Promoted again... and again

Got promoted twice since I wrote here last... Didn't get out of my job, instead got really hooked on it.

Hmmm..... what changed? I guess new management at the helm.

Last I wrote we were starting shifts. They continued till September 2009 and during that time my life changed completely.

My best friend... found new friends. I became lonelier than I've ever been - but a few people got me through that phase.

For some time my company managed to avoid the recession but in the second half of 2009 it caught up with us and we had to lay off some people.

After that, life moved slowly onwards till June or July 2010. That's when a new potential client popped up and said they wanted some associates to come to New Jersey for training. Guess that's when my life changed again. I was selected for the training - and got a trip to NJ and NY in Sept 2010 out of it. The client did not sign us up in the end cos of some unrelated factors but I got noticed by the new management and got promoted to Manager of a new division in Feb 2011.

It's been little more than a year since then but I've lived several lifetimes during this period.

It's been a rocky year but here I am promoted again - this time to Sr. Manager.

How things have changed - now I desperately want to be instrumental in making my company a success - my writing has receded into the back ground.

But who knows - maybe it's time for a change once again. I've noticed that whenever things seem to have settled - the cards get shuffled again...

Shuffle...

Reality check...

Shifts are still going on and now the news is that theywill continue till the end of the year. The reason is valid... the SEZ's r in trouble so our new office is delayed but the repurcussions are bad. What if they still don't have an office by the end of the year....? then what?

anyway.. my laptop stopped working so i got a netbook. Installed DNS 10, bought a headmic and now I'm slowly dictating whatever I've written so far.

Slow going so far but I'm hoping it'll speed up....

--------------------------------------------------

Oh, and by the way... they made me Deputy Manager at work...

Update

Just to say that I am writing a little every now n then. I've uploaded it on zoho so I can work on it wherever I am.

I have to become more disciplined about it. I'm tired of my current job. Or rather the new people there. Looking to get out by the end of the year.

Shifts start tomorrow for 2 maybe 3 months. I am going to devote atleast an hour each day to writing. Maybe more. Let's see how that goes...

Beginning once again...

I started and finished the outlining for the book. I'm hoping that will help me once the blues hit in between. As long as I don't stop in between I think I should finish it in a year or so.

I know thats a long time, but it's better than deciding to finish it in 6 months and then getting disappointed.

Well I wrote one new chapter today so am pretty happy with myself. Hope this blog helps me get some discipline into my writing.

____________________________________________________________________

Just googled "worlds apart" and guess what, it's already being used for, in the authors own words, "an interactive tale of self-discovery, set in an alternate universe."

So for now I'll just tag this as 'alternate universe'.

World's apart

I've been writing a book since 2006.

What's that you say?

You think it's completed and I'm on my first rewrite?

Well you obviously have either a) never attempted writing a novel or b) you're one of those super organised people who puts aside a fixed amount of time to write each day.

My way of writing is to write like crazy when the mood is upon me. Then suddenly I'll relax and rest on my (imaginary) laurels. After a few months the urge will strike me again, I'll read over what I wrote before, and then I'll promptly scrap out most of it and rewrite it.

And the same cycle repeats again and again.

I think I shouldn't leave these long gaps between writing sessions. Too many things change in my head and that forces me to rewrite. If I write more consistently I think the story will grow with me.

And eventually, the story will have a life of its own.

The Conclusion of 'Goan Girl'...

I just stumbled across this blog and it did bring back so many memories...

I'm going to fill in my story over the past 2 yrs...

In my last post I was supposed to attend a conference where my old prof was teaching.

Well I went for it. He was very nice, I was very nice. I introduced my folks to him afterwards and being the warm, nice people they are they renewed my offer to show him around. HE accepted very graciously. We set off, my prof, me, my dad and my sis. We took him to various places in Goa, like Old Goa, Calangute, took him all over Panjim city and wound up with dinner at Sea Pebbles.

The next day we met him again n took him shopping. When we dropped him back he promised to get in touch. And since then... nada. zip. I haven't heard from him since then though I emailed him twice.

Well after that I thought about joining the Asian School of Cyber Laws but I wanted to know if I could also help them out part time on real cases. That didn't seem possible and then on the 13th of November I answered an interview at my college for a KPO in Pune. I wasn't that interested in the interview but I got through n thought I'd give it a shot.

The Pune branch of that KPO started with just about 30 associates, of which I was one.

