Driving to Work

One of the very frequent comments that I make when someone comments on driving skills is
 ' that is one skill I wouldn't have survived without  and that is probably more useful to me in doing my work than having done my graduation' - and I mean it.

I drive almost 40 km up and down  - that in Bangalore traffic , road condition and my driving pace is almost 2 hours a day. And my ride has not always been the perfect , smooth drive. I've had my share of accidents - honks, stares, reprimands on roads - half to my mistakes and half since most people behind the wheels are frustrated themselves.
The worst of these was in the initial days of the car - when my son was hardly a year old and we were on  the village roads of Kerala- narrow , uphill and curvy all at the same time and the exact time for a small packet kept in front of the car to topple over , natural instinct took my hands off the steering and off  the car goes to kiss the curvy wall ahead-  which resulted in a close to 20,000 Rs/- repair for the car.  Thankfully nothing else happened and all of us were safe. Somehow completed the drive that day - reached the destination and gave the car to the service station. But I think I did not take the car for few months after that. Leaving that and the recent minor hit against our campus gate - I thank god the car has been reasonably safe.
The major advantage of knowing to drive is the flexibility it gives. We live in a  place which is outskirts of the city and commuting to work would have been a real challenge had I not known to drive. Also the comfort it offers is kind of a necessity to be regular at work. Directly linked to this flexibility is the freedom it offers - freedom to be self reliant and independent. I love driving and I do understand why Pappa was so insistent on me learning to drive as soon as turned 18.

A selfie behind the wheels and a pic of my license...:)

1 month to completing 10 years of Work Life

Here comes a blog marathon to completion of 10 years of Work Life. A small attempt at renewing this space  and also to capture some good moments with the company . Hopefully there will be more frequent posts this way.

I joined Wipro on Oct 24th 2005 which means by next month this time I would be completing 10 years with the company.10 years just flew ...Not that I didnot ever wanted to change company , but the reasons did not last long enough for me to have actually tried my best at it. And most of the time I got what I needed the most important ones being , a near to 7 month work from home during the months before my  maternity and a  much sought after flexibility after I joined back from maternity - This I would highlight as a  SINGLE most important reason for having decided to stay back and also to have continued working itself. The period after maternity is the most important period in any working woman's life - when they need the actual hand holding by the company to start back to work. It was reasonably good for me - but I think it was more to do with the managers I worked for rather than the company or industry as  a  whole. This IS an area where the private sector as a  whole and IT industry in particular need to have a more holistic approach and vision for the well being of the society.

Signing off for today