Doggy Handles
I have a dog…an English Springer called Beagle (named not after the beagle breed, but after the Beagle Boys of Uncle Scrooge fame…cos he’s black and white like the prison shirts they wore in the comics of yore).
Over a period of time however, he’s called Beegie out of affection and convenience and that somehow seems to have become his official handle now… in any case, I don’t think doggies know the diff between real names and nick names.
I was talking to a friend this morn and realised that their dog, Scamper who’s around the same age as Beegie has gone down the same route and in the process, has become Scampi.
Talking with my friend about our doggies and their name change reminded me of the time I was posted as an instructor (trainer would be the equivalent corp term) someplace in the 90’s.
We had a Chief Instructor who was very ‘prim n propah’ and more Brit than Ind…and was also very keen on ensuring everything and everyone was on the same grid (or same page, as they say in the corp world). Never let an opportunity go by where he could talk about Officer-like-qualities, the right form, the Army (read Brit) way of doing things, etc.
Now one day I went calling on him and his spouse. Rang the bell, presented my card to Man Friday, adjusted my tie and waited. Soon enough the lord and lady of the manor arrived at the door and welcomed me.
In I went, made PC about how lovely the Drawing Room was…smiled admiringly at the Lady and asked the Lord to give me a whisky and soda.
Drinks arrived, small eats too….and PC continued.
Soon enough, the conversation steered towards dogs…when the CI realised I’m a die-hard dog lover. He immediately took off on telling me about his lab called Pluto. A 30 minute monologue starting with where and when Pluto was born…how he grew up..which school he went to (just kidding!!) and so on. The main issue was that Pluto was just about the best mannered and well trained dog in the whole wide world…cos he had been brought up by the g’man just like he brought up his own kids. He didn’t believe in allowing household pets to be brought up by the household staff and so on. So, I began getting lessons on how to train dogs and ensuring total obedience, etc,etc…..essentially by ensuring that if I wanted a good dog, I had to be a full time, hands on, dedicated master. This wasn’t a job that could be delegated.
Being an upwardly mobile fellow in those days, I fixed an interested look on my face and interjected the monologue with the customary ooohs, aahhhs, wows and so on at suitable spots…as would be the professionally and politically correct form in such a situation.
A bit later, theory got over…there being only so much one can talk about training and bringing up dogs…… and it was time for practicals.
“Koi hai???” yelled the CI.
“Hukum” came a reply with another Man Friday (or maybe this guy was Man Saturday) coming into the room simultaneously.
“Bahadur Singh…Pluto ko le kar aao”.
“Hukum” was the reply to this directive as Man Friday # 2/Man Saturday faded away.
Within a jiffy however, he was back. And with him was this young, strapping, noble looking lab. Mr Pluto, Esq, I presumed.
Well, I presumed right. It was indeed Pluto…judging from the pride on the Brig saabs face and the very proprietary ‘I (and not that fellow) am the L and M of this house’ look on the doggie's face.
“Come here, Pluto” said the Lord of the House.
“F*** off” was the silent reply he got from the Dog of the House….as in, he didn’t budge an inch.
The CI repeated his command. The doggie repeated the unbudging lack of movement.
This scene was played out a couple of more times.
I could now see the g’man looking embarassed and the dog looking bored.
All this talk about impeccable manners, well groomed discipline and seamless obedience was seeming like a lot of hot air. I mean if the dog didn’t come when called…what were the chances of him jumping off an aircraft or volunteering for a high risk hostage resue mission?
The CI then changed his tactics. ..and followed the typical senior Army officer process for such a situation….he asked Man Friday/Saturday why the dog was behaving (or rather, misbehaving) so.
“Pata nahin, Saab, theek toh tha abhi tak” was the reply.
The Brig saab explained to the johny that nothing was theekh and that the canine was doing the dumb adder role when called.
To illustrate his point, he did the ‘Come here, Pluto’ thing a few times again..and the dog helped him out in this illustration by continuing with the steady Rock of Gibraltar bit.
The johny looked perplexed and then decided to take matters into his own hands. He obviously didn’t want to be brought up on a charge of dereliction of duty by being party to an act of wilful disobedience by a dog.
He enquired of his superior officer if he could try out out the ‘calling the dog’ drill.
He got an affirmative and immediately positioned himself in a battle ready position, took a deep breath, looked the doggie in the eye and said ….. “Paltoo. idhar aao”.
Paltoo…..sorry, I mean Pluto..went bounding to the johny and sat at his feet dutifully.
