networking is often misunderstood as a race to rack up contacts. It's not that. We should think of networking as a practice to cultivate authentic relationships over time. 

Amid the sounds of click-clack of keyboards and chitchat of friends in the office, we could identify the furrowed brow of our colleagues-  a frustrated fresher, a tempered manager, an exhausted team leader. 

 "Not right time to talk to the manager, he seems not in a good mood right now", a colleague to another who wanted to talk about promotion. 

"You seem a bit stuck there. Need any help?", said a team lead noticing the struggle of the new joiner. 

" Hey, you look tired, let's grab a cup of tea". 

We discover shared interests and passions beyond work, from hiking to a love of classic literature. Conversations flow effortlessly, forging a bond that transcends the office walls. During lunch breaks, colleagues gather in the cafeteria, sharing stories, laughter, and homemade dishes from their diverse backgrounds. This friendship extends to helping each other in times of need, whether it is covering for a colleague during a family emergency or offering a listening ear during personal challenges. 

The office should be a tight-knit community where colleagues genuinely care about each other's well-being and success. 

The pandemic forced us to adopt remote work arrangements. This shift reduced in-person interactions at the office and relied heavily on virtual communication tools, which we use only for "required" interactions. The hesitation to reach out for help has increased multifolds. The isolation brought on by remote work and reduced social interactions has taken a toll on mental health. The amount of time spent at work every day is roughly half a day, so you need to have heartful connections with your colleagues without which you cannot remain productive in the long run. There's no escape from the walls you create with isolation. 

So, while some exceptions will always be there, most of the widespread resistance in returning to offices is just because people don't want to leave the "comfort" that they have discovered during the pandemic. This "comfort" believe me is not beneficial in the long run. 

My dear friend - Lost & Found

Alone I was waiting for you... Waiting for you to come back.... And you did come back...
I missed you dearly and solemnly. I remembered the first day I met you and hugged you. It was a fine evening on 15th of May, 2009. And, I just could not stop cursing the bad world outside which separated us. For a few days, I thought it was your demise and I will have to move on. I thought I lost you forever.... I never knew that every single snap and every favorite song and movie would seem like a painful reminiscence...  But my happiness knew no bounds when you came back... my friend, my guide... my dear DELL Inspiron Laptop.... !!! I lovingly named you "GRACE" and by His Grace, you did come back to me... Thank you.


Yes, Finally, My dear laptop came back to me after a long struggle... It was stolen from my room. I cursed myself for the fleeting second that I kept it reachable for the thief...  


Lessons that this episode taught me are:
1) When you lock your room, for God's sake don't put the keys in the window. It's more than foolish to do so...It's like putting your hand in the mouth of a hungry lion and asking it not to bite... 
2) S*** happens.
3) You just need to get a grip...
4) Nothing is immortal.
5) Gyaan is easier to give than to implement.
6) Don't worry of what happens next.. Even if nothing happens, at least you'll get experience..  (kyon darein Zindagi Mein Kya Hoga, Kuch Na Hoga To Tajruba Hoga)
7) The above point might sound like optimistic nonsense, but it is not. And, yes.. I still support the 5th point. ;)
8) Police and Court proceedings take a lot of time... you just need to have patience. (You might be wondering how police and court came into picture... Yes, the thief was caught by the police with my laptop bag and its belongings. When I went to the police station to take my belongings, I was told that I have to hire an advocate to claim that it's mine.)
9) You might want to kick the Judge and ask him "Are you NUTS???", when the only question he asks to give release orders is "What do you call laptop in Telugu?" and delays your case because you are clueless of what he is asking... I mean, how on earth is it a related question?.. Was he trying o be funny? It's not funny and that too when you are waiting for around 5 hrs, outside a magistrate court (which resembled more of a fish market) for a Lady to call your advocate's name and your name in a rather grumpy voice!! So... You might want to kick him... but you cannot! because he is the "honourable judge" and calling him nuts would be "contempt of court".
10) You always rely on friends and family. Nothing much you can do without their support. "I can do it all by myself" feeling is crushed and you need people around you, who are there for you... As the new airtel ad's song goes.... Har ek friend zaruri hotha hai.. :) :)

NAGAVALLI.

Hang On! Hang On! If you are guessing that it is about the upcoming Venkatesh starring, Sequel of Chandramukhi, Telugu Movie - Nagavalli, you are absolutely WRONG!!

It is about my friend - my childhood friend - my first friend after I understood the meaning of the word "friend".

I was in 1st standard when I met her. She was my classmate- rather say, Bench-mate. She was extremely cute with dimpled cheeks and dimpled chin. We had companionship of nearly 6 years after that. She was the Ishaan Awasthi (TZP Kid) of my class. Least interested in studies. She was always ready to donate her things... pencils and erasers and even her copies!!! I remember how we used her copies as roughly as we could to play!
Her home was very near to our school; she used to come by Tanga- the Ghoda Gaadi (Horse-Cart). On the other hand, mine was too far and I travelled by school-bus. We would always invite each other to our homes ( I knowing that it is anyhow not going to happen, our parents wont allow).  Relating an interesting incident below, when I was in 1st standard!!!

