Career Decisions?

When I started my career in advertising, i thought, this was it, this is what I wanna do for the rest of my life. My first job, it is possibly the best job one could have, the friends were like family & the office felt like home. After completing 9 months there I decided to move on to another agency, the biggest in the industry, the real deal… I did manage to catch a short break as it was my brothers wedding, right after which, I had to join my new agency. Joining this agency had been a dream for me, this is what I wanted to do, there is where I wanted to be, I had interned here before so I thought it would be a piece of cake, i was wrong.

The downfall seemed to start right about 3 days after i joined, the first 3 days, my boss wasn’t in & i had all the time in the world to sit and watch ads, listen to music, do whatever I wanted, this was pretty short lived.

The person who was supposed to help me out, induct me, he tried to do a decent job, i tried to grasp whatever i could. But, I really was waiting for my boss to come, when she came, I felt amazing, she was awesome, still is, understanding, caring, totally cool, loved her from the first minute.

Slowly I started realizing that I was getting more and more upset with the thought of even coming to office, to top off this feeling, mom and dad left for Dubai for a month, they will be back in 2 days but, waiting for those 2 to end also seems so long, I started feeling so lonely even though my sister was really supportive, I had a good set of my girlfriends who were trying to get me through this, everyone thinks its the work pressure that’s getting to me, I won’t deny it, a little bit is but, that’s not a good enough reason for me to let go of my dream job, that too within a month, just seems wrong to let go so quickly. I have spoken to tonnes of people, people i know that really care about me, I even spoke to my boss about it, she was amazing about it.

Am I giving up? Am I in the wrong field? Am I just quitting with fear? I don’t know myself what this is, should I wait till my parents come? Should I just go ahead and quit? What do I do? I feel so hopeless, clueless. People may think what an idiot, she has no idea what she is giving up on, maybe I don’t, God has blessed me with an amazing family & an amazing set of friends, what else do I need?

——————————————————————————————————————

So, I am continuing this post after about a year of writing what I wrote on top. Honestly, now I’m laughing at the old me, I truly am blessed, I have an amazing family & an amazing set of friends, they’re the reason I am actually still working where I am. They supported me, guided me & helped me grow up. Today its been more than a year that I’m working at the place I put my resignation at 3 times and was denied. I couldn’t be happier. I love my job, I love the experience and I am sure now that this is what I wanna do, all my life.

I guess its true when they say that “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!”

 

Moments Captured.

I don’t think its a passion, i am like any other person who likes to click photos, i would like to believe that i am decent at at, clicking people and colors are my favorites. Below are few photos that i clicked randomly of my family and friends, there may be photos of landscapes as well.

1. “Because beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.”

2. “Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing there is a field, i’ll meet you there.” – Rumi

3. “The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.” – Albert Einstein

4. “Happy girls are the prettiest girls.”

5. “And in that moment she knew she would rather be here than anywhere else.”

6.”A smile starts on the lips, A grin spreads to the eyes, A chuckle comes from the belly; But a good laugh bursts forth from the soul, Overflows, and bubbles all around”. – Carolyn Birmingham

7. ” And in that moment, we were infinite.”

8. “My feelings are too loud for words and too shy for the world.” – Dejan Stojanovic

9. “Smile is making the journey of life with just enough baggage.”

10. “Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes.”

11. “I can be a lover, a player, a flirt. But that’s just not my style…I’m nothing but a good person, with a naughty sweet innocent smile.”

12. “Happiness is all about enjoying those small pleasures of life so never be afraid to open your heart, fall in love and laugh hard enough.”

13. “A real man is one who can make you feel comfortable by just smiling at you.”

14. “Never stop being a dreamer cause if you don’t dream, what will you work towards in life?”

I think i like clicking pictures of people and colors because they have life and they can express and capturing that one expression, that one moment and keeping it safe forever in my own treasure chest is a feeling i wouldn’t trade for anything.

Ogilvy & Me?

October 2014, I entered Ogilvy & Mather sharp at 9:30 am waiting for my boss to enter, scared, excited, confused, there were so many emotions that played on my mind at that point of time. Fidgeting with my phone and legs crossed i waited impatiently on the black comfortable sofa.

