To the BANK!!! (5 things - Week 92)

After working three and a half years as an Electrical engineer, and three and a half months as an Embedded Engineer, I completed my switch to being an Officer with the Bank last week. And I mostly had people asking me "Why??" and "Will you be happy there??". It brought back memories of the time when I resigned my last job to pursue something similarly crazy. I had no intention to make that a thing by repeating it again this year, but the opportunity that presented before me was too good to forgo. And I chose it only after a very deliberate, unwritten dissertation.

I don't feel the need or the responsibility to defend my decision against the scrutiny of the public. Nor does the public have any right in demanding an explanation from me. I only had to convince three sets of people that this was the way forward for me. First was myself and her. Second was our family. And third, and most importantly, I had to convince the interview board, comprising of the top brass from SBI, that having me in their ranks was going to be fruitful for both of us. And as you can see, my arguments supporting my decision were convincing enough to land me the third career stream of my life.

All this has me placed at the Althara Branch of SBI in Thiruvananthapuram district for the next four months or so. And I have been working there for the past four days. Working might not be the right word for it though. Without my ID validation [to be completed by next Monday] and my basic training [to be completed by the end of the month], what I am currently doing is being a sponge. I am just taking in as much information regarding the working of the bank as I can.

Basically, I was a spectator watching from the customer side of the counter. Now, I'm watching the same story from the other side of the counter. It'll take me sometime to get accustomed to the requirements and rigours of the daily. But from whatever experiences that I've had, I love the job. It could be the new-ishness, which will rub off, but I doubt whether it is that.

It might seem like bragging, but I'm someone who loves helping people - those who have had real world interactions with me would concur. And since this job involves a lot of customer interaction, it is something I believe I will enjoy doing. I've already had the opportunity to assist people with opening of their accounts, helping them with their pension accounts, and hearing their grievances and directing them towards the concerned official. I know that this is not my job at the bank, but this first hand client interaction is something I think I'll always enjoy.

Then again, there are a few things we have to keep in mind while interacting with the customer, especially when they are as varied as the variety you'll get at a public bank. For this week's "5 things", we'll go through five basic skills that are to be sharpened for being a good servant to the public.

Shall we begin then??

***

1. Smile

First and foremost, greet everyone with a smile. No better way to start a conversation. If not for anything else, as someone mentioned to me, most people usually find it hard to get mad at a person who just smiled at them. 

2. Courtesy

Courtesy can be shown in various ways. Offering a seat, a pen; being courteous enough to respect each and everyone of them with the title 'Sir' or 'Madam'; speaking in a language comfortable to them; treating every customer equally; etc etc.

3. Willingness

A willingness to help, no matter what your position is. If you can't help directly, then it has to be made sure that proper directions are given so that help will be provided. If possible, do follow ups too.

4. Accountability

If you can help, then it's your duty to make sure that you act to help. The weight of accountability is something you have to be aware of.

5. Resourcefulness

So, you are supposed to help, you feel accountable to help, but for some unknown reason you can't. You have to be resourceful in these cases. Handle the customer as required so that they don't feel burdened, while making sure that proper help is provided as soon as can be. And as long as it is not illegal, go out of your way to help them.

***

All that I said above has been put into a single quote by this great man. Live by this quote, giving cent percent always, and you can work without guilt, no matter what the result is.

***

So, coming back to the initial topic, what do I do when people ask me why I joined the banking sector at this stage of my career?? I simply smile and say it is the right choice.

***

So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.

Heart Attacks (5 things - Week 91)

I love the week between 25th December and 1st January in any year. There's Christmas in that week; there's the beginning of a brand new year in that week; there's also my birthday in there. It is that time of the year, when it's the norm to be glad and jolly. And keeping in toe with the standards of narration in this conversation of ours, in this festive period. we will talking about Myocardial infraction aka Heart attacks.

The reason this topic was chosen during this time of the year will have to wait. Before that, we'll go through some general information regarding this topic.

Shall we begin then??

