Turning Point...

Everything was going great i.e. Work pressure was lesser, friends were there, family was doing great; in short life was awesome. Suddenly I had a fight with one of my biggest strength in last one year, Lovely (name not changed at all). We had shared some beautiful, memorable moments with each other which bonded us emotionally very strong. I could talk to him about anything starting from my family financial crisis to my official problems. He talked to me about starting from his kid shoes to his home renovation. To keep it simple, we were sharing everything what happened to us in a day.

One day I got to know a secret about his professional life which he did not share. I felt bad and upon confronting him, he again lied to me by skipping the question. That was the turning point..I got numb and decided not to talk to him anymore. I tried explaining him everything over wassapp. He apologized for what he did. But i was adamant not to accept. Later after four days, after going through mental and physical trauma, I forgave him for everything and tried to start a new friendship from scratch. One year old friendship had turned into a fresh one. Things got changed despite i tried my level best to normalize everything but i could not forget the deceit.

Now few days later, on 4th june 2014, i m here once again to write down my emotions these days. I am feeling bad for myself as i trusted him blindly and he beguiled me. I am hurt badly deep down my heart that i am afraid that would i be able to give him or any other person a chance to again hurt me. I cried a lot in past few days and i am mentally disturbed to an extent that i cannot concentrate on anything these days. One thing is for sure, he came too close to forget. Another thing which i have made clear to myself is that in future nobody will come that close. I should change myself than changing my friend. I have decided to maintain some distance to avoid any further disputes. Less the closeness lesser will be the expectations resulting lesser will be the pain.

The whole chapter taught me a lesson. I tried maintaining distance as decided in the above stanza as a punishment to myself. I cleared him everything about my decision, he retaliated in a manner to which i again fell for. I gave him another chance considering my state of mind. But as they say,

"Rahiman Dhaga prem ka mat todo chatakay..

tuttey to phir judey nai..judey gaanth pad jaye;"

Today, i have again decided to keep a straight face rather than be jolly to everyone. Lovely..will miss u badly..Had u not broken my trust, u would have been my fastest friend forever.

Regards

Parul Goyal

An Year ended & Another Started...

8.23 am , 26th May,2014 : This moment should be recorded as I have pledged not to have junk food anymore. People, generally, have such kind of promises, pledges, aims etc on an new year eve and as soon as the day ended, so their promises. So i am not interested in fooling myself. It's not about the occasion, it's about the moment when your heart says the same. For me, this is the moment.

But why? Why i decided to have such promise? Why I needed to cut on my food habits? All the questions will get answered by the end, hopefully. In the last year i had lived my life like never before. Almost every day party, movie a week sometimes twice a week, sleeping on weekends etc had become a part of my routine resulting which i gained 15kg of weights from 65 to 80kg. A boy who used to go for daily running, who was very conscious about his looks suddenly turned into a lethargic, fat guy. I had never imagined myself in 36" jeans. What i had been upto? I am still confused.

On 23rd May, 2014, I celebrated my 27th birthday. I distributed sweets in office, threw a party to my PG mates at room, went out for a dinner with my friends. I received many gifts along with best wishes. Everything was going great until i visited my hometown on the very next day as it was a saturday. My parents were happy as usual. While talking they commented about my obscenity (to put in a harsh way). I was chocked, could not utter a word and decided to control my weight. My colleagues, my college friends have been saying the same for couple of months, but i ignored them all. I used to console myself saying these days would never come back so enjoy it to the fullest. Keeping this backdrop in mind, i was galloping the food like a hungry child for many years. It became a disease which used to compel me to indulge into junk food eveyday.

Two days passed away in retrospection, analyzing the cause and cure for the disease. Finally the moment came, I decided to control my food habits and live a better & healthy life. In coming year, i will try to gain my original physique by working out. Though cutting on junk food does not mean that a person is not enjoying its life, yet to keep myself awake, I decided to write it down. Next time i shall meet you all as a lighter person.

Regards

Parul Goyal

Lok Sabha Elections 2014

India is the biggest democracy in the world. It is time when the people of India form the government by casting their respective vote. As a government official I was shortlisted to be a part of the election process of Lok Sabha Election 2014. I was appointed as a Presiding Officer for a particular booth. After three- four randomizations of the staff, i was given Janta Nagar polling booth in Bathinda Itself.