Lol !! It was a sight to see..the Brigadier saab’s red face, the johny’s beaming smile and the doggie's proud ‘I did it’ look.
So that's it friends… it wasn’t about obedience ..it was all about the dog’s handle. Poor CI saab never realised it had got altered/changed/modified over time because the Indian Army jawan relates to Paltoo and not to Pluto...and the dog responds to whoever spends most time with it!!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
VIP Visits
We recently had some top honcho from the Co. HQ in the US visiting us here. I thought VIP or VVIP or VVVIP visits on civvy street would be very different from those in the Army .'cos there everyone went totally overboard ' from reception to food to itinerary to briefings to decor to accomodation to everything else.
Well, out here it wasn't very different. The only big difference I saw was that since the guy in question was staying at the Leela, no one went to check if the 'flush' was working .. something which was a very, very, very imperative ingredient of an Army VIP visit check list.
But yes, what he'll eat, when he'll eat and how he'll eat was as big an issue here as it used to be there.
Which reminds me of the time we got a new Divisional Commander (GOC) some years ago. The guy was a surdee boy from the Gorkhas who had coincided his promotion with his entry into the 'sau choohe kha kar billi Haj ko chali' club. For those of you who can't figure that out .he had turned vegetarian and a tee totaller to boot, at the ripe age of 50 . the time when he should have been taking his eating and drinking to the next level instead of making a retrograde move.
Anyways, since he had just transformed his dietary habits, there wasn't much info available prior to his arrival on his food habits. All we got was..he loves tandoori chicken, chicken tikka, tangdi kebab, butter chicken or rather used to love. What was in vogue was vague.
So, our very upwardly mobile Deputy GOC decided to take matters into his own hands and settled down to himself make the menu for the first visit by the General saab.
Not too sure what veggies like, he decided to play safe by plastering the menu, top to bottom, with bananas, apples, pineapples, plums, peaches and so on. sliced, diced, canned, fresh, any and every which way.
The day of reckoning arrived .and so did General Sardarji. Salutes, handshakes, introductions and into the Ops Room for his first briefing.
The briefing began as so did the feeding of the General. Platter after platter, bowl after bowl of fruits kept coming in more or less keeping time with the power point slide show. Introduction ' bananas; Brief History of the Division- apples; Op Role ' peaches; Terrain ' mosambi juice; Enemy Deployment ' mangoes ; and so on.
Finally it all ended .. the briefing as well as the feeding.
The Deputy GOC looked rather pleased with himself and with both aspects of the visit the talk by him and the eat by the General.
Very hopeful now of getting his second star in the near future, he thought he'd seal it by asking the General what he thought about the whole jamboree.
"Sir, your thoughts or views on the briefing?" he politely enquired.
The General saab thought awhile, shook his head, adjusted his turban, swished away some lint from his shirt, did some bayonet practice with a toothpick . and then took a deep breath..and replied.
His reply?
"Most fruitful!! Thank you!!!"
Well, out here it wasn't very different. The only big difference I saw was that since the guy in question was staying at the Leela, no one went to check if the 'flush' was working .. something which was a very, very, very imperative ingredient of an Army VIP visit check list.
But yes, what he'll eat, when he'll eat and how he'll eat was as big an issue here as it used to be there.
Which reminds me of the time we got a new Divisional Commander (GOC) some years ago. The guy was a surdee boy from the Gorkhas who had coincided his promotion with his entry into the 'sau choohe kha kar billi Haj ko chali' club. For those of you who can't figure that out .he had turned vegetarian and a tee totaller to boot, at the ripe age of 50 . the time when he should have been taking his eating and drinking to the next level instead of making a retrograde move.
Anyways, since he had just transformed his dietary habits, there wasn't much info available prior to his arrival on his food habits. All we got was..he loves tandoori chicken, chicken tikka, tangdi kebab, butter chicken or rather used to love. What was in vogue was vague.
So, our very upwardly mobile Deputy GOC decided to take matters into his own hands and settled down to himself make the menu for the first visit by the General saab.
Not too sure what veggies like, he decided to play safe by plastering the menu, top to bottom, with bananas, apples, pineapples, plums, peaches and so on. sliced, diced, canned, fresh, any and every which way.
The day of reckoning arrived .and so did General Sardarji. Salutes, handshakes, introductions and into the Ops Room for his first briefing.