***

1. What is a heart attack?

The heart muscle requires a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood to nourish it. The coronary arteries provide the heart with this critical blood supply. If you have coronary artery disease, those arteries become narrow and blood cannot flow as well as they should. Fatty matter, calcium, proteins, and inflammatory cells build up within the arteries to form plaques of different sizes. The plaque deposits are hard on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside.

When the plaque is hard, the outer shell cracks (plaque rupture), platelets (disc-shaped particles in the blood that aid clotting) come to the area, and blood clots form around the plaque. If a blood clot totally blocks the artery, the heart muscle becomes "starved" for oxygen. Within a short time, death of heart muscle cells occurs, causing permanent damage. This is a heart attack.

2. What are the symptoms of heart attack??

Many people aren't sure what's wrong when they are having symptoms of a heart attack. Some of the most common warning symptoms of a heart attack for both men and women are:

Chest pain or discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center or left side of the chest. The discomfort usually lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back. It can feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. It also can feel like heartburn or indigestion.

Upper body discomfort. You may feel pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, shoulders, neck, jaw, or upper part of the stomach (above the belly button).

Shortness of breath. This may be your only symptom, or it may occur before or along with chest pain or discomfort. It can occur when you are resting or doing a little bit of physical activity.

3. How to survive a heart attack alone??

Should you experience a heart attack – regardless of whether you’re alone or in the presence of others – the very first thing to do is to call for emergency medical help. You need specialized treatment to be delivered to you as quickly as possible in order to save your heart muscle.

Large studies have also shown that taking an aspirin – the most commonly taken blood thinning medication in the world – during a heart attack improves survival.

Most cases of heart attack are caused by a blood clot forming in one of the blood vessels responsible for supplying blood to the heart. Taking an aspirin during a heart attack may help as it prevents the clot from getting bigger, giving the body a chance to break down the blood clot. If you have aspirin at home, and you know that you are not allergic to it, then you could consider taking it while waiting for the emergency medical services to arrive.

4. How to administer CPR??

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, commonly known as CPR, is an emergency procedure performed in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest. It is indicated in those who are unresponsive with no breathing or abnormal breathing.

CPR alone is unlikely to restart the heart. Its main purpose is to restore partial flow of oxygenated blood to the brain and heart. The objective is to delay tissue death and to extend the brief window of opportunity for a successful resuscitation without permanent brain damage. Administration of an electric shock to the subject's heart, termed defibrillation, is usually needed in order to restore a viable or "perfusing" heart rhythm.

How to perform CPR is given here and here.

5. How are future heart attacks prevented??

Having had a heart attack or treatment does not mean you will never have another heart attack; it can happen again. If necessary, bypass surgery may be performed in the days following the heart attack to restore the heart muscle's supply of blood.

The goal after your heart attack is to keep your heart healthy and reduce your risks of having another heart attack. Your best bet to ward off future attacks are to take your medications, change your lifestyle, and see you doctor for regular heart checkups.

***

The reason this topic was chosen was because two of my relatives experienced this in two vastly different ways.

The first case was nothing short of a miracle. He was taken to the hospital because he was experiencing stomach pain since the day before. An ECG was taken and it was found that he had had an heart attack more than 17 hours ago. It was nothing short of a miracle that he was alive.

The second case kept begging for a miracle to happen. He had laid down to sleep, but was making unusual sounds. When he didn't respond, he was immediately taken to the hospital. But his heart had stopped beating for almost 20 minutes by then. Doctors were able to bring back a heart beat and he was put in the ventilator. The doctors feared that brain death had occurred. Still he was kept in the ventilator for four days - because his son was reluctant to sign the document to bring him out. His son waited for a miracle to happen as long as he could.

In this moment, I pray that his soul rest in peace, and may God give his family the strength to get through this tough period.

***

'til next week.

Situations on Train (5 things - Week 90)

Do you know what's going to haunt you your entire life?? That piece of dumpling which you took from the plate. The actual culprit is the food outlet serving five dumplings to two persons - giving them the unnecessary headache of splitting one in half to keep things equal. But they can excuse themselves saying that they are a profit organization, and that they would rather have two people ordering two plates.