Now there are more than 400 employees in Pune alone. And my designation is Asst. Manager.

Sometimes things do work out. In Jan I'll complete 2 yrs in Pune. Life is good here and while I do miss Goa sometimes I'm not ready to go back yet.

That being the case I think it's time the name of this blog was changed. From 'Goan Girl' to....

Well I haven't decided that yet.

Wait n see.

Updates on C Law conferences

I wrote a really nice letter to my old prof telling him how I really need his help sice I'm at the crossroads, blahblahblah. About 5 or 6 in the evening.
The very next morning I found a reply in my Inbox. A lovely email telling me he's been there n giving his no and telling me to call him anytime and also telling me he's coming to Goa from the 17th to the 19th for a one day conference shceduled on the 18th at the International Centre and that we could meet up then. He suggested that I call either that day or the next.
I called him that very evening. I don't know if I was a bit rushed n if he felt uncomfortable or what. He suggested i sign up to attend the conference if possible and said that since he now had my phone number he'd call when he reached Goa. I asked if it was his first trip here n since he said yes offered to show him around if he wanted since mom n dad had told me to offer.
Anyway we didn't talk long cos he said he was travelling.

The day after that, on the 9th, I attended a conference on C Crime and C Laws. It was fascinating. The guy from ASCL was especially good. I asked and apparently there is one course I can do there that will make me a C Crime Investigator. I've been in the 7th heaven cos of that. Only today am I coming down to earth a bit. Even if I do well there what guarentees are there I'll get a job. Very confused.

Hope my prof can help me thought I'm doubtful cos I realised that he's an expert in IPR n C Law. Anyway I've signed up for the conference so if things go as usual by the end of the conference I'll probably decide to study that!

Must write to old prof.

I've been supposed to write to an old professor of mine for the past 2 weeks atleast. I keep postponing it. Not sure why. I think maybe I'm scared that he won't reply or that he'll reply but I won't like his reply.

Yes, I know. That's not a valid reason to postpone the email. Maybe I'm turning into as big a funk as b_b.

"C" plans dashed

Today's Thursday. Tomorrow it'll be a whole damn week since I wrote to the 'friend of my dad's friend'. I was so nervous about writing to him I spent the whole of last week postponing it. Then on Friday my dad asked about it n I didn't have any excuse to avoid it so I wrote a really nice email telling him i'd waited for the weekend out of consideration to him. Yeah right! Anyway, when I didn;t get an immediate reply I thought my plan backfired cos he doesn;t chk his mail on the weekeknds. But it's almost the next weekend now. He's had almost a full week. Apparently I'm not important enough to get the courtesy of a reply.

Anyway, I researched the subject and I don't see any chances of me making it in this field unless he gives me entree. Which at present has moved from the realms of my dreams to the outer reaches of my fantasy.

The job hunt so far...

I skipped June entirely. Had gone down to B'lore for some exams. Life is getting way too complicated now.

I've decided I'm gonna just document my job hunt on this blog. It's such a crazy way to live each day.

Fine here goes... I've got a law degree. I have a post graduate degree in 'C' law. and I'm doing my Masters in 'B' law. Finals of 'B' Law are in Feb and I've got to have some direction by then... Please God...

Well anyway, I had some exams in Feb. and during those exams I realised that my ideal job would be as an Acquisitions Editor for a big publishing company. Yeah right. Easy to dream of, tough to actually work towards.

I figure that before you get a shot at the acquisitions side you should have some experience as a copy-editor. Since I don't know anything about copy-editing I thought I'd look out for openings as a sub-editor.

At the beginning of June I applied to two places in Bombay. Two LPO's. That's legal outsourcing for those who are lucky enough to be unfamiliar with the terminology.

One place said that they'll let me know, which of course meant, 'get real, you think we want you!', and the other place was willing to take me n pay me 10,000 bucks of which only 8,800 would be in hand. I didn't really like the atmosphere there though the location was good. I figured it wasn't worth it to do a job in a hostile environment where I'd be earning peanuts for atleast 6 months. That's how long I'd have to be a trainee. I'd have weekends off but absolutely NO LEAVE for the first six months.

I figured I could give up a dream if they were paying me well but with 8,800 and expenses in Bombay being what they are I could envision myself playing the part of the pauper and depending on my folks despite working my ass off.

I told them I needed to go to B'lore and answer my exams and as of now I may still be able to get the damn job if I want to try for the August batch.

