An unusual day with usual routine

23rd May,2012; I turned 25. I had completed silver jubilee of my life. But the feeling was not that great as another year of my life had passed. I could have done some amazing things in that year which I did not. But I am determined to live the forthcoming one to its fullest (self motivation has always been my biggest support).

In everyone's life, his or her birth anniversary has a special place. This is the one day when they expect their beloved ones to greet them in lieu of which they don't even sleep on the previous night expecting and attending the birthday wishing calls. In my case, neither I waited nor somebody called. In fact, 22nd may was very hectic day from official work point of view so I had a very sound sleep on the preceding night.

The day started with an usual routine. First of all, I received a call from my family followed by some friends wishes. Then my mobile was blinking with incoming call named XEN. I was shocked and picked up the phone expecting a wish named "Happy Birthday SDO saab". But that did not happen. He asked to attend a meeting with Commissioner on 9 am sharp at his office and he hung up. How could I be so foolish to expect a birthday wish from XEN? But that call surely ruined my plan of wearing some casual stuff ('coz I wanted to give a hint to everyone in the office) and I ended up with a formal attire. Hard luck!!!

After attending meeting, I reached my office. Everything was normal; Some letters were to be marked, some meetings were in the schedule etc. All of a sudden, my clerk wished me. I was pleasantly surprised. She remembered it as we had talked about it some days ago while I was filling up police verification form. I instructed her not to tell anybody ( but what I really meant was exactly opposite) and she did not as she took my instructions too seriously. Hard Luck!!! There was again a meeting scheduled at DC office at 11 am which I had to attend on behalf of the XEN as he had left for head office that morning only.

In the mean time, I started getting some messages and calls from other friends too but I could not attend because I was sitting right in front of DC discussing progress of various water supply related issues in the city. Hard Luck!!! Whole day I was craving for the wishes but I was not feeling lucky enough to get them. Then I went onto some site visits in the city where local people were waiting for me so that they could share their water related woes (Or should I say so that they could burst out their anger and held me responsible for all the problems in their respective homes).

It was six 'o clock when I left for my room. I had spent my birthday in a way that nobody would ever want to (But it made me write about it). Still I logged onto my Facebook account hoping for some positive results. My wall was full of sweet wishes. It really made my happy and the whole day frustration turned into a big smile. Facebook is a place where everybody logs into, once in a day for sure and in those few minutes spent on it, they get updated about the world and for me, it proved blissful. That's how an unusual day was spent with an usual routine and ended on a happy note.

Regards

Parul Goyal

Just like a Sunday in NCR....

It's been the first weekend In the last four months that I have enjoyed spending In Bathinda. On Saturday only, I thought of spending It the way I want 'coz I was totally frustrated with the kind of job I was Into and the kind of pressure I was put under. So I thought to take a day off from the busy schedule that I usually followed even on Sundays.

The day started with a one liter bottle full of water as always (for obvious reasons!!!). Then I looked over the newspaper (a Punjabi one) to look out for some pictures and stories about bollywood. From there I got to know about the latest release "the Vicky Donor". I planned to watch out the movie all alone. I moved out of home In my casuals after having my three "Alloo Pranthas" . As soon as reached the mall, got to know that the first show was at 11am (about one hour later). I thought to spend the one hour on the net so I headed towards a cyber cafe.

The moment I was about to enter the cafe, I got a call from my XEN Informing me about the meeting which Commissioner had planned suddenly at 11 am. He was always Interested In having meetings with our department on holidays/Weekends as he did not want waste his precious time during working days on a boring & complicated subject such as water supply for the whole city (that's what I think). "F**k him, I wanted to spend this Sunday the way I wanted" were the words I could think of at that moment. I rushed towards my room back to change my attire to a formal one. The meeting was about the water crisis In the city, measures to take care of It and to prepare a contingency plan for handling the problem.

At around 1 pm, as soon as the meeting ended, I reached mall and Inquired about the next show which was scheduled on 1.45 pm. I had around 30 minutes with me. strolling In the mall, I came across my favorite food joint "subway". I had not even had one for many months and after passing by It, I could not resist myself from having one "Sub" with lots of mayonnaise. In Punjab they charged vat extra while It was Included In 70 only In NCR. I took my time to have that one In my stomach tasting every bit of It.

