10 Ways to act busy at work…

“I’ve been really busy at work…you know am a corporate slave”; “Oh! it has been hectic at work”; “I’ve been having long hours at office lately” and blah blah…but what about those days when you actually have very little work at office, but you still have to go and put up a good show? Some things to do to keep from getting bored out of your skull and yet be the sincere best ;)

1.      Arrive before anyone else does…this will help you catch up with your friends in the US over social networking sites; greet your colleagues saying…”It’s a tough life bro!” or “I only go home to sleep…haha!”

2.      Take regular shots of caffeine…opt for black coffee for the extra zing!

3.      Keep multiple tabs open on your system…pretend to read some boring research journals and at times, copy some crap on a Word document (even better if there is a graph J). Trust me, you will never be questioned.

4.      Learn to meditate…stare hard at your screen rather focus your eyes on your screen and give your brain the ‘Red bull wings’

5.      Crack your neck at times and then tilt your head slowly to a 45-degree angle and make eye contact with anyone and smile your most suppressed smile ever… you will be asked for a tea break in less than 10 minutes (if you are a girl, make puppy dog eyes for faster and effective results)

6.      Write your blog post and ensure that your blog in never read by that group of the “Big 4 @ work” OR write a novel…am sure everyone has a novel or story idea in their heads. So unleash the writer in you, even if you are the sole reader. (Typing on a Word doc always saves the day!)

7.      Clean/Sort your inbox…this is my ‘Monica organizing syndrome’, but I really love it

8.      Plug in your ear phones and listen to some of you old client call recordings…see for yourself how much crap you spoke and humor yourself (who knows…this may be an educating experience after all)

9.      Play Sudoku or word puzzle; so what if you have to research (read Google) the answers…there is no joy like a crossword cracked 

10.     Chat with your best pals and have a ball of a time; if chat is firewalled, email chat or make a phone call to a friend from the conference room

So, hope you have a great day at work...just like me!

Transition

I have always been uneasy with transition. I like the morning, the afternoon, and the night. Dawns and dusks don't particularly excite me. I feel it in everything I do and in everything that happens to me. I don't like journeys to my work and back every day. I have to listen to music or keep my mind off as they somehow make be uncomfortable, edgy; for I feel like I am neither here nor there. I love being at home in Delhi and with my friends, and I love being at my parents’ in Kolkata. But the transition, the wait for the destination as stations roll by the window, always makes me anxious. It's not that I detest change. Nothing, they say, is permanent, but change. It's just that the twilight zone unsettles me. So with about all the changes my life has had lately, I once again find myself in the same predicament which has troubled me on my train journeys/air travels, albeit on a much larger scale. I am eagerly looking forward to end this journey and move ahead but at the same time I feel uncomfortable to leave pessimism and move towards hope. For they say, a known devil is better than an unknown angel.

I came into this city as a girl who had just about conquered the world. In between, there was the realization that not everything in life goes your way though at the same time you are much more than what the world takes you for. I mastered the art of doing things at the last moment and just scraping through. I tasted freedom and fell in love with the person I became. I learnt to chatter with my friends the entire night and sometimes sit alone in a coffee shop and read by myself. I moved from writing a personal diary to a public blog. I learnt to be patient and smile despite all odds. I learnt to live in despair in the best of places and find love in all the hopeless ones. There was the bitterness of defeat and failure along with the sweetness of achievement. But now…times are changing again. I strongly feel that I need to undertake a journey to a better place all over again. Probably, I’ve had my fill here…here, in Delhi. It is stagnant. No new places to see or experiences to share. Losses have been overcome and change is inevitable.

So as I await the beginning of a new chapter in my life, the only thing that I hope for is this transition to be different rather better from the others that have been all along.