It is one of those 'rare' weekends in my life where I'm not busy, no plans to go out, horrible rains outside, and I'm feeling too lazy to even make any last-minute plans. So what should I do??? I generally find myself reading stuff
(NERD ALERT!!) on the internet when not busy, but today I want to reflect a bit, and perhaps write a few lines...
It's been a long time since I've blogged. My mom, hubby, and some of my friends have enquired why. Maybe because I've been too busy last few years to think, reflect and write down my thoughts. I maintained a diary all my life until my early twenties, and my writing was quite regular. The diary was thrown away (in a river, not kidding!!) some years ago. No specific reasons, I had grown up, fallen in love, and life was quite perfect. There were no rants to write about. I found my soul mate and best friend in my life-partner, and he became my diary. :)
As I was reflecting on my life I realised that it has CHANGED a lot in the last 3.5 years. Whenever one talks about change, people get wary of its consequences. Change is not a very positive word for some. It is human nature to hate change, we like a routine in life, and if the routine breaks we get insecure and negative thoughts creep in. As a Business Change professional I face people's aversion towards change on a daily basis (Yes, I'll need a shrink soon!!). It's a difficult task to convince people that change is, in fact, always for the better. :)
Throughout my life so far I've been a goal-oriented person. It is in my personality to plan everything in life and store a blueprint of my plans in my head (NERD ALERT!! :P). I had a 'before-25' bucket list, I also have a 'before-30' bucket list ;). It might sound silly to some, but my plans keep me on track, they keep me excited about my life, else life is nothing but just a biological process of breathing in and out. And yeah, possible life changes (read: Contingencies) are captured in my plans too (NERD ALERT!! :P).
Marriage was the first big change in my life. I got married to the love of my life at the tender age of 25. So yes, it was a positive change for me. People generally say that marriage changes a woman's life completely. I do not agree. It's all in our hands how much we can let any change impact us, and to what degree. For me, marriage did not change my lifestyle at all. As an ambitious woman, I never wanted my dreams, aspirations and independence to be compromised, and my wonderful husband made sure that my life remains perfect, the way I had built it over the years. Marriage made my life better than ever. :)
Migrating to the UK and pursuing my advanced degree in Manchester was one of my biggest turning points in life. When I look back, I can remember that the first time I ever thought of studying abroad was when I was just 7-8 years old. The inspiration came from my paternal grandfather. He was a very strong personality, highly modern in his thoughts and a very learned individual. He was with the Indian Police Service and was also a renowned writer. In many ways my personality resembles him - strong, ambitious and positive. It was he who instilled the concept of 'high thinking' in me. I can still remember all his teachings and his optimistic approach towards life. All through my education in Manchester Business School I remembered him, and regretted the fact that he was not there to see his grand-daughter achieve what she promised as a 7 year old.
Manchester Business School (MBS) changed my life in many ways - a new country, new city, new people and a completely different field of study. It was a very exciting phase of my life and Lady Luck was on my side too. I had won the British Council scholarship for the academic session of 2011-12 (
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/eight-indian-students--awarded-scholarships/180328-60-120.html) and this helped me a lot in managing my finances. Also, the much loved attention from press and media boosted my profile tremendously. The one year Masters programme tested my capabilities in many ways and also transformed my personality (
http://www.mbs.ac.uk/masters/is-mbs-right-for-you/student-graduate-profiles.aspx). Some of my most beautiful memories are with MBS Horizon. As part of the leadership team of this postgrad society, I have some fond memories of all the socials and activities that we organised and the sweet taste of success with each of them. But along with excitement, a career break of one year also comes with some levels of frustrations and insecurities. Not earning for a year can be testing for someone who is used to spending carelessly (read: Shopaholic!!). Also, getting back to the job market after a year's break is difficult when the economy is not doing its best. But once again, my careful planning skills worked out
(NERD ALERT!!) and I managed to jump back into the job market after my Masters in no time. :) :)
Since then there has been no looking back. Moving to London from Manchester was the next big change in my life. My husband and I moved to this vibrant city for professional reasons and built our little love nest in the north :). Our move to London was yet another positive change, this lovely city has given us a lot, we became 'local' very quickly and adopted the 'London ways' in no time (SNOB ALERT??!!??).
Now when I look back at all the changes that took place in my life in the last few years, and ponder upon the consequences of each of those milestones I can only see the positives. It almost seems like whenever any change is about to take place in one's life, all the positive forces conspire to consummate the change, and make sure that it's for the better. So how can we say that changes are no good? Change is, in fact, an inevitable part of our lives. We can either embrace it with open arms or let it overpower us by being hostile; the choice is entirely ours!!!
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