The picture started with a bang. Within few minutes I was fully into it leaving behind all my worries. I was completely In a different zone. I enjoyed the movie till the last scene. After it ended, I felt light and delightful. "Paani da Rang" song just blew my mind away. I reached home by 5pm. I cooked myself a "Maggi" (my favorite snack).While I was just relaxing In my room, all of a sudden It started raining. Oh man! first rain of summer 2012. It had to be celebrated. I ran up to roof Instantly. Though I kept myself away from rain except feeling few drops yet I welcomed it with open arms. The weather was awesome, mood was good, everything seemed so relaxed and enchanting at the same time.

I needed this change desperately from the hectic schedule of my life. It was such a relief. Though I was alone yet I did not feel lonely during the whole day. It refreshed memories of Noida like watching movies on almost every weekend, no office on Sundays, enjoying the weather, cooking in the kitchen etc. Hoping for some more Sundays like it.

Regards

Parul Goyal

Summers-I 'm Hating it

It's 6 am in the morning of mid April 2012. Sun is yet to remove the darkness fully. Yawning and amidst the chirpings of birds, I am trying to concentrate on my past month happenings and feelings related to it. This blog is special in itself as it is the first blog which is being scripted on my own laptop. Early mornings have never been my cup of tea rather I have always wished to work till late nights. This time I am ready to explore this side of a day also. Freshness in the air is hard to resist. Traffic sounds are also minimum. Whether all these factors will help in bringing out the best out of me or not, we will figure out soon.

Since the summer season is already on, the first requirement for everybody is water. One day without it, would result anger and dissatisfaction in public. This is where my role comes into picture. I cannot even dare to think about not supplying water to the city even if the circumstances demand so. Either I need to ensure the proper supply or I need to keep myself ready for listening to public comments and outcries. In all, I could not even think of doing a mistake even unconsciously and if I had done it then I could not get away with it without bearing its consequences. on the lighter side, I had my first party in the government job. The occasion was SE's retirement and the venue was a five star hotel. A female singer was invited to set the mood with some gazals. She tried her best but everybody wanted to pump up the beats. In the end, the troop put the punjabi music on and we can't resist ourselves to matchup the beats on the dance floor. It was the first time in last 4 months that I had danced and enjoyed myself. Though I was missing my friends and bollywood music still it was a good fun.

But I could not keep the happiness for long due to obvious reasons as explained above. Sirhind canal, the only source of water for main water works in Bathinda, got closed for 25 days and to worsen the situation, the storage in the tanks was already less so it resulted in major crisis of water in Bathinda city that too in hot & humid summers. I had dealt with major structural problems in my professional life but this kind of problem I had never come across. Supply was decreased substantially, water tankers were arranged to smoothen the situation but all in vain and once again I failed to establish myself as a responsible officer.

Regards

Parul Goyal

A Government Officer in the making

Another month passed; now it's been more than 3 months being an SDO. March 2012, the month started with a movement called "Water crisis in Bathinda". After getting instructions from my XEN, I got a work started of a pipe repair. It is a main pipe starting from main water works in Bathinda which controls the water supply in the city. To get it repaired, I needed to cut off the supply. For the pipe repairing, it took our men almost 4 days and for those 4 days, water crisis in the city was spreading like an endemic disease.

For a while I thought, whether I might had taken a wrong decision to get it repaired? To increase the woes, annoyed and frustrated common people started visiting the site with their empty buckets to make me realize the gravity of situation. Moreover, I was bombarded with indefinite number of calls from city residents, political leaders etc. Even the press people interviewed me searching for some hotshots. After the movement, as the situation settled & after many sleepless nights, I realized the sense of responsibility as an SDO towards the public.

It was one of the incidents which made me understood the meaning of a gazetted government post and the responsibilities related to it. Generally people have very different opinion about the government job and with same frame of mind I joined but now I find it absolutely opposite.


Regards
PARUL GOYAL

An Irresponsible Officer

Do you guys believe in the saying that some special kind of jobs are meant for special kind of persons? I am trying to find the answer these days. Whether it is a myth or a reality? As far as I am concerned, as a next edition to my last blog, my answer to this question has also got changed. Now I believe that it is a reality. Earlier it was other way around. I took almost two months to understand the expectations of an officer at a higher rank in government service. No matter how much work you do, no matter how responsibly you handle your staff, seniors are there always to degrade you. It’s just that you need to be an irresponsible officer all the time.


Though I have moulded myself accordingly but I would definitely like to emphasize on the fact that private and government sector are two completely different world. You can not work in a government sector keeping in mind your private sector values & ethics, if any. The moment you are ready to hear insulting comments from your seniors without your mistake and ready not to expect any kind of appreciation, you are perfect for government services. On the other hand, if we talk about the juniors. You will always have to be dissatisfied with their work.


