RajashreeNambiar
Getting into Bajaj right after college appeared to be a breeze. 2 years whizzed by and soon we were in the corporate saddle. We were ambitious, impulsive, eager beavers with a sense of urgency and raring to go.
25 years hence, life appears to have come a full circle. Got married to my batch mate, went on and started a family. I straddled the roles of a stressed out corpo exec, a doting mother, an attentive daughter/daughter in law, society office bearer, networked friend et al. I travelled the world, holidaying as an annual ritual, built up a nest egg and worked at a frenetic pace. Years rolled by easily.
Now as I wind up, have started reminiscing and realized that life’s lessons have been radically different from what I had envisaged as a rookie out of college.
Let’s start with career. I had coveted the corner office when I started out. But having worked this long I have now understood that the only tangible asset I have created is the goodwill of people I have worked with. Goodwill created out of positively impacting lives of those who I have worked with. Titles, job size, pay packets, perks mean less and less with passing time. Finally, a happy, fulfilling career is what and how you see yourself through your own eyes and not through the eyes of your peers/others.
Parenting has been the biggest joy. After some time I realized that I actually live for my child and not so much for myself. His happiness is paramount and everything else gets a lot less significant with time. So personal decisions of what I do and how I live is so much easier to make. And parenting is also not the heavy weather we make of it. Our children get conditioned by our own thinking. So a happy independent and balanced child is the product of letting children be the way they are, giving them the choice and independence early on in life.
Living life itself. The joy has come from the small routines in life. Having Chaat in Sunder Nagar in Delhi on weekends when we were there; Enjoying our Sunday morning runs in Nehru Park; Saturday evening drinking sessions in the club in Bandra with our small group of friends; Looking forward to the Easter lunches and the Christmas dinners every year; Taking small weekend breaks to escape to our little home in Goa. The list goes on. All simple but with a small group of close and familiar people we live with. Nothing fancy and not frightfully expensive!
So finally what's my story? Not really a page 3 celebrity. But I am someone who has tried a little bit of everything. I studied enough, fought out the rat race, am a proud homemaker and an even prouder mom. Only now have I started to savour the journey of life. One life and I will live it well!
25 years hence, life appears to have come a full circle. Got married to my batch mate, went on and started a family. I straddled the roles of a stressed out corpo exec, a doting mother, an attentive daughter/daughter in law, society office bearer, networked friend et al. I travelled the world, holidaying as an annual ritual, built up a nest egg and worked at a frenetic pace. Years rolled by easily.
Now as I wind up, have started reminiscing and realized that life’s lessons have been radically different from what I had envisaged as a rookie out of college.
Let’s start with career. I had coveted the corner office when I started out. But having worked this long I have now understood that the only tangible asset I have created is the goodwill of people I have worked with. Goodwill created out of positively impacting lives of those who I have worked with. Titles, job size, pay packets, perks mean less and less with passing time. Finally, a happy, fulfilling career is what and how you see yourself through your own eyes and not through the eyes of your peers/others.
Parenting has been the biggest joy. After some time I realized that I actually live for my child and not so much for myself. His happiness is paramount and everything else gets a lot less significant with time. So personal decisions of what I do and how I live is so much easier to make. And parenting is also not the heavy weather we make of it. Our children get conditioned by our own thinking. So a happy independent and balanced child is the product of letting children be the way they are, giving them the choice and independence early on in life.
Living life itself. The joy has come from the small routines in life. Having Chaat in Sunder Nagar in Delhi on weekends when we were there; Enjoying our Sunday morning runs in Nehru Park; Saturday evening drinking sessions in the club in Bandra with our small group of friends; Looking forward to the Easter lunches and the Christmas dinners every year; Taking small weekend breaks to escape to our little home in Goa. The list goes on. All simple but with a small group of close and familiar people we live with. Nothing fancy and not frightfully expensive!
So finally what's my story? Not really a page 3 celebrity. But I am someone who has tried a little bit of everything. I studied enough, fought out the rat race, am a proud homemaker and an even prouder mom. Only now have I started to savour the journey of life. One life and I will live it well!