The lost charm of April fool’s day…

Finally, April 2016 began. The word ‘finally’ used here has considerable significance since I was waiting April to arrive for last two weeks. Precisely, I was waiting since the day I made plans and schedules to work for future. April 1 was the first day to measure the progress. I began the day by going for a short morning walk. I didn’t wake up early as planned and that made me lose my first goal.

The day at the workplace was better. My boss and I are playing hide and seek that when I come to the office, he goes to another place or vice versa. So my boss wasn’t there at the office. The works went pretty slow. However, a slower pace was fine as it’s a relaxed month.

I enthusiastically started the session in the evening, only to be interrupted by a guest who left home only at 10 pm. Then, I resumed to reading book and closed my day.

An interesting thing I noticed was that nobody spoke anything about April Fool’s Day except few online posts. The only posts I remember said that ‘When your whole life is a joke, who wants an April Fool’s Day?’ Perhaps, true. I guess people are not anymore in a mood to celebrate such days. I remember my childhood days where we (friends and me) tried pranks to fool others, mostly to become the victim ourselves.

April 2 seems to be better than yesterday that I managed to wake up earlier and went for a longer 30 minutes’ walk. The day at the office is going well. Hopefully, the evening session too will be good. Despite tomorrow being a Sunday, I have decided to come to the office. I had taken three leaves last week, for which I’m planning to compensate.

March 2016: Nothing so great about it…

On the last day of every month, I write a summary post about that month. Today is that day to write about my March 2016. Frankly, I do not remember most of the things happened this month. That says it was not that great a month.

I remember this month for two things. One, I read numerous inspirational stories and productivity enhancing articles. I devised my goals in detail and set goals and deadlines to fulfill each. I am ready to start working from tomorrow. Two, my niece is here. Her laughter makes this house 'a sweet home'. To talk about work, it wasn’t that great. I was slower in doing works. I did not follow my office timing properly. Altogether, the work in March was dull. Personally, there was nothing so memorable in March.

Look forward to fulfilling my goals from April 2016. In fact, I expect a lot this month. Hope for the best. Meanwhile, I miss my papa so much. I was conversing with him most of the time while at home. I do not know why, perhaps, he is looking at me now. Miss you Dad. Thank you for growing up me like the way I’m. Be there and show me the way. I miss you terribly!

My niece’s first train journey…

The days at home ended soon. We are back today to the bustles of the city. The journey was fun because we had our princess with us – my niece. My sister and niece are going to stay with us for a few days, which is why April is going to be fun. It was my niece’s first train journey. We were worried about how she would adapt to the ambiance in the train. Surprisingly, she was comfortable. It was as if she owns the compartment of the train. She ran everywhere, sat on every possible seat, and made sure she gets a smile even from the rudest man sitting inside. Unusually, the train was fast and reached the destination at the right time.

From Shornur station, I went down to get tea and snacks for all of us. By fractions, I was about to miss the train as the train left the station soon. However, I managed to enter inside the running train. We got a comfortable Red Taxi to reach home. My niece liked our spacious apartment. The balls and the new big teddy bear entertained her. She is still busy playing and running around.

The day is good. We are not tired and are still active to do more for the day. A small shopping is pending. We are planning to go for it soon.

Meanwhile, April scares me. I have lots of plans and schedules to do. I am not sure how far I am going to accomplish those. Hopefully, April 2016 is going to be a fabulous month.

The days at home begin...

Here comes the day at home, at my native place. In fact, the visit home this month got much delayed than anticipated. The journey was relaxed. This time there was no hurry to catch the train, nor any sweating at the heat. We, my Mom and I, took breaks between the journey, halting at places we felt and eating what we want. We were also lucky to get the recently introduced low-floor bus. The unexpected entry into the air-conditioned bus in summer was heavenly.

Sitting opposite to our seat was a man with his mother. Similar to us, the man was also visiting home after a gap. The mother kept describing the recent developments at home and in the neighborhood. He seems to be inquisitive, inquiring about the people. After a while, they got down at a place. Again, my Mom and I were left alone. She fell asleep soon, whereas I delved deep into the book ‘The Underground Girls of Kabul’ by an investigative journalist Jenny Nordberg. The story is about the girls disguised as boys in Kabul.