Then in July I came across this great ad. A post as an editor. While the job sounded ok, the people and the attitude seemed so great I was quite willing to work for about 10,000K. Then I find that salary could be anything from 11,000K to 20,000K. It depended on how I did through their tests etc. Well they sent me an online test. I tried. I honestly did. N I'm very embarrassed to say I thought I did decently.
Well I got an email telling me I wasn't good enough for them. So apparently the one thing/ the one job, I thought would lead me towards my dreams is not an option. So I suck at editing.

Back to square one. Or that's what you think.

My father who thought I was crazy to think of switching from law to editing saw an ad in the paper on Saturday. He saw the words sub-editor and called and set up an interview. I guess he'd be ok with 'editing' if it meant I was based in Goa. This job was for sub-editors for a new up-coming T.V. Channel.

This channel will be starting from August 15th and they're looking for staff at all levels. However as I found during the interview today, sub-editing in terms of media like T.V. News is obviously very different from editing in the print media. I could have told my dad that but I figured he wouldn't take my opinion as solid fact. Anyway, the whole experience was unreal. I was squirming hoping I'd get out of there. Feeling like an idiot. The interviewer, a kindly old gentleman couldn't understand what was making me change my field. How could I explain to him what I find so hard to understand myself.

Then he assumed I really wanted to get into the world of media and made me feel even worse by offering to let me join as a trainee if I was really interested since obviously the actual posts needed to be filled by people with experience. I was wondering how I could escape when my dad started asking questions and I realised I didn't have to worry.

Obviously since it's related to the news the hours could sometimes be erratic. And as a trainee I'd get only 3,00-4,000 which would be increased to the grand sum of 6,000 if I actually became a sub-editor. Hehehe. I could hardly keep myself from kicking my dad's foot. He actually sat there and tried to discuss the job some more. Maybe he didn't want us to look too money crazy. Still... c'mon by asking about the timings he'd already got one way out ready. Why did he have to sit there and discuss the salary etc as if it really was an option!

Anyway, I finally got out of there. I've to call n let them know by the end of the month if I'm interested. That's what comes of not being able to say no.

N then to top off my day, to keep my dad happy I asked him to call up an old friend of his who knows a whiz kid of my age who's in the field of 'C' law. He's apparently doing very well and though he's on the scientific side and I'm on the legal side I was hoping he'd, worst case scenario, tell me what I need to learn to get into the field, and best case scenario, give me a job. LOL... I wish.

Anyway, we went and met my dad's friend and he will ask Whiz Kid's dad for his email address or something. I don't want to jinx anything so I'm going to shut up now.

The Da Vinci Code

Went for mass yesterday to the Taleigao Church and was shocked to find that the entire sermon was about the Da Vinci Code. What is wrong with the Church? The priest today was exhorting the people to boycott the movie and to join in a protest ‘morcha’. He said the book potrayed Jesus as a liar and insulted the Catholic faith. What a load of bull. I have read all of Dan Brown's books and I have never found my faith and belief system insulted in anyway. With all the ruckus on the issue I have never been more ashamed to be Catholic. Living in Goa, I've laughed when people in other parts of India have taken to the streets at the drop of a hat. Seething with indignation at perceived insults to their respective religions. To see Catholics in Goa take to the streets to protest a work of fiction will be the nadir of my existence so far. Can’t the Church find a more worthy battle to fight? If the book insulted Jesus it would be another issue. All this fuss is because the book potrays Jesus as a married man. C'mon, it's not like the author is saying he did something evil. It's not like the author says that Jesus was a criminal or crook of some kind. Is the Church trying to say that saying Jesus was married is equivalent to saying he was evil?

I'm not sure when the morcha is scheduled. I was doing my best not to pay attention since thinking about it was really pissing me off. I'm sure I'll hear about it again anyway.

I intend to go for one of the first showings of the Da Vinci Code. I think it's coming to INOX on the 19th. More on that later.

'Cotton fall'

Cotton, cotton everywhere. Very pretty and very dangerous. Atleast dangerous to someone like me who's allergic to loads of stuff. I'm not sure whether I'm allergic to the cotton flying about or whether invisible pollen accompanies it. It doesn't make much difference. When I see my home filling with cotton balls I know breathing difficulties aren't too far away.