One fine day, she told me that she wants to come to my home and entered my school bus along with me. Now, how could I say NO.?? I was happy... but was afraid about my mom's reaction. She told me that she has informed her brother. So.. The bus started.. In every two minutes she would ask "When will we reach your home?" She never had such a long journey it seemed. At bus stop, Mom was waiting for us. I gave my bag to Mom. 

Mom asked, "Who is she???".  
"My friend!!! She wanted to visit our home..." , I said.
"I told her that my home is very far.. but she already told her brother... so... I .." I continued justifying that I didn't invite her. 
My sweet mom smiled and didn't say anything and I thanked God (I don't really know if I knew what thanking God was, but I'm sure I took a sigh of relief). Mom prepared gulab jamuns that day for us. I gave her my frock to wear, and we played that evening.. extremely happily...I wished her home was near to mine...  Dad came back from office. He looked at my mom and asked with gesture about her. Dad went to Bedroom after listening to the whole story, not bothering much. 
My paternal uncle came after some time and he was astonished to see such a small child, and.. kind of.. bashed my parents for not bothering to take her back to her home. He was worried that her parents will be worried by this time. 
"She is hardly 6 years, what will you do if she cries in the night for her mom????" , He asked my parents. "Give me her bag, I'll drop her now.", he said.
"I will go tomorrow", she cried. 
I too cried, but did not dare to say a word before my uncle. 
My uncle took her in his arms and lovingly said "Your mom would be worried, Lets go to home". 
He asked her "Where is your home?".  
"Ummm.... Uncle... There is a temple and a BIG Tree... There are so many birds on it. They do "chi -chi" all the time. My home is near to that place", she replied innocently, wiping her tears. You can guess what reaction one must be having after hearing this..  :D
When they reached school, the watchman told that her parents were so much worried that they have already registered a  police complaint. Somehow, she reached her home safely that night, with my uncle's strong will. We came to know later that she was a single child in her family, and had no brother. 

This small tale is remembered again and again in my home, till date... :) 

Years passed by, and we still were best of friends. Her only problem was studies. I remember another incident, I still remember it with much detail...It goes back to sometime, when I was in 4th standard.

We were asked to submit H.W copies , my homework was complete, but my copy was not covered with the Brown sheet, which was a MUST. I was afraid.. As always, she readily donated a brown sheet. She removed it from her own copy and wrapped it neatly on mine. Erased her name and wrote mine. 
I asked her "How about yours?". 
She said with recklessness "My homework is anyhow not completed. No worries..". 
I submitted my copy happily and... she was punished. She was hit by scale and big tears rolling down her cheeks. I felt so bad, and  realized that I could have helped her complete her homework, rather than taking that sheet to save myself. I felt guilty, but I never expressed it, and ironically, I scolded her for not completing homework.

Slowly, my circle of friends changed. I started being more with my kind of students with whom I can discuss studies, with whom I could play knowledge oriented games apart from the regular childish 'hide and seek' sort of games.. I got the feeling  of "not my kinds" for her.  The innocence of friendship was gradually decreasing. With maturity, we start choosing friends.. Friendship no more happens automatically. We start looking at the characteristics: How good is she/he in studies, how one dresses up, how well he/she speaks in English... interests, values, ethics, etc.  


I was now in 9th standard.. and she was still in 7th Standard. After spending 2 years of unsuccessful attempts in 6th standard, she was somehow, promoted to 7th standard, with much difficulty. We were in different classes now, and obviously, we became distant with just a few hello, hi's and Byes..
That day, I had to do some decoration in our class. I needed some colours. She appeared in corridor and I casually told her about the decoration stuff. Again, she was ready with some colours, and offered them. 
I asked "How come you have all the colours?".  
"Its 'Drawing' Exam today", she replied.
"How can you give this to me??? It's your EXAM. Keep it for your-self. I'll get from else-where." I refused to take.
"I will have option of Pencil drawing, will opt for it. No worries..." she enforced me to take it.
I finally took 2-3 colours out of the bunch and thanked her.


That was the last time I met her. I never saw her again. Some said that she got married. Some said that she changed her school. I wished I could meet her one last time and say thanks. I wished I could do something for her. 
I tried to find her in orkut and facebook, when I joined these sites.. in vain. 
She has always been in my childhood memories that I cherish. 
I remember the way we played, the way we ate together, the way I scolded her, the way she cried when I was hurt... I never admired her qualities then. In fact, I never observed them. When I brood over these incidents, I realize that she taught me few great things, which school and studies can never teach one. She showed me unconditional love with the tiny concerns and tiny things of school-life. 
I feel lucky to have some true friends in my life, for whom I have this 'unconditional affection'. Friends... whom I accept as they are. 

