The Ghosts Of New Year Past, Present And Future

(Warning: This is going to be a very cryptic Dear Diary kind of post...so you might wanna skip it. And my sincere apologies to Dickens who must be rolling in his grave coz of this post inspired by Christmas Carol. Mr. Dickens, please believe me when I say that "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery".)


The Ghost Of New Year Past

He doesn't always visit me at the end of the year. He turns up whenever he wants to torment me with haunting and scary images from the past. From time to time, he makes sure to remind me of the mistakes from the year gone by. I should hate him the most for tormenting me like this. But I know he keeps me from repeating the same mistakes again, so I try not to mind. Though sometimes I wish that he would not drag up the same things, that he would stop when I have realized my fault and let me be.


The Ghost Of New Year Present

This year the spirit seems to be more or less happy with me. Even though I had made no promises to him or to myself, I know he won't haunt me this time. He has a slight frown on his face though, as if to say that he is not happy with what I have done this year; that I could have done more. But I hope he understands that I have made an attempt to change things. He shakes his head as if to say that I am starting to lag behind, I tell him I am happy with my pace; that I will surely reach there (Where is 'there'?, you might ask..I am still trying to figure that out!). He groans and tells me that I am just using peace of mind as an excuse not to move forward, I respond that he would never be able to understand how much I craved peace; and that now I am ready for whatever life throws at me. He warns me not to isolate myself again, I assure him that even though I am tempted to, I will try not to do that.


The Ghost Of New Year Future

I have never been able to determine how he looks like or what he wants from me. He is the least corporeal of all the three spirits. He is engulfed in a fog and as I try to get closer, he moves further and further away. Sometimes, I give up trying to reach him, and at other times I am not able to resist myself. I keep on wondering what he looks like; does he look happy, contented, sad, frightening, disappointed or frustrated? But he always manages to evade my attempts to catch him. I think he wants me to be more patient, so I will just let it be...at least for now.

P.S.: I can't believe how fast the year has gone by!! Mr. Einstein, your theory of relativity doesn't seem to work in my case. Even when I am deliriously happy or down in the dumps, time still flies by at an alarmingly rapid pace!!!

When Recession Strikes...

• A slight note of displeasure from the client turns into hour long meetings at offshore.
  

• Your manager sees you leaving the office at 6, and wonders if he should assign some more work to you.
  

• People no longer want to stay on-bench.
  

• You have to fight for every pen/stapler/notepad that you need in office.
  

• The toilet paper starts vanishing slowly from the bathrooms.
  

• You put in a little something for your company, your client, the stock market, the economy in your morning prayers.
  

• You start getting a nagging feeling, that you should update your resume and update your skills, so as to be prepared.
  

• You start reading economic section of the newspaper or check your company's stock value.