The Tangent off the Spiral

It's that time again - and I have never spared much of a thought when it came to changing jobs. Not this time though.

One of the reasons for this can be that I have spent most of my career at this job (2.5 out of 4 years) and it has grown on me. Another reason could be that there is nothing really new or exciting in my next profile (which was not the case in each of my earlier shifts) that would keep me hooked on to the prospects ahead. And so, when now I know that the days are among the last few here, I am back doing something I love to hate - looking back.

When I came to Hyderabad in May 2005, it was as much of a change of place as it was a change of profile. All my colleagues in Chennai, where I was before this, who were from this city concurred that Hyderabad is the most happening place in India. And they brought out before me the experiences of their lifetimes in the city (which ranged from 'the roads are fully covered with pamphlets in Ameerpet' to 'the biggest Cafe Coffee Day outlet is out there'). "Not quite" - I thought, as I walked in a feverish daze (105 degrees) under a blazing sun (45 degrees) the next weekend looking for an accommodation.

"Quite alright" - I say now after knowing the city well enough to help settle any newcomer. And why not? I have made friends here who are as good as the ones I made anywhere else. When you have friends (and not colleagues and acquaintances) in and outside office, it does not really matter whether you are working in Manhattan or Mangalore. If I were to give an account of our escapades here, it would surely need a series of posts. I am not even trying to summarise them here - let it be for some other time.

At the end of it all, the reason why it evokes the mixed feelings is the fact that the association has imitated life to a great extent. It could well have been the story of someone in a rich and famous family - living with your siblings and cousins and reared by loving parents and scheming relatives. There is love as much as there is hatred, but then no one owes anything to anyone. And the feelings are always mutual. No big news when a gamut of emotions silently co-exist. No big news when someone walks out of the house one day. The attention gets more than divided among the new members of the ever-expanding family. And for the one who is making the new beginning, adjustment is just another extra life-process like breathing.

Nothing changes and nothing clutters your mind. Unless you sit down to think.

"I opened my eyes to glamour and sheen
Then closed; and wiped them clean."