And 2mrw is my favorite day of the week ....
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Techtalk
After I completed my post graduation in Mass Communication, all I wanted to be was the next cropped hair Barkha Dutt spending stormy nights in Jammu Kashmir war camps or interviewing Shahrukh Khan in glossy airconditioned comfort! But as fate would have it, Peter Grainge overpowered Barkha Dutt in the long run!
After a few years of my short stint in freelancing, copywriting and content writing, I finally ended up as a Technical Writer. Well before this job, I really had no clue about technical writing, nor I had the slightest idea that where this would lead to. But as they say, Capricorns (goats) have a tremendous sense of belief in their career decisions.
During my content writing days, I received a job offer as a technical writer from a reputed multinational. The job offer came with a huge role description (people were really sure of my knowledge in this area!). The role description was almost Hebrew at that point.
With my limited knowledge, the day before the interview, I tried to do a small research on tech writing over the Internet. I really did not know where to start. There were a number of sites which had loads of information related to tech writing. But as luck would have it, I ended up reading a blog named “Tina the technical writer”. I was so interested in Tina that I did not waste my time in reading anything else. Alas! Tina was of no help!
The next day I went for the interview all dressed up. There was a round of security checks, which made me look like the next Osama in town. After waiting for sometime, I heard someone calling my name.
After all these years, I can hardly recollect the questions or the answers, but I still remember that someone had asked, “Do you know how to make Table of Contents?” I was feeling almost blank at that point but that did not stop me. There was a quick reply from my side: “Well of course I know. You have to write the content and then you arrange it in a table!”
Well I will not blabber any more about my profound knowledge in this area but creating a TOC was the most memorable lesson in my tech writing career!
After a few years of my short stint in freelancing, copywriting and content writing, I finally ended up as a Technical Writer. Well before this job, I really had no clue about technical writing, nor I had the slightest idea that where this would lead to. But as they say, Capricorns (goats) have a tremendous sense of belief in their career decisions.
During my content writing days, I received a job offer as a technical writer from a reputed multinational. The job offer came with a huge role description (people were really sure of my knowledge in this area!). The role description was almost Hebrew at that point.
With my limited knowledge, the day before the interview, I tried to do a small research on tech writing over the Internet. I really did not know where to start. There were a number of sites which had loads of information related to tech writing. But as luck would have it, I ended up reading a blog named “Tina the technical writer”. I was so interested in Tina that I did not waste my time in reading anything else. Alas! Tina was of no help!
The next day I went for the interview all dressed up. There was a round of security checks, which made me look like the next Osama in town. After waiting for sometime, I heard someone calling my name.
After all these years, I can hardly recollect the questions or the answers, but I still remember that someone had asked, “Do you know how to make Table of Contents?” I was feeling almost blank at that point but that did not stop me. There was a quick reply from my side: “Well of course I know. You have to write the content and then you arrange it in a table!”
Well I will not blabber any more about my profound knowledge in this area but creating a TOC was the most memorable lesson in my tech writing career!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Notebook
“Let it grow, let it grow. Let it blossom, let it flow. In the sun, the rain, the snow. Love is lovely, let it grow.”
She looked at the notebook again. He had scribbled those lines years back. The worn out pages of this notebook was all that was left. It treasured a few scribbled thoughts here n there, scattered in the whirlwind of time.
He had called her after all these years. He wanted to meet. She was in a dilemma.
She came to office that day. She looked into the mirror. 10 years ---a long time. Once a petite 20 year old she has now turned into a married 30-ish woman. Her day starts with making scrambled eggs, dropping her kids to school, driving to her workplace and at night reading books as Vipul dozes off to sleep after taking a drink.
Her life was going on, when one late summer afternoon he called her. The images flashed again. How she waited for him for hours at the bus stop desperate to let him know, but he never turned up.
His voice sounded strange after all these years. He said he wanted to meet her. She was curious, excited. She thought for a while and then she called him.
She took a half-day from office. She got an Eric Clapton for him from the bookstore. She spent an hour at the beauty parlor, desperate to reduce those fine lines, those strands of grey here ‘n there and get rid of that tanned tropical look.