As per dates released by Election commission of India, 30th April 2014 was the casting day for Punjab state and 16th may the counting day for whole India. All the candidates were campaigning for their luck for last few months. In Bathinda parliamentary constituency, a big fight was slated to happen between sitting MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the ruling Badal clan and Manpreet singh Badal also from Badal clan but the estranged one. Despite the Namo Wave in whole india, AAP was trying to establish itself as a national party after a smashing performance by its leader Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi Elections. Despite these two parties, congress was struggling to remain in power and hoping to form UPA-III.

Though entire Punjab was waiting for the final show on 30th april, but we were given our respective appointment letters for election duty almost one month in advance. Four rehearsals were conducted before the big day so that we should become familiar with all logistics of the election process. I have given duties earlier also but this time it was different for EVM's were being used for casting votes. So i took training sessions seriously to avoid any kind of difficulty at a later stage. To conduct polling at a booth requires three other persons viz 1 APRO, 2 Polling staff. Whole of the staff was cordial and cooperative which ultimately helped our polling party to conduct polling successfully on the big day.

Without getting into the technicalities of the polling process, lets directly go for the results day and see if SAD would be able to showcase its majority in Punjab once again or Congress and AAP will change the equations this time.

As soon as Polling ended successfully in Punjab and then in India, exit polls were ready with their predictions of the results which were clearly showing the Modi wave scoring high. In between, i was assigned another duty of counting supervisor to count the votes for the Maur Constituency falling in the jurisdiction of Bathinda Parliamentary Constituency. I was to sit down on table along with a Counting assistant and a micro observer in front of the counting agents by different parties. One by one i declared the results of 12 booths by counting the votes in the respective EVMs separately in 12 different rounds which ultimately were added to the results of other tables. Hence results of all assembly constituencies falling in Bathinda Constituency were known by 4 PM of 16th May, 2014 and Biba ji as people call her, won by marginal victory of 19595 votes.

In India, BJP itself without any coalition swept away 282 seats out of 545 Lok Sabha Seats. India witnessed such results in its democracy for the first time that any democratic party is eligible for constituting the next government without any allies. "Ab ki Baar, Modi Sarkar" , " Har har Modi, Ghar ghar Modi" etc slogans were doing all around. A common man from Gujarat, a tea vendor is ready to take the Prime Minister's Oath for the largest democracy in coming few days. After Congress worst performance since independence, it would be interesting to see if BJP would be successful in keeping its head high and would free India from scams to form a Corruption free India.

Regards

Parul Goyal

Aalo lo, Gobhi lo...Baba Humko Goddi Lo...

Besides the title, whole blog is full with one liners and "Jaikaras". This month began with a bang as i got the salary including two increments and that too without tax deductions. A whopping amount of 48750/- got credited in my account on 2.4.14. As they say, " Dene wala jab bhi deta ...deta chappar phaadd ke."

As the month proceeded, i got an opportunity to pay my visit to the holy place Salasar. A big thanks to Aunty and Nagpal Mama Ji..Nagpal mama ji has been taking his students to salasar every year. This time Vikas and Jyoti bhabhi also joined in. Thus, a pilgrimage turned into a trip. We hired a bus as there were around 50 students and some other families were also there. The journey started with Jaikara..such as " Jaikara Veer Bajarange..Har Har Mahadev" , " Bolo Salasar Dham ki..Jai" etc. Students were excited too as it was a school trip for them.

As we progressed, I tried to entertain the audience by anchoring, singing few songs, introducing everyone. We started at around 9 am in the morning and reached salasar at about 6 pm in the evening. On the way, we visited Pallu wala mandir where we prepared our lunch and Ichchapuran Dham in Sardar Shehar. Throughout the journey, we all chanted following one liners:

1. Ek do teen char..Baba teri Jai Jaikar

2. Paach Cheh Saat Aath...Baba teri Thaath Baath

3. Baba teri Kya pehchan... laal langota lal nishan

4. Baba tera kahan sthaan...ucha teela rajsthan

5. Aalo lo, gobhi lo...Baba humko goddi lo

6. Laal Tamatar khayenge...Salasar Ko jayenge

I had visited the place may times earlier also with my family. But this time it was special as it was the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti. Moreover, it was quite a time since i last visited the holy place. To add to my surprise, my younger brother was also there in salasar as he had come along with another bus which started from Budhlada. We both paid our homage together. Then i returned to my group as we had to prepare Langar for the students also.