Moments later i met my boss, he took me to the 7th floor which is where the Client Servicing Department, Finance Department and Public Relations Department sat together. Initially i felt i would hate what i was doing as i just sat and went through old power point presentations, read up on what they did, etc. Half the day passed and i kept wondering if i would get any work or not. Post lunch i was taken to meet the creative team which made me feel like ,” Ah finally some sign of me doing work”. I left the agency at 8 pm that day, which was supposedly “early”.

The next day on wards i actually started getting work, I was told i would be working on Greenply and Pizza Hut. Most of my work was to do with Pizza Hut as they were coming up with a new national menu, which by the way is out in stores now, which makes me feel super cool actually 😛

So, most of the ground work for Pizza Hut was already done and it had reached the finishing stages. Well, almost the finishing stages. I worked on final edits, that meant sitting with the creative guy for long hours and getting the work done. Honestly, that wasn’t the issue, the issue was getting the guy to actually come early cause i was there by say 10 everyday and till 12 i would sit doing nothing, just waiting for him to come. But, once he came, we would sit for long hours and finish up the work.

Most of my internship i spent sitting with the creative guy, making changes, etc. Once in a while i even worked on Greenply, we were working on brochures for Greenply at the time. By the end of my internship, both the assignments allotted to me were done. I didn’t spend much time on Greenply so, i didn’t really feel much when it got done. However, i spent a lot of time on Pizza Hut, when the artworks were finalized and send to the printers, it gave me immense joy. I understood the rush people used to talk about in Ad agencies, agreed you have to work super hard to get the end result but, the end result makes all the pain worth it. The late nights, the smoke breaks, the coffee breaks, the i just can’t do this anymore breaks, they all seem worth it in the end.

That’s enough about the work i did there. Getting to the people. I was lucky that i had two more people from my college itself interning with me, one worked in the Creative Department and the other in the Public Relations Department, this did give me an opportunity to bond with them and understand how it would be if i did land up working with them. However, i forgot to mention the first week i was alone and didn’t have any of them there, the only time you miss people is when you need to eat lunch cause accept it, none of us, how much ever of a ‘loner’ we are, we don’t like to eat lunch alone. Luckily, a friend who interned there last time introduced me to her friends there, so the first week i ate with them and then i had my friends back there which made it much easier for me.

Moving away from the “college friends” i did land up making friends with people i do believe i would like to keep in touch irrelevant of the fact if i work there or if they work there or no. I had people who were pretty young in my team. The oldest person i made friends with was what 33 and honestly, he is the best boss one could actually ask for, he knew what it was to be 20 something and had enough experience what it was to be on the client side and on the agency side, other than him i had 2 other bosses one was 22 and the other 25, chilled out people yet super focused. They would take a million breaks but, if needed they would stay in the office till 2 and 3 am also. They taught me what dedication was, especially the 22 year old, he was only 2 years older than me and he was a permanent employee in one of the biggest ad agencies in the world. Inspiration is what he gave me, dedicated and determined. Even if he left the office at 12 in the night, at 9-9:30 am you would find him in the office. During my internship he was diagnosed with ‘Dengue’ he was in the hospital and within a week of getting discharged, to be precise it was 4 days of office is what he missed, the day he got discharged, the very next day he got back to work. Other than my bosses i met two other guys who were interns like me but, they were looking for a conversion and wanted to be absorbed by the organisation, its Ogilvy, who doesn’t want to be absorbed there? 😛 I am still in touch with these people and hopefully i would get to go back soon and join them.

People kept telling me, don’t do an industry internship with a big agency, you won’t get work, i think that’s a myth, it honestly depends on your luck, you just got to be at the right place at the right time after that, everything falls in place.

Have a little faith, also have patience, all good things take time, but, they are worth the wait, i promise.

Oblivious. Unaware.

Back in the year of 2011, our college told us to do an NGO internship, so like all the other students, i did one. Little did i know that this internship would change me, mold me, transform me into someone new. All this happened through the eyes of a little boy..

When we were asked to do this internship, i was hell bent that i wanted to do it in Blue Cross for my obvious love of animals, especially dogs. But, my sister insisted that i work with an NGO called Vidyasagar, which was formerly known as the Spastic Society of India. Unhappy and unaware i joined this institution. I was assigned a  3rd grade class, how hard can it be is what i asked myself, it honestly wasn’t. From day one they accepted me like i was one of their own, the teachers were few of the most beautiful souls i have ever come across in my whole life. I didn’t know that kids who were possibly 2 to 3 feet tall would be the ones to have the most impact anyone or anything had on my life. They were like little angels.

