The Ides of March.

Historically, the month of March has been an unwelcome harbinger of disaster in one form or the other. I have for some reason always hated March although I cannot to this day identify a reason associated to my vague yet daunting apprehension. In New Delhi much like many parts of the Indian peninsula, the commencement of March signalled the arrival of Summer which was by far the most intolerable time of the year bringing with it heat which makes human and animals lives a statistical figure consigned to the unkind annals of history.
Having rested well for a long drawn period of time, I itched to get back to work cautious not to be left out in the non-stop rat race. So when on the night 24rth February 2006, I decided to leave for Gurgaon, I was confident that I was ready to move ahead. I had enough of comfort and rest that I had quickly grown tired of it. Life itself becomes very painfully dreary when overdosed with a post-retirement type schedule especially at an age when career, wealth, growth and success occupy a staggering three-fourths of any thinking mind.
I reached my apartment in Gurgaon the next day, on the 25th after a long journey via Bangalore where I had caught up with Pree, Bajji and a couple of other friends after which I had come to a frightening few minutes to missing my flight.
Welcoming me back to Gurgaon was Vishal Samuel who had turned to become a very good friend of mine over a very short period of time. Not a day passes when I, on a friendly note, scoff him for his disposition that he exhibited during my initial days at Gecis. We had grown unusually close and discussed a lot of personal aspects that each faced in the other's life.
I lost no time realizing the fact that my days at home had sped past at an unusually manifested
rate of knots. Time it seems, is one commodity we can never exercise control upon atleast for a couple of years to come (if technology can at best be relied upon).
Reporting to work on the 1st day of March 2006 was a 'feeling' that requires elements beyond words to express and perhaps inexpressible even if I were to be in possession of those elements.
Friends and colleages did best to bring me into the 'flow'. I gather the best comment I had received upon arrival was from Namrata Bhardwaj, Kappu's wife who I fondly call Didi (sister in Hindi). She cheerfully remarked that I appeared to have undergone a brain surgery. True to her words, I had a very different perspective with crystal clear focus and a very different attitude altogether. If the after effect of 'being under the knife and on the table' did this to me, then I'd rather have a couple of more surgeries done! Twisted logic at its best I suppose.
In the vast expanse of Genpact, a huge lot had changed. Tony had left the organization late last year on having secured what was a lifetime opportunity and position at an organization based at the economic capital of India - Mumbai.
Lhakpa 'LT' Tsering a former colleague and now dear friend had also moved out of Genpact to lead the Tibetan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and now represented the Tibetan people and His Holiness The Dalai Lama in his cause for the long subdued nation which we all hope would soon be let loose from the clutches of its evil captor, the People's Republic of China. LT as we fondly addressed him made a huge mark in the lives of many people whom he came in contact with. So much was his personal charisma and ability that in my new role which I assumed on 01 May 2006, I came to realize that a few GE Healthcare Leadership personnel still recalled him fondly and with great respect. Our Director of Service (DoS) John Leidel once mentioned to me that he was perhaps one of the few people from across the Atlantic, who knew LT, who could actually pronounce his name 'Lhakpa' flawlessly.
There were numerous unfamiliar and new faces across our once closely knit Healthcare division of the Industrial and Equipment Center of Excellence (CoE). Hiring I was told was rampant aimed at confronting the ever rising attrition figures as a result of the constant churn in the work force. My priority at best was to return into the scence of action as early as possible and secure a strong foothold as I had long desired.
However, when I did return to being operationally functional, I realized that there was something amiss. I was perturbed and assumed that I had been rendered stagnant and incapacitated. I was constantly punishing myself for no reason or rhyme. Soon, I slipped into a depression that made me exhibit rudeness and rendered me restless and very irritable.
Fortunately, this sudden and unusual behaviour of mine was being noticed and those close to me became increasingly concerned and tried hard to determine a cause while I maintained a stony silence and with great difficultly attempted to do a volte-face.
I had completed a year in the organization on 22nd February 2006 in absentia and now that I was back, my yearly review (EMS) was due to be completed.
Perhaps, no other EMS in this entire organization had happened for such an extended period of time and with such deep analysis as was mine on a Saturday morning when Randy confronted me citing my newly adopted frame of mind. I must credit him a great deal for having personally taken so much time and focussed enormous amount of effort to take me back to track!
I needed to move on and many aspects and possibilities were being worked upon. Finally after much action I was on the 1st of May 2006 given the charge of handling the profile of the Field Service Administrator, GE Healthcare Technologies with a location of the North East Zone of the United States of America. Incidentally, Randy who had been a vital part of GEHC dispatches was also moving ahead into a new role. There was talk of a huge change in the Organizational pattern along with the possibility of many faces no longer being part of this illustrous venture.
Along with many friends and well wishers I rejoiced at my reward and began looking at life with a fresh perspective. A huge sense of achievement and relief made me overjoyed and almost instantly I saw unimaginably endless possibilties. Life had changed and for the good. Most of us fail to realize the element of life's control on every single one of us. We are truly at the mercy of time and its unravelling mixture of events. What we sometimes need to stop and accept is a fact that life is a genuine mix of rewards and rebukes both of which form a very essential part of any living being during the course of its existence.

