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| Our Guwahati saga begins! |
As I bid adieu to my twenties within the next 2 weeks, it is indeed a strange sensation stepping into my tricenarian years… Somehow, even before my teenage, I could always visualize myself as a twenty something year old, but I could never look past thirty. As I had rightly mentioned in one of my previous articles, it truly does feel like a whole different phase of life, separated by a well-defined barrier. But I guess there is no better place to cross it, than my birthplace itself, Guwahati…! Is it coincidence or providence? Either way, 1991 to 2021… Man, what a journey! Earlier, even ten years seemed to be monumental, but as every passing year forms a lesser and lesser percentage of our total time spent on this planet than the years past, I’m only beginning to slowly assimilate these thirty long chalked up years.
I’m glad my parents had come over
to live with my wife and I for the entirety of my 29th year, which
is the longest I’ve spent with them at a stretch, since having to leave home about
eleven years back, for my higher education. And whilst all of us spent some savory
time together, let us admit that most families these days do require a sort of
post marriage ice-breaker. It is never easy when
the paths of two families get intertwined, with potential difference in precedences, expectations and a lot else, things which come to
light only after prolonged exposure to one another. However,
it is important to reach a level of logical acceptability, albeit with care for
each other’s inclinations or aversions to the extent feasible.
I feel blessed to have a terrific
family, be it my wife or my parents, or my in-laws. When
my maternal grandma was critically ill a few years back and counting her days
in a half conscious state, barely able to
respond or gesture to anyone, my wifey was the one who had the foresight to
convince me to buy air tickets within a day’s notice, for only a couple of
hours visit to my hometown, leaving all my official obligations aside, and today I can thankfully say that the smile on my
grandma’s face on seeing us, was beyond priceless, which might not have been
possible had we arrived any later. Then again,
when it was time to get vaccinated against COVID-19, my wifey was the one who
convinced by conspiracy theory spinning father to get the dose, something which
proved to be of immense importance not only from a health point of view, but
also for essential travel and in other avenues later on. The list is endless…
On the other hand, my parents as always have tried their best to be as compassionate and inclusive as possible, despite the dynamic many a times being different from their age-old imagery, for which I’m grateful. From our childhood we are used to seeing our parents as pillars of strength, but as we grow up the tables are turned, and although they might still continue at a fever pitch, the fragility of our older generations, be it physical or mental, slowly becomes apparent. Once approaching our thirties, we should be matured enough to accept our role as a heavy-duty hinge, doing our bit for the proverbial door-frame assembly not to fall apart. People often tend be amnesiac about the good that is done, while the bad seems to get cemented in history downplaying one's own shortcomings, but that’s not me.
Any way… On the professional front, as far as my present calling at Indian Oil goes, after a blistering start in my initial few years with some brilliant colleagues and unprejudiced top brass, piloting through the quite antithetical widespread reality has gradually become more and more onerous… I’ve seen highly competent all-rounders retiring at average ranks, and relatively bush-league individuals fast-tracked to higher levels in no time at all. Sometimes, getting too involved in this petty game of cat and mouse really doesn’t feel worth it, especially when you have a family to look after, but alas the world doesn’t always bend to our will easily.
I guess successes and debacles are always part of the voyage, but as our Guwahati saga begins, I have nothing but heartfelt gratitude for all my friends at Panipat for all the fond memoirs, and my well-wishing seniors for their constant guidance and support. On the personal front though, I’m relieved that Guwahati is treating us a lot better than Panipat ever did, with a wide mishmash of places to brighten up our evenings and the weekends. As the Dutch writer, Corrie Ten Boom once said: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
Wishing everyone a happy and safe Diwali'2021...
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| A special thanks to our respected CGM & GM for gracing my farewell at Panipat! Au revoir until we meet again... |