Next day early morning also, I along with students paid our visit to the temple. After having breakfast we left the place with some beautiful memories in our heart and feeling more pure & spiritual. On the way, we visited Bharahmani Devi Mandir in Rantisar. It was on a peak which required climbing up around 400 steep steps to reach the temple. Then we prepared our lunch at Sardar Shehar At Ichchapuran Dham which we visited on previous day also.

As it was Hanuman Jayanti and my father is a big devotee hence he had also planned to visit the holy place on the same day. While we were on our way back to Bathinda he also was coming back after visiting the temple. He could go and come back on the same day as he was on his private car and moreover he did not have to stand in queue for Darshan being a privileged devotee. He met us in Hanumangarh where we were having our evening tea in a Gurudwara. We both continued our journey separately only.

This outing was special for me due to two reasons; firstly, I could visit the temple on such an auspicious day and secondly, I could visit the temple with my family members while it was not planned.

May Bala ji bless us all.

Regards

Parul Goyal

Back with a Bang

The moment i was waiting for, finally arrived and i was transferred back to Bathinda. I was in Delhi for some official work and i got a call from a colleague that my orders had been received in the office and i was instructed to join the office at Bathinda as soon as possible. Unfortunately, i could not join earlier than 18.2.2014 which was 8 days late from the orders date. But as they say, there is nothing like too late. I distributed sweets in the office and gave my joining to my boss. everyone was happily surprised as my logistics had been confusing for quite some time as described below:

• 16.12.11 to 31.12.11 Head office

• 1.1.12 to 23.8.13 PWSS Sub Div No 3 Bathinda

• 24.8.13 to 29.10.13 PWSS Sub Div Zira

• 30.10.13 to 25.11.13 PWSS Sub Div No 6 Bathinda

• 26.11.13 to 17.2.14 PWSS Sub Div Zira

• 18.2.14 onwards PWSS Sub Div No 6 Bathinda

But this time I am here to stay. No more transfers (this is what i believe!!!) hopefully. Along with transfers there comes another news of probation period clearance. Receiving the letter gave me more confidence to stay in the department despite the nuances. I have successfully cleared 2 years in the department and when i look back at the time, i still cannot believe the fact that i have actually stabilized in the atmosphere. I still remember the call letter from American university for doing MS there. But no more regrets. This department has actually helped me in growing up as a human being and as a civilian. I have come across some wonderful people and beautiful moments in last two years. I have become more stronger internally , more tactful in handling with public etc. My attitude towards life has not changed rather i have gelled up together the positives of private sector and govt sector. The most important factor which has helped me survived through the tough times is Box Office. Cinema is one thing which requires special mention due to its support it has landed to me. whenever i used to feel low or disturbed i chose to go for a movie to lighten my mood and release the work pressure. It acted as stress buster for me.

In these two years i have been able to create a niche for myself in the department. I have been involved in many projects starting from OHSR to STPs, from UIDSSMT projects to the Bathinda project. Though i am a civil engineer, yet i was afraid of working in field while joining MNC back in 2008. I was so comfortable in that designing job that i never imagined myself working in field and instructing labor to work. After 5 years, i have managed to get work done in field also.

It was celebration time so i invited all my bathinda freinds to join me in my happiness. It was the first letter that i got mentioning that my probation has been cleared; earlier i had left the companies before the period got completed. Now everyday calls for a party. I am enjoying this phase of my life and would cherish throughout my life. I have put on 10kgs of weight also; thanks to these parties only but its worth it coz Days will never come back, time spent with friends will never return. Goodbye For now.

Regards

Parul Goyal

Kai Po Che- Basant Panchami Celebrations

04/02/2014- A day to remember forever for its uniqueness and its colorness. I never celebrated this festival before. And i wonder why? It is such a beautiful and joyful festival spreading happiness all over. This time i got a chance to this festival first time in my life time. And what a day it was!! Full of colorful kites, threads and delicious food etc. These days i have made another friend named Pankaj. I met him through Vimal (one of the contractors). We both get along really well being singles. We hardly know each other for a month but it seems like we are kind of good friends. We hang around together, shares wass app messages etc. He told me about his craziness for the festival two days before and we planned to celebrate it together. Being a studious guy in my childhood, i never got a opportunity to showcase my skills in kite flying. Or rather i was never interested in kite flying as it used to depress me as i always failed to make a kite fly up in the sky. It required a special kind of skill which i lacked in.

