Wanted to share some of the life’s lessons. There are several moments in my life where I learnt some of the life’s hardest lessons.
Moment #1 - It was February 20, 2008, when my sister passed away. I was obviously devastated and I was letting the whole world know about it. I was crying for god knows how many hours. One of my closest friends Venkat was there with me and I was crying over his shoulder. Three months later, I got a call from Venkat saying that his father passed away. I was shocked to hear that. I asked him how. He calmly said, “he had cancer for five years”. It was even more shocking after I heard that. For I was thinking that I was one of his closest friends and obviously if he was going through this I thought he would have let me know. But no. Venkat was too strong for that. I realized that, yes Life gave me a difficult lesson, but instead of trying to get through it, I was making matters worse for myself and for my parents as well.
Lesson - Never show your weakness - even to your friends
Moment #2 – We had a new HR in our team and we were totally annoyed with her as she was not at all responsive. Whenever, we were in a team meeting or some kind of get together, we used to speak ill of her saying how bad she was in her work. We had additional ammunition, when within one month of her joining, she went on a one month leave. Three months later, I learnt from one of my other colleagues that the HR was suffering from cancer. I was totally devastated.
Lesson – Never judge people by your own whims and fancies. You never know what they are going through.
Moment #3 – It was 2003 and I just joined a company of my choice. Suresh (Sr) and Venkat who were my roommates then, wanted a treat for that. I agreed half heartedly to their demand. Because, my salary was not that great. We went to a Chettinad hotel, ordered something, I paid and came out. Two months later, it was the turn of Suresh to give the treat and we went to the same hotel. I learnt probably the biggest lesson of my life there. You should have seen the enthusiasm in Suresh’s face that night. When we got the menu, apart from whatever I ordered, he jumped in gave multiple suggestions. “Santa order this, you will like it, Santa Order that, you will love it”. I compared this with my treat the other day and my head bowed in shame. I never really cared to ask what Suresh and Venkat wanted. But I was so absorbed in the money that I was about to spend, I was in a different world. That day I realized, it was not only important to celebrate the successes with your friends, but you should also make it really count. You should make sure that they are comfortable. I say this because Suresh was not getting more than me in terms of salary, but his heart (and mind probably) was at the right place whereas mine wasn’t.
Lesson – See above :)