Two boys soon got into the bus and sat opposite to us. They are chasing after some loans and were busy discussing the interest rates of banks. I liked the shirt one of them were wearing and imagined how it will be if I could get a dress in the similar design. The guys must have thought I am overhearing them. They soon shifted their seats to another place.

The journey ended much early. The summer at my native place makes me think I shouldn’t have booked my return ticket so late. On the way back, we have two people accompanying us – my sister and one-year-old niece.

April is going to be a month filled with her play and laughter. My mother and I are prepared for her visit that we have bought few toys and shifted things from the floor to the shelves on the wall. We are sure my niece is going to bring in more laughter and noise to our silent abode. I am equally concerned about my house getting dirty due to her naughty acts. With all the excitement, worry, and anxieties, we are set to celebrate days together for a month.

The new project planning…

It has been a while since I logged into the Blue Signature. The reason was that I was ‘free’, but too ‘busy’. The view contradicts, but let me clarify. The Easter and Holi came as a blessing in between the days of hectic work schedule because I could grab few holidays. I sat at home and unlike the usual holidays, I was totally free. But, my mind was not. I kept thinking and scribbling on things I am not clear. I did a review of my days. Alas! Finally, I found, I lack a detailed plan on future.

I spent days scratching my head with thick smokes emanating from my ears. At last, the clear-cut targets were listed on paper. Then I needed a journal I could always carry, and obviously, that turned to be online – OneNote. It seems the life is a vast project and I need a good project management skill to deal with it.

The plans begin in April, vivaciously on 1 April. Perhaps, I chose this date because I decided to celebrate Fool’s Day by myself becoming a fool! 

The aftermath of knowing your wallet closer…

The trouble of tracking your expenses is that you realize how bad you are at savings. I just felt the same when I happened to calculate my last month’s expenses. However, I was happy because I have managed to meet the ends without any debts. That also implies that I have earned well last month. Money is the ultimate thing I hardly get a grip. I am weak in writing finance articles, and I am weak at maintaining it.

I always try to console myself saying it’s an art. Like many other arts that I do not possess, such as photography, dance, music, etc., Finance is also another art that is alien to me. But, not knowing this art creates trouble, disheartens us. Every time I plan to be better at it. This time too, I promised myself to be a 'super saver'.

Meanwhile, the girl in the next cubicle advised me not to care so much about the money. She had vivid examples including how Illuminati control the world and made us slaves of the money. She is true, but at the end of the day, a fact triggers my conscious. The shopkeeper next to my house will not give me a packet of curd, if I don’t pay him Rs. 15.

These trivial things make my days at office fun...

Long back, I wrote about an old lady who cleans my workplace. She continues to manage the place with her laughter and age. Today, she was cleaning the hall. There is an evening tea session at our office, where the tea comes to a lounge and we carry our glasses to fetch the tea. The tea has come early today, so I asked her to drink tea and then, continue the work.

Image Courtesy: Gulfu Photography

“Here people (office staff) have asked me not to take tea. Hence, I stopped drinking tea from this office,” she replied angrily. I tried consoling her saying they may not have meant anything by that, rather would have made fun of her. But, she presented more arguments of her co-workers always getting preferences in trivial matters.

In between, she also blamed me for not heeding her. Last week, she was on leave for five days and I didn’t notice her absence. For almost 15 minutes, she continued to share her grievances, every time highlighting the ‘tea’ issue. In a nutshell, unless the Dean tells her, she has decided not to take tea from the office. Finally, I decided to give up and offered her a cup of tea. She lowered her voice and said, “I will drink because you give me.” 

I smiled looking at her cute face and nodded the head. She reminded me of a 6-year-old kid, and I silently thought 'old age is a second childhood.'

I miss my blue signature...

