Lessons Learnt the Hard Way

She sat still for a bit, slightly anxious, on a bench near the gate. Every now and then she would look towards the watchman for a sign that her car had arrived to pick her up. I sat by her, observing her innocence, her determined chin and wisps of hair that waved in the soft gushes of wind, for it was an unusually pleasant afternoon. She looked at me apologetically, her face flushed slightly as she uttered how sorry she was that I had to wait because of her. 'How ridiculous', I thought, shaking my head slightly. Out aloud I said, 'I wouldn't want my daughter to be left alone under such circumstances, how can I leave you?' She smiled, and turned to look at the gate, failing to notice the tears well up in my eyes, for she even looked like my eldest. I toyed with my cell phone, after all, no young teen would engage in friendly banter with a high school teacher, it was just not done. As I was lost in a chain of thoughts that was stirred up by the thought of m

Over the course of one's career, there will obviously be several new places of employment to deal with. Changing jobs can be immensely stressful. The unknown is often associated with fear. The not knowing what kind of a person your boss and colleagues are, being the newbie in what appears to be a close knit working environment and a tonne of other factors contribute to the tension. However, if you have changed jobs, it's because a certain set of circumstances came to be that led to that decision. If you were pro-active enough to address those circumstances, chances are you have what it takes to make it at the new work place. It has always been my firm belief in both my personal and professional life, that there should be boundaries, there should be limits and when they begin to be crossed blatantly again and again, change needs to happen. That's how people transition from mediocrity into greatness. People take their mistakes and turn them into learning opportunities.

'Did you hear the news?' 'Oh man, no news is good news, what news are you talking about?' 'It's all over Facebook! Where are you?' It's been a couple of days since the news of Junaid Jamshed, Pakistani icon and larger than life personality tragically passed away in a plane crash, with about 40 other souls on board including his second wife. I had been recuperating from a somewhat serious infection that had left me bed ridden and canula-clad for three days. Being incapacitated in that way had led me to believe on several occasions that I mayn't make it. I did, I made it, but Junaid Jamshed- did not. While in hospital, the emergency room always gives me some much needed clarity on my fragile existence. There was for instance, one old lady frantically fighting for breath. The plethora of medications had not aided her in ease of breath, whilst another young man yelled out in pain for anything to take away his misery.