The briefing began as so did the feeding of the General. Platter after platter, bowl after bowl of fruits kept coming in more or less keeping time with the power point slide show. Introduction ' bananas; Brief History of the Division- apples; Op Role ' peaches; Terrain ' mosambi juice; Enemy Deployment ' mangoes ; and so on.
Finally it all ended .. the briefing as well as the feeding.
The Deputy GOC looked rather pleased with himself and with both aspects of the visit the talk by him and the eat by the General.
Very hopeful now of getting his second star in the near future, he thought he'd seal it by asking the General what he thought about the whole jamboree.
"Sir, your thoughts or views on the briefing?" he politely enquired.
The General saab thought awhile, shook his head, adjusted his turban, swished away some lint from his shirt, did some bayonet practice with a toothpick . and then took a deep breath..and replied.
His reply?
"Most fruitful!! Thank you!!!"
Decks!! (May 2007)
Gosh!! Nothing seems to move here without Decks (Power Point presentations for the uninitiated).
Ever since I got here, I'm up to my neck and down to my butt in decks.
No one but no one listens or talks or does anything unless you've run them thru' a deck.
Well, actually, things weren't very different in the Army either. Ever since Mr. Gates got MS Office to rule the working world, even soldiers (at least the top brass) took a shine to PPTs (they weren't called Decks there).
But the saving grace was that there were still some old fogeys that didn't like PPTs.
I remember a Divisional Commander I once served under calling over a colleague of mine to discuss something.
Now, this colleague was from the Signals (the Communications branch) and was a hi-tech kind of guy having got an MTech from the IIT and such stuff.
So, Colonel saab (my colleague) creates a fancy PPT/deck and goes off to meet the General, lap top under his arm.
"May I come in, Sir" is the opening dialogue.
"Yup", is the opening response.
So far so good….. all very positive and all.
"Sir, I was asked to come across and brief you on the Electronic Warfare plan for the forthcoming exercise."
"Hmmm yeah….sure go ahead", says General saab.
My friend popped open his lap top lid to commence operations.
"What the f*** is that???" enquired the General.
"Err...Sir this is a lap top computer".
"I know that, you moron. Just because I'm from the Infantry doesn't mean I'm dumb" growls the big man.
My colleague was more than a little nonplussed. But he bashed on regardless.
"Sir, I meant, err, my presentation is on this machine", he said, to clear up the air.
Well, he failed to clear up anything.
"Is that so?? In that case, why are you here? You could have sent the machine in by itself."
"Errrr…ummm…Sir, it's in the form of a presentation and I thought I'll take you thru' it."
"Am I a moron? That I need to be taken thru' stuff by you, you pip squeak? Shut that darn thing and tell me about the Electronic Warfare plan"
Well the lap top lid went shut stayed shut .and so did my colleague because without his trusty PPT, he was hopelessly lost.
So that was life, folks…PPTs were important there but at times you were better off without them.
But here? No f****** way!!! No deck means no nothing.
So as I settle down in this new world, one of my serious KRAs is to learn how to create those fancy corporate decks. Otherwise, I'm dead!!
Because after all, I'm convinced that power corrupts and Power Point corrupts absolutely.
Ever since I got here, I'm up to my neck and down to my butt in decks.
No one but no one listens or talks or does anything unless you've run them thru' a deck.
Well, actually, things weren't very different in the Army either. Ever since Mr. Gates got MS Office to rule the working world, even soldiers (at least the top brass) took a shine to PPTs (they weren't called Decks there).
But the saving grace was that there were still some old fogeys that didn't like PPTs.
I remember a Divisional Commander I once served under calling over a colleague of mine to discuss something.
Now, this colleague was from the Signals (the Communications branch) and was a hi-tech kind of guy having got an MTech from the IIT and such stuff.
So, Colonel saab (my colleague) creates a fancy PPT/deck and goes off to meet the General, lap top under his arm.
"May I come in, Sir" is the opening dialogue.
"Yup", is the opening response.
So far so good….. all very positive and all.
"Sir, I was asked to come across and brief you on the Electronic Warfare plan for the forthcoming exercise."
"Hmmm yeah….sure go ahead", says General saab.
My friend popped open his lap top lid to commence operations.
"What the f*** is that???" enquired the General.
"Err...Sir this is a lap top computer".
"I know that, you moron. Just because I'm from the Infantry doesn't mean I'm dumb" growls the big man.
My colleague was more than a little nonplussed. But he bashed on regardless.
"Sir, I meant, err, my presentation is on this machine", he said, to clear up the air.
Well, he failed to clear up anything.
"Is that so?? In that case, why are you here? You could have sent the machine in by itself."
