The Professional Break: My One Month in India

Honestly I thought my resignation would have been more dramatic. I had spent 5 years in this company and maybe they would try to make me stay and I would have to say no. Well, the reality was different. My resignation was accepted in a jiffy and my boss happily sent me away on my break without even a farewell lunch. Did it affect me? Well, I think a lot had already happened for this to make me feel bad. It only reflected on my boss and the kind of person I had been trying to deal with...

First on my list of things to do was a trip home. I had not been to India on a vacation for almost 2 years. Funny thing is I always said I would never be that kind of an NRI who doesn't come back home every year. In my case I do have an excuse that my folks and in-laws stay in the Middle East so going back to India is not compulsory. That being said, I love being in India; now even more as I don't drive around much. 

Also, I wanted to spend at least 10 days in Mysore with my grandparents. I lived with them for 9 years during my teens and oddly I could not remember the last time I spent more than 4 days with them. Mysore being close to Bangalore was perfect for a weekend holiday and I guess that is all I had done in the past 12 years since I left home. Sad, but true.

So began my great Indian holiday where my priority was meeting family (never thought that would be the case). It started with Hyderabad then Karkala, Kervashe, Mysore, a day's trip to Pune - to meet the brother-in-law after over a year - and finally Bangalore. Most NRIs feel holidays in India are tiring and do not count as holidays. You just travel so much that you need a break after the holiday. But that wasn't the case for me; I got to spend great quality time with close and extended family without feeling pressured or obliged. There were lots of wonderful and amusing moments - from experiencing a power cut that brought back a sense of familiarity to meeting my college friends' 3-year old son for the first time to long, interesting chats with cab drivers. But here are some of the most memorable moments:

• I visited Karkala and Kervashe (my father's village) alone for the first time in my life! Never been my favourite place for various reasons, but this time thanks to being alone and also my super-enthusiastic dodappa I saw these places in a whole new light.
• And yes, I did spend those 10 days in Mysore when we also celebrated Ajji's 75th birthday. 
• One Friday night I was temple hopping in Karkala while my husband and friends in Hong Kong were at Lan Kwai Fong.
• Going through old photos and letters that Amamma had in the attic in Hyderabad and finding my mother-in-law's report card, old letters and Tarun's school pictures.
• A movie date with Thatha after ages, just like we did way back when I was in school.
• Delicious food at every home I visited; but special mention to my Cheriamma in Hyderabad and Dodamma in Karkala.
• Just talking a lot more in Kannada and Hindi was fun!

After, 3 weeks of family time I got to Bangalore. I know that it is cliche to say I love Bangalore and then take a flight and head to Hong Kong...but I do love Bangalore and it hard every time I leave. 

There were so many new places in Bangalore and my lovely friends and cousins made sure I tried out many of these without having to pay! I guess those could be the perks of not visiting every year or just the fact that I was unemployed.

The 5 days that I stayed with a close friend in Bangalore made it so much harder to leave. When I was employed I traveled to India for work and that always gave me hope of seeing close friends and my grandparents regularly. This time at the end of that one month vacation, I knew that I didn't know when I would be back next...

My last day was in Bangalore, when I chose to chill by myself. After an Italian meal with college friends I headed to BodyCraft for some pampering. I spent the evening at my home (the one before marriage) and just thought about all the wonderful memories there - the best being Cheese Burst Pizza from Dominos and the Garlic Breadsticks while watching a TV show. This memory was replicated as it was the apt way to spend my last evening in Bangalore.

The India vacation had to last just a month as next on the list was my parents' first visit to my home in Hong Kong. For that again, let's wait for the next post.

What Led Me to Quit My Job?

After spending a year at my job in Hong Kong and 4 years in the same company, I realised things did not seem to be moving in the direction I thought they would. I did the sensible thing and initiated 'the talk' at work to discuss the way forward. The result of this was that my role was chopped off to ensure the request for a pay hike could not be justified giving me a lot of time to watch shows at work, read books during my extended lunch breaks as well as disappear to take a yoga class.

Having so much time on my hands was initially great but with time it led to boredom. The solution I thought was to look for a new job and so the hunt began. In the past, the hunt had been easy. I mean I was the only student from my batch who quit the campus job in 10 days and decided to do something that I like. Reckless? Yes, maybe. But in a month's time I had a job that I wanted. 

Going by my record, when I got offered the first job I interviewed for in Hong Kong I was excited but it was also the expected the result. But well, Hong Kong and life decided to teach me some very interesting lessons. The job that was offered was withdrawn 4 days later - after a weekend spent partying this success. 

I was devastated. Yes, the emotion was that strong. I remember calling in sick and staying home. All I kept thinking was how could this happen? There were many people I met in the next few months who shared similar experiences in Hong Kong which momentarily made me feel better but soon enough I would slip back and wallow in self pity.

After a few days I was back at the hunt. I pushed myself and contacted people I had never met on LinkedIn in the effort to 'network'. During this time I came across another very interesting profile. To ensure I was considered I followed up a few times and tried to reach the right person in the organisation to get myself an opportunity to interview. My perseverance to get the interview honestly shocked me. The good thing is that despite doing something so alien to my normal self, I managed to get that opportunity.

In the next 2 months I attended several rounds of interviews at this company and they all went well. Again I was confident that this role was mine. And smack came another lesson. You may be good, you may even be liked but the other person maybe just a little better. After this second failed attempt, getting myself to work was a laborious task. I regularly visited the doctor for medical certificates for all my made-up sick leave.

The dead end job, non-cooperative boss and tough job market in Hong Kong drove me to frustration and in December on a vacation in Cambodia I decided to quit this job. I did not see any point leading my life where I was bored, sad and frustrated for most parts of my day. Many people saw it as a sign of courage, but it was a hard decision to take. Circumstances drove me to this decision and that is how I embarked on my professional break which was going to last as long as I chose. This was a luxury that I intended to put to good use.

I wanted to use this time to breathe, unwind, meet family, learn something new, write and so much more. How much of that did I get done? Well, you will have to wait for my next post about this wonderful 193-day break; that is over 6 months!