MAI PEN RAI

I received this delightful mail today from a very close friend of mine:


Sir,
My name is Prasad. I am in search of Kekre S. Who is missing since few months. Had Google search in vain. If you find him please let me know.

With Best regards
Prasad


It is exactly 80 days since I was laid off. And nothing much has happened since.

I am avoiding replying mails ( and hence this funny mail) from my well wishers from India. and Prasad is one of the staunchest friends I can think of. They have one common theme. “Come back. You don’t have to suffer this at your age.”

Well. Its not that I don’t respect their sentiment. Friends are all I have. But I have to wait.

Everything , however, here is clichéd now.

People getting laid off, Losing their houses in foreclosures, credit card companies reducing their spending limits.

Struggling to make both ends meet.

One acquaintance is even planning to sell his car and use it to tide this misfortune.

Mind you , these are not fresh graduates. These are men with exceptional skills. IT guys with higher end skills like SAP, Oracle DBAs, People soft , Bankers with 15 Years experience , Managers of shopping Malls.

Sadly the people who are hit most are the people with more experience.

But relocating is not an easy decision. You have car loans, credit card bills and many such obligations. And another question is what do you do if you go back?

Fortunately as I said before that I am jobless but not without work.

I wake up in the morning and with my first cup of steaming black coffee, I surf all the job portals. Not much comes my way. But I keep submitting.

I have another cup. And start writing.

I keep busy with my blogs. But the major time is taken by my book ‘ The Rambler’s Inn’.
My manuscript is ready. And now I am about to start marketing. Hope I find a Publisher soon. Trying to reach Literary agents in UK, USA and India as well. I will latch on to whoever calls first. Beggars cant be choosers!

I have some very loyal friends.

Satish whose encouragement I always cherish. He finds time to read my boring writings even though he is working and offer his valuable comments.

Sundeep has been a source of strength. I haven’t seen anyone so patient. He reads through the manuscripts.( May be has read it more times than me! )
Highlights the mistakes, helps in formatting and is always giving sensible advises.
I don’t know what I would do without his help.

Then there is my sister. She has been supportive of all my endeavors and it’s not this alone.

She gets up very early in the morning and perhaps the first thing she does is log into my blog or review my writings.

Thanks a lot guys. Hope that we succeed. But if we fail, the burden is all mine.

A common question that is tossed to me is what would I advise to guys who are without jobs?

The first thing -don’t pity yourself.

You are not the only one.

This is just a recession not a war. No one has died. Bide your time.

Try thinking out of the box. Do something different. Try looking for entrepreneurial opportunities, update your skills. Catch up on your hobbies. Do anything but self loathe.

I am a great admirer of Thais. They have taught me the talent of smiling no matter what.

So here I end with their favourite phrase ‘ Mai Pen Rai.’

A rough translation would be ‘don’t worry be happy’. The thais believe that whatever happens you must always remain happy. thats the karma.

I know i am not being too original lol. dont worry be happy! It’s a song by Bobby Mcferrin. It’s the first ‘A Capella’ song to win a Grammy.

To the uninitiated Acapella is a song without any musical accompaniment. And the Grammy of course is the mother of all musical awards.