"Errrr…ummm…Sir, it's in the form of a presentation and I thought I'll take you thru' it."
"Am I a moron? That I need to be taken thru' stuff by you, you pip squeak? Shut that darn thing and tell me about the Electronic Warfare plan"
Well the lap top lid went shut stayed shut .and so did my colleague because without his trusty PPT, he was hopelessly lost.
So that was life, folks…PPTs were important there but at times you were better off without them.
But here? No f****** way!!! No deck means no nothing.
So as I settle down in this new world, one of my serious KRAs is to learn how to create those fancy corporate decks. Otherwise, I'm dead!!
Because after all, I'm convinced that power corrupts and Power Point corrupts absolutely.
The Inevitable Question (April 2007)
I’ve been working in D for over six months now. Or to put it correctly, I’ve been in D since two quarters… or to put it correctly AND accurately, I’ve been in D since two quarters and two FWs (in case any dumb soldier reads this….FW = Financial Week).
Now, since Day # 1, a lot of things have happened.. or lets just say a lot of bits and bytes have floated down cyber creek…but one thing that amuses me most and happens with irrregular regularity is a question..an inevitable question… ” Hey R, how do you find corporate life after so many years in the Army?”
Well, it’s an interesting question…but one that I generally fail to answer to the satisfaction of my interrogators... because there’s so much to say...and they have so little time to listen.
So let me answer it here.
On the whole, life isn’t very much different. After all, that was work and this is work.
Military life was a way of life. So is corporate life.
There were people there and people here.
I could go on and on in the same vein…but I’ll list out the comparables for the ease of my readers.
Most of my superiors there were underpaid, over aged and supposedly dumb. Here they are overpaid, under aged and supposedly bright.
Most of my superiors there thought I was a smart ass maverick. Not here….not yet. Here I am an overpaid, over aged, dumb guy that’ll never make it to ’smart’….not even ’smartass’.
There were objectives and targets and unrealistic timelines there. Ditto here.
There were conferences there…which were monologues by the senior most guy present…there are meetings here…where just about everybody talks endlessly.
You worked long hours there...Ditto here. By work, I mean spending hours at work...not really work as in work.
A high CE score here means making your external customer happy…there it meant killing your external customer.
There, everybody had lofty ideas about the pursuit for excellence. Ditto here. There no one really knew how that pursuit will attain fruition. Ditto here.
There a low hanging fruit was something to be eaten if rations didn’t arrive on time…here it’s an easily achievable objective (why wasn’t it achieved so far in that case??…I have no idea)
There you ‘bounced’ an obstacle..like in crossing a canal held by the enemy…here you bounce ‘ideas’ off each other
There, a ‘one on one’ was a demi-official meeting where you talked politely to the other guy while calling him names in your head. You talked and he pretended to listen and he talked and you pretended to listen. Ditto here.
There...things were done and then talked about. Here, we talk about doing things and maybe will get to doing them, before I retire.
There I wore uniform...here I don’t.
There, a weekend was a period of time you spent at work, but in civilian clothes. Here you spend it at home and clothes aren’t mandatory.
There you got paid peanuts. Here, if you talk about peanuts, you are from the catering staff.
There anyone with a lap top at work was a nerd, a geek and a pansy…here if you don’t have a lap top, you are a member of the housekeeping staff
There, training meant bleeding knees and elbows, muddied clothes, loads of sweat and being away from the family…here it means shifting from one air conditioned room to another, listening to some hackneyed stuff downloaded from the internet with a fancy presentation woven around it and being away from your boss.
There a deck was the top end of a ship…here it’s a power point presentation.
There my seniors called me R and my juniors called me Sir. Here my seniors call me Sir and my juniors call me R.
There ‘engagement’ was something a guy took leave for prior to taking more leave to go get married. Here it means talking to people.
Here you play games to do team building. There you played a game because you already had a team.
Here you go out for drinks and dinner and so that you can bond. There you went out for drinks and dinner because you shared a bond.
There you communicated by snail mail for official work (even if the other guy was a zillion miles away) and e-mail for personal stuff. Here you communicate by e-mail at work (even if the other guy is sitting next to you) and no one gives a flying f*** of how you communicate personal stuff.
There you called up a guy and had a meeting. Here you call up AND write an e-mail AND send an outlook invite and THEN have a meeting….IF the other guy accepts and IF he can log into the call.
The list goes on and on…but I hope you get the gist of it.