Coming to the little boy who changed my life, his name was Nashwan, he has a younger brother called Uttman, sadly, both the boys were suffering from “cerebral palsy” which is a disorder where the children can’t talk or walk or and head control. Yet, these children as just as smart if not smarter than any normal child. Nashwan was in the class i was assisting, hence, i got to spend a lot of time with him, like i mentioned before, he couldn’t talk, walk or do anything, yet, he was the reason for my smile. He had, rather has one of the cutest smiles that i have ever seen. His one smile could light up the rest of the room, that is all that he needed to do, smile. Every one would stop their work to see him smile. He had a very naughty habit, he would eat food only if someone sang or spoke to him in his mother tongue which was “Hindi” as he was in South India, to be specific, Chennai, most of the teachers were South Indians and did not know how to speak, one of them did and she used to feed him everyday, until i came along, Nashwan did take his time to get close to me, but, once he did, there was no separating the two of us, i would sit for hours together and talk to him, watch him smile, but, the happiest part of my day would be when he held my finger with his hand, it bought tears to my eyes many a times.

I didn’t know i had these many emotions in me till i met this little boy who brought out a side of me that i was oblivious of. I even extended my internship to spend time with him, when he didn’t attend school it would upset me, i would call his mom to check on him, i used to take him from his therapy classes to his computer classes and what not, i would spend my entire day with him, teaching him, playing, talking, feeding. My day started with him and ended by seeing him off at the bus. I still remember the last day before i left, i cried and went to drop him at his bus. After which i even took my mother and went to see him.

Till date, i am in touch with him, he can’t speak but every time his mother says “Look Nashu, Palack Didi has come”, he smiles his million dollar smile and makes sounds to let me know he still remembers me, i didn’t think an internship could change my life, that a little boys eyes would make all the difference in the world to me, i don’t believe i was being so stupid until now. I will always cherish the memories i have with him and meet him every time and every opportunity i get to go back to Chennai. My life changed when he came smiling in and since then, thanks to my little angel it’s only gotten better.

I can’t thank my sister enough for forcing me to do that internship. She changed my life just like he did when he held my finger for the first time…

My favorite quotes..

I love reading quotes. Listed below are a few of my favorite ones.

” I believe in Pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and i believe in miracles.” – Audrey Hepburn

“I’m selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I’m out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.” – Marilyn Monroe

“I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love.” – Marilyn Monroe

“The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.
They’re in each other all along.” – Rumi

“silence is the language of god,
all else is poor translation.” – Rumi

“It’s easy to take off your clothes and have sex, people do it all the time. But, opening your soul to someone, letting them into your spirit, thoughts, fears, hopes and dreams… that’s being naked” – Unknown

“I wish people could just say how they feel like, ‘Hey i really don’t like it when you do that to me’ or ‘Hey, i’m in love with you’ or ‘Hey i really miss you and i think about you all the time’ without sounding desperate. Why can’t everyone be painfully honest and just save people the trouble.”

A new beginning…

Recently we were given an assignment to create a blog and talk about ourselves. For the longest time i kept thinking what to write, what to do, how to do it. I knew i had to create a WordPress account and write what came to my mind. So, here is my attempt in telling you a little about myself, I am your average Indian girl, standing a little short yet proud at 5ft and 4 inches. I turned 20 last year and honestly, i’m a little scared to be turning 21 this year. Before i knew it i had come a long way, before i realized it, time had flown, it’s went by a bit too fast. Just yesterday i was looking into colleges i wanted to apply in and here i am at the fag end of my college life in my final semester. How did everything go by so fast? I’m still trying to figure out that one. Anyway, back to myself, so i would like to believe that i can write, i used to, back in school, nothing major just little poems and love notes. I love my family, dogs, cupcakes and shopping. People say i am an extrovert. To be honest, i used to be, i don’t think i am anymore. I can talk to people but, i can’t seem to start conversations anymore. After college, i want to work yet, i’m fighting a battle with myself if i should study further or start working… Only time will tell what i am going to do. For now, i am enjoying my last semester with my friends and family. Eventually, i know i am going to have to start a new life and a new beginning. But, for now, that can wait…