It was 6 in the evening. A busy Rashbehari crossing. She came out of the parlor. There was a lump in her throat. She was nervous. She looked at the watch. Its time to give him a call. Is he waiting for her? How does he look? Will he look at her in the same way as he used to years back, during her college days…She remembered every li’l detail, every late night conversation they had…
She finally dialed the number. It was busy. God! He must be calling her. She dialed again. The monotonous ring tone on the other side and then that voice picked up. She said “Ki re byasto khub? Dekha korbi bolechili”
He replied: “Oh tui… na re aj ektu byasto achi…aj hobena…some other time may be…
He uttered the same thing years back after she waited hours for him…
Mrs. Bose looked at her watch. Vipul will be home soon. It was time …Her lipstick was feeling sticky... She was drained out after a tiring day at office...Time to get back to her life… Time to get back to her world... The some other time never comes… Their time never came…
She looked at the notebook again. He had scribbled those lines years back. The worn out pages of this notebook was all that was left. It treasured a few scribbled thoughts here n there, scattered in the whirlwind of time.
He had called her after all these years. He wanted to meet. She was in a dilemma.
She came to office that day. She looked into the mirror. 10 years ---a long time. Once a petite 20 year old she has now turned into a married 30-ish woman. Her day starts with making scrambled eggs, dropping her kids to school, driving to her workplace and at night reading books as Vipul dozes off to sleep after taking a drink.
Her life was going on, when one late summer afternoon he called her. The images flashed again. How she waited for him for hours at the bus stop desperate to let him know, but he never turned up.
His voice sounded strange after all these years. He said he wanted to meet her. She was curious, excited. She thought for a while and then she called him.
She took a half-day from office. She got an Eric Clapton for him from the bookstore. She spent an hour at the beauty parlor, desperate to reduce those fine lines, those strands of grey here ‘n there and get rid of that tanned tropical look.
It was 6 in the evening. A busy Rashbehari crossing. She came out of the parlor. There was a lump in her throat. She was nervous. She looked at the watch. Its time to give him a call. Is he waiting for her? How does he look? Will he look at her in the same way as he used to years back, during her college days…She remembered every li’l detail, every late night conversation they had…
She finally dialed the number. It was busy. God! He must be calling her. She dialed again. The monotonous ring tone on the other side and then that voice picked up. She said “Ki re byasto khub? Dekha korbi bolechili”
He replied: “Oh tui… na re aj ektu byasto achi…aj hobena…some other time may be…
He uttered the same thing years back after she waited hours for him…
Mrs. Bose looked at her watch. Vipul will be home soon. It was time …Her lipstick was feeling sticky... She was drained out after a tiring day at office...Time to get back to her life… Time to get back to her world... The some other time never comes… Their time never came…
Monday, June 8, 2009
Eternal Wait
It was a busy Monday morning...The vehicles queued up near AJC Bose Road.. honked monotonously to reach their destination...tagged professionals inside air conditioned comfort, sweating salesman in jam packed buses and uniformed children dragging the burden of life on their shoulders....set for another day...
It was then I looked at the blue whitewashed mansion on the other side of the road.... I saw them... Sitting on the balcony, listlessly staring at the busy scheduled lifestyle where they once belonged....
It was only a few days ago they were a part of this world. They had to meet deadlines, walk through the air conditioned corridors, engage in corporate power plays, or were busy preparing lunch boxes for their husbands and kids...it was just a few years back they were busy in their own world...It was only a few days ago they were carrying their school bags and they had started for school..Their tiny fingers gently clutched daddy's warm hands...It was only a few years back they had their crushes.... It seemed just a few moments back when they had exchanged sweet notes with their loved ones... It was all there...It seemed just a like a moment that has faded away in the blue distant horizon...
Now with wrinkled vision and parched lips they sit motionless in the blue balconies of St. Johns old age home... Life has pushed them to an edge which is beyond schedules...Its just an eternal wait for them as the clock ticks in an off hand way...
It was then I looked at the blue whitewashed mansion on the other side of the road.... I saw them... Sitting on the balcony, listlessly staring at the busy scheduled lifestyle where they once belonged....
It was only a few days ago they were a part of this world. They had to meet deadlines, walk through the air conditioned corridors, engage in corporate power plays, or were busy preparing lunch boxes for their husbands and kids...it was just a few years back they were busy in their own world...It was only a few days ago they were carrying their school bags and they had started for school..Their tiny fingers gently clutched daddy's warm hands...It was only a few years back they had their crushes.... It seemed just a few moments back when they had exchanged sweet notes with their loved ones... It was all there...It seemed just a like a moment that has faded away in the blue distant horizon...
Now with wrinkled vision and parched lips they sit motionless in the blue balconies of St. Johns old age home... Life has pushed them to an edge which is beyond schedules...Its just an eternal wait for them as the clock ticks in an off hand way...
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