A lot of things are similar...but lots more are different…and yet, I’m holding on and doing my best to survive.
Wish me luck friends…because I’ve just got a new role… to reduce attrition.
Well, it shouldn’t be difficult. The only hitch is that I’ve spent the past 26 years trying to cause attrition.
Same difference???
Now, since Day # 1, a lot of things have happened.. or lets just say a lot of bits and bytes have floated down cyber creek…but one thing that amuses me most and happens with irrregular regularity is a question..an inevitable question… ” Hey R, how do you find corporate life after so many years in the Army?”
Well, it’s an interesting question…but one that I generally fail to answer to the satisfaction of my interrogators... because there’s so much to say...and they have so little time to listen.
So let me answer it here.
On the whole, life isn’t very much different. After all, that was work and this is work.
Military life was a way of life. So is corporate life.
There were people there and people here.
I could go on and on in the same vein…but I’ll list out the comparables for the ease of my readers.
Most of my superiors there were underpaid, over aged and supposedly dumb. Here they are overpaid, under aged and supposedly bright.
Most of my superiors there thought I was a smart ass maverick. Not here….not yet. Here I am an overpaid, over aged, dumb guy that’ll never make it to ’smart’….not even ’smartass’.
There were objectives and targets and unrealistic timelines there. Ditto here.
There were conferences there…which were monologues by the senior most guy present…there are meetings here…where just about everybody talks endlessly.
You worked long hours there...Ditto here. By work, I mean spending hours at work...not really work as in work.
A high CE score here means making your external customer happy…there it meant killing your external customer.
There, everybody had lofty ideas about the pursuit for excellence. Ditto here. There no one really knew how that pursuit will attain fruition. Ditto here.
There a low hanging fruit was something to be eaten if rations didn’t arrive on time…here it’s an easily achievable objective (why wasn’t it achieved so far in that case??…I have no idea)
There you ‘bounced’ an obstacle..like in crossing a canal held by the enemy…here you bounce ‘ideas’ off each other
There, a ‘one on one’ was a demi-official meeting where you talked politely to the other guy while calling him names in your head. You talked and he pretended to listen and he talked and you pretended to listen. Ditto here.
There...things were done and then talked about. Here, we talk about doing things and maybe will get to doing them, before I retire.
There I wore uniform...here I don’t.
There, a weekend was a period of time you spent at work, but in civilian clothes. Here you spend it at home and clothes aren’t mandatory.
There you got paid peanuts. Here, if you talk about peanuts, you are from the catering staff.
There anyone with a lap top at work was a nerd, a geek and a pansy…here if you don’t have a lap top, you are a member of the housekeeping staff
There, training meant bleeding knees and elbows, muddied clothes, loads of sweat and being away from the family…here it means shifting from one air conditioned room to another, listening to some hackneyed stuff downloaded from the internet with a fancy presentation woven around it and being away from your boss.
There a deck was the top end of a ship…here it’s a power point presentation.
There my seniors called me R and my juniors called me Sir. Here my seniors call me Sir and my juniors call me R.
There ‘engagement’ was something a guy took leave for prior to taking more leave to go get married. Here it means talking to people.
Here you play games to do team building. There you played a game because you already had a team.
Here you go out for drinks and dinner and so that you can bond. There you went out for drinks and dinner because you shared a bond.
There you communicated by snail mail for official work (even if the other guy was a zillion miles away) and e-mail for personal stuff. Here you communicate by e-mail at work (even if the other guy is sitting next to you) and no one gives a flying f*** of how you communicate personal stuff.
There you called up a guy and had a meeting. Here you call up AND write an e-mail AND send an outlook invite and THEN have a meeting….IF the other guy accepts and IF he can log into the call.
The list goes on and on…but I hope you get the gist of it.
A lot of things are similar...but lots more are different…and yet, I’m holding on and doing my best to survive.
Wish me luck friends…because I’ve just got a new role… to reduce attrition.
Well, it shouldn’t be difficult. The only hitch is that I’ve spent the past 26 years trying to cause attrition.
Same difference???
Sunday, January 10, 2010
On Civvy Street (March 2007)
25 years, 7 months.
Add NDA and IMA before I got commissioned…makes it 30 and change.
Long, long time na?
At least enough time to make a guy comfortably settled in the groove and for the wanderlust to have vanished.
But it didn’t.
So here I am, out of uniform, and on Civvy street… attempting to start my working life afresh.
I remember my first meeting.
Everyone around the table was asked to introduce themselves for my benefit.
