No Expectation No Frustration

Am learning this adage has a very effective application. It permits me to crusie a lot more without wringing my hands and creasing my forehead that earlier.  The trick is in having a lot of parallel events or plans circulating.  Pinning your hopes on one tends to backfire, this is the freelance mantra as well. You have no clue what shall or shall not translate into reality to send out feelers to almost anyone

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For the last 24 hours, I am proud to announce that I am not recoiling with horror or spouting tears when things that looked rosy are not falling in place. 

The goa training did not happen. Am secretly glad it lets me give adequate attention to the mba nonsense and not bake in the hot as hell goa beaches. Blore is HOT right now, the sand near the sea shall not be much different

The lawyer did not meet me, someone did not buy onions, the yoga class did not happen, the trainer cancelled the appointment, some email reverts are awaited have been for a while, Lucy did not meet me for dinner, etc etc etc. And I am truly and completely fine. Hehehe, am the new Buddha ;-) all hail the arrival of the saint. Letting go and permitting things to transpire at their own time, nah that is a skill that shall take its own sweet time to happen.

Have no deep insight today, just a list of really insipid and obvious ones. 

• Dad dear had a mini car accident, someone trashed his car by driving into it while Dad was steering. He is shaken, bit bruised but all right. Bought home the truth about mortality that we ignore on a daily basis, and the value I place on their being around. Don’t live at home, am not the ideal daughter for miles, not very well behaved when I do meet them either, but the ability to pick up the phone, dial DAD and hear him is divine. Its like the pink teddy bear dotted baby blanket I got to use as a child, makes me feel the world is all right.      
• I work better at coffee houses than home. Think the next post shall be rating the cafes of IndraNagar. Makes sense to me to do so. 
• GR’s accident has left 2 of his fingers motionless, making this independent streak dependant on others. He is lucky lives with family and there are people around to ensure that he is taken care of. MM broke his leg last year, MM lives alone and has the house down up with low seating arrangement. In the nuclear families where we live, where official leaves are probably more sacred than reciting the Gayatri Mantra, taking care of someone while juggling the full blown demands of a job are impossible almost.  Don’t think traditionally the sick or the aged were that big a deal. My grandpa had a tough end to his life. Was paralyzed for years, was at home and everyone met him when they came to visit. Getting to die with your loved ones is not overrated. 
• Writing MBA essays is not that bad. Reading sample essays of others is atrocious. Makes you want to shoot yourself, for not feeding the starving kids of Uganda, Congo and Zaire, why the hell did I not undertake to teach the gardeners kids? At least should have brokered peace with the Hindu Muslim mobs during one of the oh so frequent riots, and SHOCKING – not even 1 like from 4 grandparents dangled me on the knee and told me about the empire they built. Tsk Tsk.. 

You miserable pathetic creature, you actually took vacations when there was work to do and expect the                   world to reward you for this IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR, you are surely joking!!!!! Someone actually said cancelled trips, to complete work. L-O-S-E-R

• To do or not to do

My community who knows me is amused at my new MBA desire. Concerned, each of them are trying to warn me about signing up for life post the MBA. Me, for now am getting in and then seeing what happens.

Just to simplify the debate, here it is in my head.

Choice between the Ant or the Grasshopper- your vote goes to?

Do MBA	Don’t Do MBA
PROS	PROS
Lots of money= nest egg= travel=house=car	No loan, interest, or repayment
International work	Time to pursue lots of things
Get to travel  on company expense	No high heels credibility built with time
New experience, new friends	Free to choose a lifestyle
Learn something?	Consolidate India Career
Lower entry barriers, more options	Lots of maternity leave
Can make presentations	No pretense of wanting corner office
CONS	CONS
Live a corporate life	struggle to get big boys to take u seriously
HUGE loan amount	Financial strife
Wear high heels to work – yuck	International Break tougher to obtain
Brown skin acceptance issues	Scattered work flow
0 goofy percentage. Limited maternity leave	Earning in lower currency- bye bye bali
Be tied down to structure and rules	New experience –long gestation period
Conclusion – Trade off between Corp life that gives  you lots of money , Permitting you to travel lots,  with little time to do so	Conclusion- Money takes longer to come, travel hence infrequent, but lots of time to write these kinds of blogs!!!