Right now Dona Paula is very pretty though. 'Cotton fall' instead of snow fall :D

Mango season

Mango season is here again. Loads of raw magoes are filling the trees and pickling is going on full scale :) Dad almost fell of the tree today. He had to hang on with one arm until the ladder was replaced. Wonder how many minor and not-so-minor accidents happen during the mango plucking season.

Old-style elections

On Sunday elections were held to fill 30 seats of the Panjim City Corporation. I'm not sure what that's supposed to be yet so I'll just stick to what I know. There are 30 seats up for grabs and 2 main 'panels' to choose from. The BJP is putting up one panel in conjunction with Somnath Zuwarkar. The other panel was put up by Babush Monseratte...Ostensibly on behalf of the Congress. If there's anyone who doesn't realise how funny all this is, here's a short history lesson.

Somnath Zuwarkar was the 'Zamindar' style Congress ruler of Taleigao. Babush Monseratte was the 'smuggler' who lived in a palatial bungalow in Taleigao. Babush was cultivated by the BJP as politician because of his money power and his ability to challenge Zuwarkar on his home ground. Babush came to power thru the BJP and when they tried to clip his wings because of his meteoric rise he went over to the Congress who welcomed his money and influence with open arms. There was a brief tussle for Taleigao in which Zuwarkar was annihilated. At present Babush IS the congress arm in Panjim.

Anyway, I went along for the elections cos my dad at present thinks Babush is the only one doing something for the people. Atleast he spends a lot on the people, which is more than can be said of most politicians.

I went along with my mom cos my dad had already voted earlier. As usual the elections were in a dilapidited Govt. school on the way to the Dona Paula Jetty. We got to go straight in cos my mom is disabled. No standing in lines for us. Actually my mom could have managed alone with a walker but this way I got to go along with her and vote too.
We entered and my mom was directed to one table with a cardboard placed on it to divide it into 4 sections. Then it was my turn and a lady gave me a piece of paper folded in 4 and a stick with both ends having a raised X. I figured I had to stamp the X on something and I was horrified. I've voted before but I've always had an electronic voting machine. Just press the button next to the right name/symbol and you're done. You can't go wrong. But this was a stick. (Calling it a stamp would be an insult to stamps everywhere.) Just to be sure I asked Ms. gave-me-a-stick what I had to do. She told me I had to stamp with the stick and motioned to the desk. Fine I went over to the desk and looked at it. Nothing. Bare desk. I took a chance and looked at the next partition. Bare desk again. Thats when it struck me. Apparently the paper given wasn't just to tell me I'd voted. I opened it and saw to my relief that I was right. thats when another dilemma arose. There were 3 sections or rows. In each section there was the candidates name on the left, the symbol on the right and loads of space around each. Where was I supposed to place the damn stamp. In the end I stamped the symbol. I almost stamped the name of the candidate too just to be sure but then I wasn't sure whether that would disqualify my vote.

Apparently you can stamp anywhere in the setion for a particular candidate. Good to know incase I've got to do it again though I hope to God I never have to see those election officals again. Embarrassment lasts a long time.

My dad has found a new crusade... of sorts. He's always wanted to be the kind of guy who writes letters to the Editor's of newspapers. Yeah I know its a strange desire. Well he wrote one today. Guess he just likes it when people talk about him and in Goa there are just a few newspapers and everyone he knows will know it's him tomorrow. That should make him happy. He's been planning this letter for the past 2 days. The Portuguese Consul General said something and a guy my dad doesn't like objected in a letter and another guy objected to his letter and the war of the letters is on. I don't know whether all these people who take part in these letter wars are retired men but I'm guessing that that's the case. Why else would they waste so much time. My dad drafted his letter and then gave it to me to type out and 'read' which translates to 'EDIT EDIT n more EDIT'. I've reworked it so much that if he intends to continue this 'war' I'll end up being the one doing half the work just to keep the continuity. I tried not to change it too much but it wasn't possible. My dad's too pro-Portuguese and I couldn't allow such sentiments to be published. I'd have to deal with all the angry letters that'd follow cos he'd make me reply to them all.
I'm going to add the letter here and also on my Goa365 blog cos there's been no sign of it in the papers and I'd like to make sure it's immortalised in a public forum even if no one who matters ever reads it here.

I fully endorse the views expressed by Agnel Crasto under the title, Goa’s Portuguese Culture in his letter to the Editor published on the 7th March. I would like to add a few comments on the letter written by Lambert Mascarenhas which was published in the Navhind Times dated 4th March under the title “Expectations from Portugal”.