From Letters to Scraps

When is the last time you saw post man coming in a bicycle with a bag of letters??? For me, it is perhaps when I was in 9th standard or so.... 
To open the envelope from family members or friends, replying, and knowing that they will take time to write back to you was a great feeling. I remember how we used to make  greeting cards on special occasions for friends and spent hours in making them look the best. There is something special in the golden ribbon boundary of the cards, the smell of Fevicol, Blue ink and hand writing in personal letters and cards. I have saved a treasure of such Hand written letters and Hand-made cards and I love to see them, adore them even today.
Now-a-days, people don't much prefer to write. Whether personal or business related, people pick up a phone before they pick up a pen . Then again, I cant blame anyone, for I haven't written anything with a pen, for some months, except just the odd signature here or there. I get e-mails now, infact, I am getting more than my share of emails, and reading them, though gives me a lot of happiness , but still is no match to the hand written stuff. No one no more addresses anyone with "Dear ....", "Dearest and Nearest", "Respected", etc.. Emails begin with "Hi" and end with "Cheers"! Thanks to social sites like orkut and facebook, we have stopped the minimum formalities. We directly say "Wassup??" :)

The intimacy and the feelings with which people used to write letters seems to be lost. I wonder when I think about the past, when there was no mode of communication through technology, not even postal service. People had to wait for a pigeon to send  and receive letters. Remember "Kabutar ja ja" of "Maine pyar kiya". When you see it now,  it looks quite humorous... isn't it? But I salute to the patience that our earlier generations had.

No one in our generation wants to wait. We need everything instant: instant coffee, instant recipes, instant messaging and 2 minutes Maggi Noodles. :)

Give a break to the instant things, once in a while... Take time to write to your loved ones. Let your pen touch the crisp white paper and write your feelings out. It will be a nice experience...

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. 

— Ferris Bueller

Rewards & Memories

I was waiting for my name to be announced, so that I may reach the stage and take the certificate. My Team Lead sent a message in the Morning "Please be there in RNR Town-hall at 6 PM. You will get certificate of recognition. Venue: Shilpa Kala Vedica, Hi-Tech City". I was there sharp at 6 PM; though i was not much in mood to attend the function. I could see some of my project mates and we gave gestures of welcome. Some cultural programmes were held. The evening started with an inspiring "Being One" Presentation, followed by MD's speech, the accomplishments our company has  achieved. Then a dance show and a Pop Band - Everything was done by associates and was quite impressive. Finally, the time of distributing rewards came. My name was announced after a few others.. "Sowjanya Chaganti" - I hurried up to the stage to collect my certificate. Shook hands with our MD, then a kodak moment!!! 

Few more dance shows played after that. I was waiting for the show to get over, so that I could go for dinner.. Dinner was good and I was accompanied by my Team Lead. "Oh, Its 10 A.M EST!! And we are having Core service meeting with Alex after half an hour;  we gotto go fast to join;", he said, trying to eat as fast as he could. I agreed. We finished up fast and ran to take cab back to office.

Reached office. A few associates congratulated me :) Attended the meeting and started working. I was in night shift, so continued till 6.30 AM in the morning. The whole night, I could hear just the tapping of my keyboard.

When coming back to hostel, I recalled what happened in RNR (I almost forgot about it in  work) .  I remembered something similar that happened a few years back, when I was in college. How similar it is.... is it really that similar???

Neha, Pranit, Meenu, Shalu, Venus, Ankit and myself were jumping with joy. Yes, that was our group! The extreme 7 Group. We all adjusted ourselves in Venus's indica (You can understand, how 7 people can fit in an Indica!!) and kept the music, singing with the CD track- as we moved from EDM (East Delhi Mall) to college. We were happy. The proud group of BCA batch, coz the three prize holders of BCA belonged to our group. Hip-Hip-Hurray!!! We already had our stomachs full with "Golgappas" round the corner of the college street. By the time we reached college, it was already 6.30 PM. My mom-dad also arrived to college for the ceremony. The "Rang-Peeth" was well decorated and our seniors hosting the occasion made it more beautiful. When our names were announced, our group was shouting and applauding with Joy. I touched feet of my parents and took the certificate from Director sir. My group was clapping as loud as they could. I gave the certificate to Mom-Dad. I could sense the happiness they were feeling.  Before leaving the college, we clapped for our success and discussed what we should do next day. 

Believe it or not, we enjoyed the whole week discussing the "Sammaan Samaroh", by imitating seniors, the way they sung...
I spent that day in cherishing the memories of my college days. Days when we used to play Dumb arts, when we used to spend the whole day in the garden, plucking the grass of the garden badly....Bunking the classes and chatting in cafeteria... when we spent whole nights in messaging each other before the day of internal exams and asking how much portion is left.... revising the important questions just before the exam.... the growing heartbeat before the announcement of the results. And the relief after hearing the results.... 

The memories made my day...

Someone rightly said:

"Memory is a child walking along a seashore.  You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things."