Why did I name the blog ‘The Blue Signature’? In fact, the name is a memory of my journal writing habit. When I was a 10-year old kid, I used to maintain personal journals. I scribbled my routines in the notebook with an ink pen. After every entry, I put a sign at the bottom of it. That blue signature is still a vivid memory.

Image Source: northcountrypublicradio.org

In this blog, I do the same thing - document my days in writing. It’s like maintaining a journal of yours. In fact, the entries in this blog are conversations I have with me. I can know myself better. The thoughts turn clearer when I put into words. After ages, I would read them again and rewind the days. 

Also, when thoughts keep running in my head, I tend to think more about it. I am a true daydreamer. This habit prevents me from working. Once when I put those thoughts into words, it goes out of my head, and my brain is free to focus on another work.

Another weekend is here….

Yesterday was a busy day at work. I have to write the content for a coffee table book and I am currently in the race to finish that. After a long time, I worked late in the office until 8 pm (Initially, it used to be daily affair) and rushed to catch a movie at 9.30pm. Repeating my regular style, we reached the theater by 9.40 pm. Oh! By the way, the ‘we’ include, my Mom, myself and a colleague of mine. My Mom found it difficult to walk through the darkness and stumbled down, hitting herself on a sharp corner of the rail. Luckily, no major hazards occurred.  

It was a Malayalam movie ‘Darvinte Parinamam’, produced and acted by Prithviraj, the veteran actor. Frankly, we were forced to sit through the 2.5 hours of torture because you paid a hefty amount for the tickets. It has been a while that I watched bad movies. These days, I have turned choosy and read reviews before I choose one.  Since this movie was released only yesterday, no reviews were available. So, the choice was taken based on the previous movies of Prithviraj. His movies are usually good. But, this was an exception. Perhaps, they might have tried a new style of story-telling, and to say, ‘IT DIDN’T WORK AT ALL’. Period. 

Today is Sunday, but as I said earlier, I have my race to finish. Hence, I am in the office. The late evenings and holidays are the best time to work. It's because nobody is there to disturb you. On those days, you can work at your own pace. There is neither any phones to ring nor any colleagues to interfere your work. 

By the way, my workplace has an ambiance of tranquility. With plenty of trees around and the silence ruling the space, this is a perfect place for people to better themselves. Precisely, this is a place for you to begin your second life. Once on track, you need to do to fly higher and far away. There is a danger existing as well. There are people who come here and recover, but they get so used to the place that they settle here forever. It’s like you give comfort to a bird for long that it forgets how to fly.

I forgot to tell you. Today, I bought a red teddy bear. An old man was selling it on the road and its height is almost four feet. I love bears, balls, etc. these days. During my childhood, the toys never excited me. I loved books and crafts then. 

So, that was a quick update about my days. For now, let me begin my race to finish the coffee table book. Happy Sunday!

A retrospection of my present life…

Sleep, food, books, radio, office, freelance writing, Rubix cube, blogging and tracking expenses. I’m counting the things that define my life now. I have not done anything else for quite a long time. The reason I thought this is because I had a conversation with a colleague of mine, who asked about my future. In fact, there is nothing brewing in the pot at present. So, that left me dubious. Am I becoming like a bench in the park? The usage sounds weird, still that looks most apt in my scenario. A bench in the park witnesses almost similar things every day, which is the exact situation I go through.

But, I’m not bored about the current phase of the life. I chose this life months ago when I realized my deficiencies. I knew I should take a break, clear those deficiencies that prevent me from achieving the best. It is the best time to take a break because I am neither burdened nor aged to worry about anything. I’m identifying my errors, rectifying them, and moving ahead stronger. The human nature of stumbling does exist for me as well, that I sometimes lose track of things. But, I ensure I get back to things fast.

The deliberate choice and the special effort with passion are the reasons why I am happy with my choice. There is the brighter life I see ahead, ready to pamper me with everything I love. Hence, I realize that this period is the most beautiful time of my life. It is the time of life when I act to fulfill my dreams. I may not get another perfect time to take a break ever again.

If somebody is reading this post, I tell you, take a break from your busy life! It enables you to discover an unknown side of you and the world.