In my opinion when the Consul General of Portugal said there are high expectations of Portugal here, he did not intend to suggest that Goans are making demands on Portugal. Rather he meant that the Portuguese Government will be glad to help meet all realistic expectations. Infact Mr. Mascarenhas has himself pointed out that the Portuguese Government has in the past been very liberal and has allowed granting of facilities equally to all Goans whether or not they speak Portuguese or English. This has certainly caused a lot of applications that do not perhaps meet the current required standards. As Mr. Agnel Crasto said, we should appreciate Dr. Soares’ act in making all those born in Goa before 1961 Portuguese citizens. The Portuguese Government has taken other steps also that should be appreciated without prejudice.

Portugal is in a position to help Goa not only with Portuguese citizenship (which Mr. L Mascarenhas focuses on) but also through other means such as exchange programmes to help introduce scientific, medical and technological know-how and also programmes to help maintain the rich cultural diversity we have inherited from the Portuguese.

As an example, let me cite here the situation some years back. NIO scientists and some other staff including the previous Director of NIO had the opportunity to visit Portugal as part of an exchange programme, even though none of them knew to speak Portuguese well and none of them had any Portuguese qualifications and though many were non Goans.

I would like to raise another issue here. Mr. L Mascarenhas has stated that the only people expecting something from Portugal are the Goan ‘rabble’ as he says who are desirous of Portuguese citizenship. Many people choose to settle abroad for various reasons, jobs/health etc. Are only the Goan minority who want to settle in Portugal to be insulted and called ‘rabble’ or is Mr. Mascarenhas designating all people with such aspirations as ‘rabble?’

Corruption in the Goa Medical College

I've always admired people who've decided to stand up for what's right, who've decided to sacrifice their time and privacy to fight the good fight. Well recently I've seen another side to the issue, apparently people actually enjoy the limelight that goes with any fight at all.

Recently a relative of my mom's was operated on in the Goa Medical College (GMC) and my dad found out that a flourishing network was in place to milk the government of a lot of money. Since treatment is all paid for by the Government, whenever a poor patient came in with broken bones etc., certain plates were ordered from certain dealers with the right connections. These dealers tried to pass of an Indian plate as an imported one to my dad and they've probably gotten away with the same many times before. Apparently the doctor involved gives the patient the mobile no. of a dealer who had a man in the hospital itself. This man takes an advance and brings back 4 plates of diff sizes. The doctor picks the size he wants and the rest are taken back by the dealer. In my cousins case he needed size no 4,which the doctor must have known. However the doctor just told him to get a certain type of plate. The dealer asked whether he would be interested in imported plates. When he received an affirmative answer te dealer brought 3 imported plates, but the 4th plate.. the one of the correct size was Indian. They were planning to charge the patient the rates for the imported plates but would use the India one. And they would have gotten away with it if my dad hadn't caught them.

I'm proud of my dad's actions. Though the dealers and the doctors are backed by Manohar Parrikar, the ex-chief minister and current head of the BJP, my dad has gone ahead and filed a written complaint as asked by the Dean of the GMC. Apparently his complaint is by no means the only one received and infact the other complaints are much graver. Still I appreciate my dad's actions, though I think i'd have appreciated them still more if he wasn't enjoying the publicity and the limelight quite so much. Its made me think a lot more about my old perception of the 'do-gooder', the fighter against corruption.
I suppose I ought to be pleased my dad is getting something out of all this in exchange for all the time, energy and petrol he's sunk into the matter. The telephone bills he's racked up calling up people to 'discuss' (i.e. brag about) the matter are another issue altogether.

Carnival!

It's carnival time again. On Saturday the floats were in Panjim and panjimites got to experience traffic chaos like never before. Near the St. Inez Church traffic was so bad that it took my dad 45 mins to travel a distance of about 100 mts. Lucky he didn't see me riding my bike along the sidewalks in that area :D It was something I've always wanted to do and I've never had an occasion that called for it. Well that day I was low on petrol n patience... a dangerous combo.

Sunday the parade was in Margao. My cousin was on a float but I didn't see that float at all. I haven't seen a proper parade the last 2 yrs. Its lost is allure for me. Maybe next yr I'll do it properly. I'll find a nice spot near the secretariat and I'll make sure no float escapes my eagle eye. [I actually have 2 very poor eyes but what the heck...]