At this juncture, I cannot help but publish one of the most motivation writings I have ever come across. Originally written by my friend Mr. VJ, I had made a copy of it since it inspired me more than anything else. I suggest you read through the following with a very open mind and then make the simplest of efforts to realize how easy it is to feel motivated and stay focussed.
VJ, I must thank you for this wonderful piece of work which I so much credit to your superior intellect and enriched experience.
VJ had originally titled it as "A question of Perspective." I see no reason whatsoever to make any alteration.

At times in life, one stops to re- examine if the steps one took were right or wrong.
What seemed right then, may now seem wrong in hindsight. Listening to the advice of family members or people known to you may have turned out to be hideously wrong. Advice is free, but the consequences are not. The consequences are your's to pay.
Every person is responsible for his actions. At the end of the day, it’s your life.
From my own life all I can say is this, learn to think for yourself. Have the courage to fight against people who oppose you. No matter how close or how dear they may be to you.
You should know your interests and how to stand for them. Being a martyr to someone else’s dreams or desires is no act of greatness, merely horrendous imbecility. With the courage of conviction, and an invincible faith in yourself and God set out on your path. The trials will be daunting, opposition trenchant and incessant. At times, you will want to give up. Energy may desert you, the mind may grow feeble. Despondency, depression and loneliness will be your constant companions. Yet, you will move on. Keep your mind open to changes, in people in circumstances. Learn to utilize both to your advantage. Learn to understand people, their strengths, weaknesses and ways of thinking. Do not look for acceptance, if you succeed it will come on its own.
Doors may close, opportunities turn into a mirage, faith may be betrayed but persevere. Slender may be the thread of hope, but remember it’s all you have when you are facing a crevasse.
Don’t let the thought of the rope snapping drive you to loosen your grip and plunge to destruction. Victory and defeat aren’t in your hands but if you consider yourself beaten, you are. No one, I repeat, No one can save a person from himself. Through the hours of struggle, the longer nights of loneliness, when you have none but your miseries to warm the cockles of your soul, do not let go. Convince yourself to face your sufferings, not by avoiding them, not by seeking to flee from dream to dream, not by seeking to escape from reality, but by looking them straight in the eye. Train all your energy to work as weapons in your struggle. Do not let the maelstrom of dedicated opposition weaken your resolve. Use your creative and other energies to fashion a new persona. The crucible of pain is unforgiving, but it produces the best steel. Then one day, the clouds will part, the sun will shine through. It will never seem possible, yet it is your belief in its coming which will make it possible. Its power is awe inspiring; your faith will give you the strength to reach it.
When the ordeal ends, your face bathed in the sunlight of success, of recognition, of acceptance, you will scarce believe that the struggle is over. Applause will follow, your life will change, and success will make all that happened seem a dream. The world will accept you as one of its own.The world loves the heroic story of the underdog who made it. His heroism is applauded, yet the same world excels at kicking the underdog while he was making the very same great story happen. When you look back at your path, you will wonder if all those lonely nights, those hopeless days were worth it. Others will have attained more than you would have and faced none of the problems you had to endure. Look at the faces which now smile at you in acceptance. Each one of these faces has experienced the beautiful afterglow of success. These faces have not faced the misery which you have faced and are the poorer for it. In order to appreciate the taste of sugar it is important to know the taste of salt. You have seen the different faces of human behavior and are the richer for it. Now ask yourself the question again …………The answer is self apparent.

Need I say more about life after these marvelous lines?