So the chain gets continued till it ends.

I am a changed Man now….

2nd day of joining. A completely new place, new faces as if ignoring me despite my post and besides, totally new environment i.e. from a sophisticated MNC job in NCR to a Government job that too in Punjab. Though I am born and brought up in Punjab but I have never felt like a Punjabi from inside. So it was completely a life changing decision from me.

Those of you all, who have been regularly following me through my blogs, must have got their answer by now of the question which I raised in the last blog. Once again I played with my career by changing job within one year of last job. Hopefully this is the last time I am resigning.

S.D.E.
Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Sub Div No. 3
Bathinda

That’s what my name plate outside office and stamp reads now. It feels great when around 100 people are under you and you are authorized to make them work the way you want. It feels great when you are responsible for the water supply for whole city and suddenly your signature becomes important for payment to different contractors.

But there is other side of coin also which can’t be ignored. With big status comes big responsibility. It becomes a trouble when your cell rings 15 times in an hour and everyone complaints about their water issues. It feels terrible when all 57 MC’s of a city have your number saved in their contact list as water supply and leakage complaint box. It feels horrible when workers union goes for a rally against you.

Today it’s been a month since joining. Still I have mixed feelings about this change. I share the responsibility for the decision equally with my parents. It was basically their choice to see their son as SDO. The only way I could counteract them by having a MS call with scholarship which I could not get. The final status of the applications was 5 reject and 1 accept that too without funding. Other option was to continue my job as a structural engineer for which even I was not ready because of stagnant life. I wanted a change; I got the change also but not of my choice.

Space and words will fall short if I start comparing both jobs. In short and sweet, I have not shifted job rather I have changed myself.

Regards
Parul Goyal

A Difficult Call to take …..

These days I am bound to think about the feeing which keeps on banging the doors of my mind, helplessly. The thinking, I have been running away from but it too has been following me up very curiously. The whole scenario got changed when I received a call from my friend Vikas informing me about the list which have been uploaded by Punjab Water supply and sewerage Board on their website which includes the names of short listed candidates for SDO post on merit basis. It was an alarming bell for me. I could not react at the particular moment for the reason I was in sleeping mode. But next day when I realized that I have been short listed and have been invited by the department for document verification, a mixed reaction ran through my mind.

I was happy for the fact that my hard work during college have paid off finally and CGPA earned is getting recognized in some way or the other. On the other hand as I was already in mid way of my MS career and waiting for universities decisions hence was not so excited about the opportunity. I already had invested 9 months and 50,000 bugs in order to get an admission call from some reputed university in United States. Moreover, somewhere down the line I knew that my parents are going to take this decision at some other level as they are obsessed with Government job (that too) in Punjab. I thought, “It’s going to be difficult for me to handle the forthcoming situation.”

As soon as I explained my parents about the list published, they burst into joy and their happiness could not be expressed into words. I was numb. I too faked my consent on the deliberation we had over phone, just to make them feel happy. Some days passed, I started getting results from the universities. Status was 2 reject and one accept. Not bad at all. I was still hopeful for my first choice. I wanted an admission with funding which I had not got it yet. It was the only way in which I could debate with them citing the positives of higher studies and negatives of a job in Punjab.

I was desperately waiting for other universities results and keeping my fingers crossed. In the mean time I started getting calls from my relatives congratulating me. Irony is that “SDO” thing happened by luck and sheer chance and was getting applauded for it but. Then happened another reject and I was shattered as I was expecting a call from no one congratulated me in getting 1300 in GRE through my 5 months of hard work and dedication it. I kind of lost my confidence and could see the forthcoming future. I left it to GOD as normally people do while they are out of options.

“Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift that’s why it is called present”, are the lines which have inspired me in latest days. I heard those watching “Kung Fu Panda” and felt astonished at its usage which is so simple yet so beautiful. As they, “whatever happens, it happens for a reason.” This was the time last year when I was gearing up to take GRE and today a year later, I find myself at the opposite pole.

In the past three years since my graduation, I have never been serious about my career while I could have used this time in paving my way to future. As a fresher I was satisfied with my first company and was busy doing official work only whole heartedly. But nothing came out fruitful. When I shifted to a new firm, I devoted my time preparing for IES along with company work. That did not work out. In my third year I shifted my job once again and started looking out for MS options which again seems to have disappointed me. Had I restricted myself to one field, I could have created a niche. At this point of time, again I am in dilemma of whether to join SDO or continue my job as a Structural Design Engineer.

Keep Reading to know.

Regards
Parul Goyal