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Sunday, May 31, 2009

Impossible = I'm possible


I am not sure whether I really believed in it. But now I do believe in it. You want to know why? I completed the 10 km in the Sunfeast World 10K today. I know it's not a big deal for a fit or trained person. But for a couch potato like me with a lousy stamina, who has never ever run in her whole life it indeed is a big deal. When Diana founder of Chrysallis asked us about the marathon, all of just laughed it off. It looked just impossible. But later when me and a dear friend H discussed about it we felt we should do it and told this to Di. Since this was the first time for all of us, we were totally confused and it took us some more time to actually decide. Finally we did make a last minute entry for the 5.7 km Majja run which looked doable for non-runners. But by mistake, some in the group entered in the Open 10K category and then Diana felt all of us should do the 10K. Having worked with her and Chrysallis for these many years, we knew what it meant. Diana has always shook us out of our comfort zone and made us do things that we have never tried or done before. She has made non-dancers to dance , non-performers to perform on the stage, non-talkers to compere and end of it we all came out with a sense of accomplishment and belief in ourselves. It was all about hard work, dedication and joyful discoveries and this was no different.. Anyway end of it we all enjoyed the experience thoroughly and is looking forward to more such runs ;) Btw we also managed to raise enough money to gift 20,000 children in such a short span of time. Isn't that wonderful?

Ending this with a summation I liked very much:
"Do not lower your goals to match your abilities but raise your abilities to match your goals"

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Blooper Queen!!

In my previous project, we had a gang of 9 girls and it made quite a sight during lunch time. At sharp 12, all us would march to the canteen and mostly would be the first ones in the queue. We would then cram into a corner table (of capacity 6) by pulling some extra chairs even though whole of canteen would be empty at that time. Then our chatting session would start and it would mostly be the bloopers done by one or the other among the girls..A sample : One manager sent a mail informing that one teammate A got a baby. One of our BQ's was prompt in congratulating the manager for the baby. He was taken aback and was quick in correcting her that it is indeed A's baby and not his! Needless to say each one was very competitive in this area and we had endless laughing and teasing sessions. I was supposedly the most mature n sensible of the lot. So you can imagine how the others would be... And these sessions used to continue for about 30-40 mins i.e. till the canteen gets crowded and people start giving us dirty stares indirectly asking to stop our non-stop non-sense and giggling and give them the table. OK coming to the point - today was my day to be the BQ :(

We had a programme at 10 am and since it takes some 30-40 mins to reach the venue, we decided to start at 9 am. We were 10 of us in 5 bikes and I was the only one who had been to that place and knows the route. So everyone was to follow our bike. One pair was in a scooty and they were very slow and managed to get lost in the first 100 mts itself. Everyone felt that if we proceed in that speed we are going to reach the venue may be only by 12 or so after the programme ends!! So we decided to do some crisis management and were checking who among the pillions could drive. It was only me and another guy N. When N took the vehicle and started asking questions like “Which is the brake?” “Which is the accelerator’ etc and everyone decided it’s better if I took the driving seat. First of all I was not comfortable as it was not the type of vehicle that I am used to and also it’s been 6-7 years since I have driven. Moreover I hate driving in Bangalore roads and I knew that the rain and the narrow by lanes would make my life even tougher. But since there was no other way out, we started with N as my pillion and I soon realized why the previous driver was so slow. The brakes were so loose and the helmet was too foggy with scratches and I could hardly see anything in front of me. When I used to drive, brake was something that I always used to check on a regular basis and dad used to insist that if it is not in a proper state I am not supposed to take the vehicle out. But I could not do anything about it at that time but managed to take a better (clearer) helmet from another friend and proceeded. It was a one-way and so I just went ahead thinking there is no way the others could get lost there. But soon after the second turn I found one of the bikers chasing me and asking me to stop and they asked me “Where is N” who was supposedly my pillion rider!! I was really shocked to see my pillion seat empty. I remember him getting on when I first took the bike and I thought that he fell off and I didn’t realize that. The other bikers couldn’t control their laughter but I got really scared. Since it was a one way I couldn’t go back to check what happened to him. Finally I was relieved when I saw him coming unhurt. Apparently he got off when I was pre-occupied with exchanging the helmets and he thought I’ll stop after a test ride with the new helmet but I just went off!! Anyway my very understanding and considerate colleagues have promised to flash this story in office and I have no idea what version will be coming from them... Keeping my fingers crossed…

PS: Please check this link and see if you can help in any way.Your contribution will be eligible for tax exemption under 80G as applicable. Please remember that every single rupee counts and together it makes a huge impact!