The Site Director began…Hi, I’m Charlie. Been in D (the wonderful organisation I work for) the past 12 quarters. Prior to that….
Others followed suit…Hi, I’m Lima...a pretty young Lady says...I’m Director for Canada Tech…14 quarters in D….Hi...I’m Alpha…Director Care … 8 quarters in D….And so on,
Finally, yours truly.....
Hi..I’m Romeo …1/12th of a quarter in D.....prior to this.. 102 quarters in the Indian Army.
Lol!! You should have seen the look on their faces… like going to the Zoo to look at tigers and monkeys and stuff..... and suddenly coming face to face with a Brontosaurus.
A dumb soldier?? Yikes !! We thought this was a cerebral company.
An old man?? Yikes !! We thought this industry was all about youngsters.
Well, they didn’t say it but it was writ large on their faces.
I smiled my usual silly, goofy smile.....told my knocking knees under the round table to chill and casually (at least I tried) twirled a pencil around with my long fingers.
The meeting started.....a ‘workout’ I was told… a term I associated with fitness and stuff.....but soon enough I realised it was what we called ‘brainstorming’ in the army.
Funny, strange acronyms and terms flew past.....fast and furious. I was lost..... and getting more and more lost.....but what could I do? I couldn’t possibly break the flow by asking for explanations every 3rd second. I couldn’t possibly doze off. I couldn’t possibly ask to be excused saying I’d be back only once I understood this Greek and Latin.
I stuck on. 8 hours…stayed awake, looked interested, made notes (which read as....1. buy milk, 2. check who’ll wash the car and bike..security?..3. bank account ..4. write to Dad…and so on)Anyways, it finally got over.....everyone shut their laptop lids..Mine had stayed shut…didn’t want these folks watching me at my one finger typing best (or worst, if you will).
That was Day # 1.
More followed..
I’m now well into my second quarter......a salary hike and a great quarterly performance appraisal under my belt.
I can’t say I’ve arrived.....but I’ve begun to crawl on this new path.
Its fun, it’s challenging.....it’s exciting.
More about it as I go along!!
Add NDA and IMA before I got commissioned…makes it 30 and change.
Long, long time na?
At least enough time to make a guy comfortably settled in the groove and for the wanderlust to have vanished.
But it didn’t.
So here I am, out of uniform, and on Civvy street… attempting to start my working life afresh.
I remember my first meeting.
Everyone around the table was asked to introduce themselves for my benefit.
The Site Director began…Hi, I’m Charlie. Been in D (the wonderful organisation I work for) the past 12 quarters. Prior to that….
Others followed suit…Hi, I’m Lima...a pretty young Lady says...I’m Director for Canada Tech…14 quarters in D….Hi...I’m Alpha…Director Care … 8 quarters in D….And so on,
Finally, yours truly.....
Hi..I’m Romeo …1/12th of a quarter in D.....prior to this.. 102 quarters in the Indian Army.
Lol!! You should have seen the look on their faces… like going to the Zoo to look at tigers and monkeys and stuff..... and suddenly coming face to face with a Brontosaurus.
A dumb soldier?? Yikes !! We thought this was a cerebral company.
An old man?? Yikes !! We thought this industry was all about youngsters.
Well, they didn’t say it but it was writ large on their faces.
I smiled my usual silly, goofy smile.....told my knocking knees under the round table to chill and casually (at least I tried) twirled a pencil around with my long fingers.
The meeting started.....a ‘workout’ I was told… a term I associated with fitness and stuff.....but soon enough I realised it was what we called ‘brainstorming’ in the army.
Funny, strange acronyms and terms flew past.....fast and furious. I was lost..... and getting more and more lost.....but what could I do? I couldn’t possibly break the flow by asking for explanations every 3rd second. I couldn’t possibly doze off. I couldn’t possibly ask to be excused saying I’d be back only once I understood this Greek and Latin.
I stuck on. 8 hours…stayed awake, looked interested, made notes (which read as....1. buy milk, 2. check who’ll wash the car and bike..security?..3. bank account ..4. write to Dad…and so on)Anyways, it finally got over.....everyone shut their laptop lids..Mine had stayed shut…didn’t want these folks watching me at my one finger typing best (or worst, if you will).
That was Day # 1.
More followed..
I’m now well into my second quarter......a salary hike and a great quarterly performance appraisal under my belt.
I can’t say I’ve arrived.....but I’ve begun to crawl on this new path.
Its fun, it’s challenging.....it’s exciting.
More about it as I go along!!
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