Change is Permanent !!

Hi All, 

I am finally back with a new post .. I think I am increasing the duration between posts more and more but let me assure you that its not on purpose .. To put it bluntly I am getting a feel of Corporate life and pressures, so the past few weekends haven't been all hunky dory .. I've been working on most of the weekends and on the ones which I haven't I didn't feel like writing much .. But its been a learning experience and I guess it will help me to better understand the pressures of Working life .. This weekend has been much better and hence I decided to write a new post ..

This post is actually linked to the afore mentioned reasons of not writing since many days .. No, I'm not going to talk about Work life and pressures etc but I want to share some of the changes which I have experienced in my life till now .. Predictably as my Work Life or "Professional Life" has just started right now I will definitely elaborate a bit on the changes which I have experienced right now ..

For me at least my life can be divided in 3 stages .. School, College and Work ... School is from 1st to 10th i.e. till the age of about 16 .. I am not dividing College into Senior and Junior cause I don't think there was much difference .. So that phase is from 16-22 ... The next phase which is going on right now is from 22 onwards ... I don't know right now if I will go through another changing phase .. I mean I will obviously as "Change is Permanent" but I don't know what that phase will be ..

So let me start .. As there are 3 phases there are 2 transitions .. The first transition is from School life to College life .. Now in the CBSE pattern and in some cities other than Pune school life goes on till 12th standard .. In the US I guess its High School .. But in Pune we have a concept called as "Junior College" which starts after we give the 10th standard SSC Board exam .. The 10th standard Board exam is considered to be one of the most important exams as it decides which college you go to ..Personally I feel it is highly overrated and students (and more importantly their parents) should stop being so hyper about it .. Fortunately I have very supportive parents and an elder brother who never put any pressure of exams on me so I was lucky .. But that's another topic completely so will definitely talk about it, not now .. 

In the 10th due to God's grace and some amount of hard work I got decent marks in the board exams and got the opportunity to go to a nice college with the subjects of my choice .. Actually I went to the junior college started by my school itself .. Hence I didn't get a chance to bunk much, which according to most people is 90% of the fun in college life .. But let me tell you I had the best time of my life in Junior college owing to some great company.. I got the chance to enjoy inside the classroom and also outside it .. 

The main change in life during college was I feel 2 factors which weren't present during school life and they are:-

1) Conveyance

2) Money

Conveyance was the most important part .. In school I used to drive a cycle so my travel was very limited .. Not that I didn't go far on my cycle .. I did meet school friends but it wasn't on a regular basis .. All visits had to be planned and involved everyone gathering at 1 place .. Hence they weren't very frequent as compared to college life .. In college due to the advent of automatic geared bikes distances were reduced drastically ... No distance seemed long enough .. As the experience of bikes were new I didn't have any problem in going anywhere on it .. Hanging out with friends didn't have to be planned (which actually led to problems many times as any unplanned venture does) .. And hence the hanging out and doing time pass became a very frequent affair and made the time extremely enjoyable ... Just one big disadvantage was there which wasn't foreseen .. The demise of the cycle and advent of the bike led to massive progressive weight gain which unfortunately isn't that easy to lose as it is to gain :)

The other big change was the money which was a direct consequence of the conveyance part !! .. As I started visiting friends more often, doing time pass and hanging out I obviously needed money ... Not that I didn't want money in school but there was nothing on which I could spend it on apart from the samosa-pav or dosa in school canteen ... But now in college due to the habit of going to some or the other restaurant etc money was a necessity .. also for petrol :) .. So I took money from home .. First I was on actuals and later on pocket money as for some reason my mother thought I was spending too much (which I still deny vehemently) .. But come to think of it pocket money is really good as you get a sense of managing your finances .. The biggest change which I can relate to in terms of money is related to Soft Drinks ... I love Soft Drinks especially Colas .. For obvious reasons I wasn't allowed to drink them regularly in School days .. So I used to be thrilled when we used to go out or have guests at home as I could have a Soft Drink officially ... But in college as I had money I could have a Soft drink whenever I wanted to !!!! ... Which just like conveyance also leads to weight gain !!! ... I guess there is a pattern here :)

After Junior College it was Senior College of Graduation (or in the US Under Grad) .. I guess I don't think there was much of a difference .. Except that I started thinking in terms of Semesters, PLs and Results .. Now a days whenever I have to reflect back or have to remember a date or event its like "That time we were in S.E. First Sem" or "I remember that day as I was studying for backlog" !! .. 

The most important and difficult transition period if from College Life to Work life ... I have to admit that I completely under estimated statements like "College life is the best time" .. I used to hear this from many people but thought "What's so great in it" .. not that I wasn't enjoying but I guess I didn't realize its value at all .. 

I mentioned that bunking is over rated .. But at Work I have realized its value cause you CANNOT bunk work !!! ... Whatever happens you have to be there ... I feel it most during 2 moments :-

1) The most important .. Its an India vs Australia test match and India is batting !!!! ... Sehwag is in full form and Sachin is due for batting anytime ... Had it been college days then going to college was an option which wasn't even considered ... The only question considered was "Whose place are we watching the match and what are we eating for lunch?" ... By the way this applies to all matches of India ...

2) After going to play in the morning and having a nice session of basketball/cricket I used to love to just sit in the chair, drink something like Coffee/Limbu Sarbat and read the paper or watch TV for an hour or so .. But now I have to get up in 15 minutes and start getting ready for work .. 

Also I have to mention Weekends .. Never before have I valued weekends so much .. :)

I guess these are little things but these are what make me aware that my life has now changed .. Having said that I am very lucky in the fact that I am really enjoying my work and the challenges faced in it .. Plus the fact that I have great colleagues and I get to play cricket is the icing on the cake ! .. The 1 very good change is that I have understood the value of money .. I know its a really old cliché but it really changes your perspective when you start earning ... 

I guess that things are not going to stop changing ever and you just have to live with it .. And if you can do it with a smile then that'll make it even easier .. One more change which I forgot to mention is that now India will be without its Fab Four !! .. With Dada announcing his retirement and others (Except Sachin who should play till 80) soon to follow it is going to feel very odd to watch matches .. With all the talks these days being about when these players should retire I just feel that the decision should be left to them .. Who are we to ask them to retire .. People say that this person should retire on a high note etc .. But if he is enjoying playing the game and feels that he can go even higher how can you ask him to stop ?? Let the selectors take the decision based on what they feel is the best for the country .. Age should not be a criteria .. I am sure Robin Singh at the age of 36 was the fittest player in the Indian team ... Would you like it if you were told by people at a time when you are performing and enjoying work that "OK now you should retire when things are going good" !! .. Cricket is like work to these players and considering that they have served India for 13-20 years I feel we should leave the decision to them !!! ..