Having set the background let's delve into realm of fun that i had. On 3rd night of feb 2014, we both went shopping for the kites, heart shaped parashutes, threads, tapes etc. He took me to the streets of kill area which are famous for its craziness for the festival. We bargained around 50 kites along with 6000 meters of strings to fly them. We had dinner then and went to respective homes. Next day it was a govt holiday. Since he is a contractor, it was working day for me but he took off. He called me up in the morning and made the program. He went to his old house in mehna chowk to celebrate the basant with his old friends. then he came to pick me up to his under construction house just a street far from my PG.

We were joined by vimal also being a common friend. We three went upstairs and started preparing ourselves for the celebrations. it was 12 o clock already and people were already celebrating on their roofs with DJ and music systems. Since the house was under construction, we had no music but we managed it with surrounding music. We started flying off with our first kite i held the "charkhri". Pankaj and vimal were so excited as they knew how to fly the kite and then further how to cut the competitor's one. I was enjoying in helping them out, cheering them up. Then they gave the command of a kite which was already flying high. I must say i managed to keep it high until and unless some other kite came my way to cut it off. I was happy that i made a cross connection with some other kite whatever the results were.

From that time onwards i started feeling joy from inside. I gave it a try to some other kites and learned how to fly the same. It was not so hard to actually learning the skill. It was already 3 o clock. In the mean while, vimal got a call from his home. We all decided to go to his home to continue our celebrations. While getting down from the temporary staircase pankaj slipped and got hurt. His ankle got twisted but his spirit not to give up kept us going. We went to vimal's house and straight away went onto the top of roof. There we ordered Pizza, sandwichs, pepsi etc to feed our stomachs. I got to meet his family which were very nice to me. Then we flied some more kites, also caught some.

It was 4 o clock and Vimal got a call from his site and needed his help immediately. We went to site to clear the issue. I asked them to leave me at my room as i was really tired by then and wanted to have some break. I told them to meet up after 2 hours or so. I came back and had a nap. Around 6 o clock, both came in to my apartment and we again started the mission kite. Sun was Setting slowly so we thought to wind up with the kites. We had some parashutes which were then lightened up and left in the sky. What a sight to watch!! As already described, people in bathinda has a special space for basant in their hearts. So there were hundreds of other parashutes in the sky. Whole sky got lightened up as they were looking like twinkling stars. Other guys from PG also joined us. We all sang, danced together and winded up.

As it was a tuesday hence we three went to Bala Ji Mandir for paying our prayers at Goniana like every tuesday. Since it was a festival day , so we were lucky to have a langar at the temple only. The day ended with a fun time ice cream in Dhobi Bajaar. I would always remember this day and will certainly celebrate basant panchami next time also and for the many years to come.

Regards

Parul Goyal

Zira- A Tasteles Journey

As the title suggests, i am going to throw light on my journey in Zira (though it is not ended yet). I got transferred to Zira 23.8.2013, it's been 5 months besides a 20 day stint back in bathinda. Opposite to the meaning to its name, my journey has been dull and tasteless so far. This period has been the worst period of my life. Every day i start my day praying to God to transfer me back to Bathinda.

Though i have got full support from my seniors and juniors at Zira but still my heart is in bathinda. I have tried my level best to get over bathinda but i failed miserably. I have been trying to keep my cool by staying at bathinda only and managing 100km of up down daily in these winters. I had decided to shift my base to Zira but then i just could not help myself. The only person who kept me going is lovely who supported me in every way he could.

Whenever i travel some temple or some religious place, only thing i pray for transfer. Still deep in my heart i feel that i would definitely get transferred back to bathinda. I want this journey to end as soon as possible because these days i am losing it and finding it difficult to compromise. My professional and personal life have suffered a lot already. personally , i spend most of my day time in travelling which is useless. Professionally, I cannot give my hundred percent in the work.

I have tried may ways to get transferred i.e. approaching politicians, department's head but in vain. I feel helpless as i cannot work where i want to. They are not letting me to perform. But probably that's the another aspect of a government job. I will have to live with the fact that i m in government job in which everything depends on their decisions not mine. Sooner or later, i will have to shift to Zira provided my prayers remains unheard.

Regards

Parul Goyal