What a blast it has been

Today, 4 years ago, I first came to this city that I now consider my home away from home. On 20th June 2005, as I saw my Mom's rick turn around the corner as she headed back to the station to get back to Chennai, I remember thinking "Oh My God! What have I gotten myself into?" as the cold air made my tear glands react a little. I went for my first day at my new job after that.

Oh yes people! I vividly remember. It was cold on 19th June 2005. Its hot on 19th June 2009. Global warming! or as I like to call it.. "Closer to Armageddon".

During the earlier years, I have had days when I regretted ever coming here. But today, I feel like I made the best of it.

Have I made some mistakes? yes.
Have I made bad choices? yes.
Could my life have been better had I never come here? No. I can't imagine how.

I have had an absolute blast being here. This city has taught me how to be more free-spirited and bend a few rules. I have made some very unexpected friends who have been around since Day 1. And some who aren't around anymore. But their presence in my life made those days so precious. It has taught me how to be more tolerant and forgiving. It made me realise who I was. I mingled in circles varying from (for lack of a better expression) Crème brûlée to Jello. And I realised, that I am a Jello kind of girl who indulges in Crème brûlée once in a while. (Which Cameron Diaz/Julia Roberts movie am I thinking about?)

Expectations. The less you expect, the more you find yourself pleased with what you get. (Disclaimer: This does not apply to green pieces of paper with Gandhi's face on it. Milk the conglomerates. I'm busting my ass anyways :P).


Loving your friends. They are the support system that have kept me breathing. Without their help, I would have been a very lost and lonely person and would have given up a long time ago. They know every expression I have and even if I blink differently, they'll know something's up.


Loving yourself. No one will take care of you as well as your parents. And if there is another person, it is yourself.


Independence. I have to say, I'm getting very used to the whole no-questions-asked way of my life. And I might have a problem when the time comes for the bigger commitments of my life. But for now, I can't ask for more.


Strengthened bonds with family. Believe it or not, I feel closer to my family now than ever before. They stood silently by my side for every whim I had. And never have they objected.


Tougher. It will probably take a lot to faze me. I know that I can survive anywhere. We all have survived weakened wills, heartbreak and breaches of trust. But like everyone else, we picked up the pieces and moved on. I know that I have wronged some people in the process of making my choices. It was hard. But it had to be done.

It was an awesome ride so far. I hope we continue being fun and lively(I know.. its lost its sheen a little). I hope I get to do something fun to celebrate tomorrow with the ones who are with me since 20 June 2005.

Quarter Life Crisis

by unknown

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may or may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared.

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren't so great after all.

You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and do not want. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of what is acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough to get to know better. You love someone but maybe love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself and while wining the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

Many may have already read this. I found this piece while I was doing some random reading and I cannot agree more with this unknown person. Most people might feel like they relate to this when they read it. I know I did! I didn't want to make this post very introspective. But like lots of people my age, I'm in crisis mode. And am willing to look everywhere to find some direction.

2

Two basic things that define our generation:

1. Jeans



2. Maggi Noodles



Source: After a deep(ok!!so maybe not that deep!) and lengthy discussion over coffee with colleagues.