•Friday, October 16, 2009
Oh man, 3 miles on the treadmill followed by 2 hours of volleyball totally killed me yesterday. Running on sand is harder than you'd think! But I've come to love it and I hope the group keeps up regular volleyball sessions even after the charity tournament gets done next weekend.
***
I had an interesting conversation with an American friend. I complained about how there's no 'thank-you' culture in India and how I've become accustomed to it after these years in the US. I make sure to thank everyone for even the tiniest considerate thing they do and I get that in return as well. At that,my friend looked confused and asked me, wasn't it considered rude to thank people in Indian culture? I had a 'wha???!' moment. But then I thought back and realized that indeed, Indians (in India) do not like to be thanked! My mom gets annoyed if I thank her for cooking my favorite dish. My best friend mocks at my formality if I thank her for any suggestion. In fact, there's a famous and oft quoted Hindi movie line that goes , "Friendship mein no sorry, no thank you". (Jeez, and I needed an American to point it out to me).
OK, so point to my friend and maybe I'm being a pompous prig in expecting courtesy and being overly courteous myself. But hey, when you're dealing with a multitude of cultures, habits and customs in the US, it's better to err on the side of polite I say!
On a related note, another Indian friend and I realized that there's no word or phrase for 'you're welcome' in the Hindi language!
•Wednesday, September 30, 2009
..is everything!
It's true. Currently, I'm taking pottery and accounting classes, and trying to be regular at yoga and pilates. I'm participating in the beginner level volleyball tournament in October, which means 5-6 hours of practice each week. I've signed up for a half marathon relay in November where I'll be running the first 5 miles, so I'm training for that as well. I'm on the board for a professional womens' group and have a couple major initiatives on my plate there. I'm trying to read at least one book a month. All this, while trying to manage a reasonable social life.
And there's still more that I want to do. For instance, I wanted to continue salsa lessons but had to take a break because of the schedule clashing with the accounting class. I've taken multiple tennis lessons but haven't played in months and have been meaning to start playing regularly.
I wonder if I'm biting off more than I can chew. What's really bothering me all of a sudden, is that, I feel like I'm not putting in my creative and passionate best at my work projects. I do enjoy my work and stay on top of things, but I don't seem to go that extra mile because I'm always leaving before 6pm for my classes, and spending time on meetings with the womens' group and other voluntary projects with other teams within the company. I used to catch up on work on the weekends if I felt I'd slacked during the week, but I haven't done that in a while now.
I truly believe in the adage 'Work is Worship' and I'm very very fortunate to have a job that I love, with a very supportive team, in a great company. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way I seem to have gotten carried away and lost focus of my priorities. I need to re-evaluate them. I've cut down on socializing, but it's still a lot. I already use calendars, mind maps etc. to keep track of my commitments and activities so I doubt I can be any more organized! Perhaps the next step is to stop checking my Gmail at work. I'm sure my efficiency will go up by at least 50% then. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