In that scenario, all of this boils down to the individual who eats the fifth dumpling without even asking the other, whether they want half of it. And I thank God that I wasn't that person. Because if I were to be that person, then I would have to hear what I'm saying right now - "..how could you eat that half of my dumpling.."

In short, life's going great.

What's not going great is this Jan Shatabdhi train being an hour late. It's going to act as an unnecessary catalyst when it comes to the post scribbling review session. Which means that I'll be compromising on paragraph spacing, indentation, spell check, grammar check, etc etc. And here you were thinking that it's easy to write these things.

I agree that I'm not doing much more than stringing together sentences in a logical pattern, but still it takes effort. If you are in doubt, ask the person who took my half of the dumpling, who was supposed to have a post ready for publishing last week.

And here I am, writing things in the last minute to keep the ball rolling over here. My answer to what to write about is the mantra that a senior bestowed upon me a few years ago. When Dijin chettan read this blog after it had gone dormant (pre-2013) he commented that I "needed to have experiences to get writing again. And if there's a lack of motivating experiences, then just observe your surroundings. There are more stories to be told that you can imagine."

For this week's "5 things", I'm going to observe my surroundings and we'll have five situations we come across whenever we are traveling by train.

Shall we begin then??

***

1. Weird smile by children

So you are a child and you are traveling with your parents by train. And they meet this long lost friend of theirs who you haven't met on your life. What should you do?? Smile. And I've seen these smiles to be weird and uneasy most of the time. I don't know the reason why though. You're welcome to check it out for yourself the next time.

2. The teenager who is too cool

So you're a teenager now and you are traveling with your parents by train. If you even sniff a chance to get a seat away from them, you'll take it. Why?? Because you are too cool to be seen with them that is.

3. The ticketless running from TTs

If you see a string of people making their way to one side of the train, throwing plenty of nervous glances towards their posterior, then you can be sure that the TT is coming to check your ticket. And if you don't have a ticket, better join that group.

4. Different sleeping positions

Open mouth is my favorite - to watch that is. To execute, I prefer "banging your head on the window frame" position. And there's lots more. The "Nod off on to that complete strangers shoulder" position, the "vertical axis head exercise" position and the "I'm not sleepy, I'm just imitating a pendulum" position demand special mention.

5. What's that guy doing on his mobile??

The one on the left is playing Pokemon on his phone. The one on the right is playing Grand theft auto on his phone. And someone here might actually be reading what I'm writing down. We are all snoopers.

***

Just last night I was joking with my mother that railways is my other mother. And not just because it feeds my entire family. I've been traveling in trains since I was nothing more than a toddler. Only since the turn of the millennia, when we settled down in Thiruvananthapuram did the frequency of train journeys come down. The rail network has kept me company in long journeys and taught me the virtues of patience and observation. Both of which helped in making this conversation today.

***

So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.

Five of the best (5 things - Week 89)

A very short post for this week, as a lot of unexpected stuff keeps on happening around me these days, derailing me from my normal routine.

The engagement ceremony went off without any hitch thankfully. I had to readjust my mundu [dhoti] only once, which was like one percent of what I expected. And there were relatives going around clicking pictures like that's why they came to the event. Can't complain though. They have given in their creations before the professionals come back with their art work. For the 5 things for this week, we'll go through five of the best pictures to come in till now.

***

1. The “MAIN” event of the day.

2. The “COMEDY” event of the day.

That's my cousin sister placing a strand of flowers on her, as per the custom. But my cousin was so afraid of ruining her hair that it took way longer than required.

3. The “SMILE” event of the day.

This was the default smile we decided on to give to everyone who came looking for one. Not bad, huh.

4. The “pain-in-the-a**” event of the day.

“Stand over there. Put your hand on her shoulder. Look at each other.” Thank God that we had only one professional photographer for the ceremony.

5. The “What-the-” event of the day.

That's my mother-in-law being genuinely surprised by my dining tactics. I was trying to avoid the camera that was trying to get me eating food.

***

We've all heard of friends giving surprises to the groom and bride on their special day. Let it be putting up big humiliating banners outside the marriage hall, putting itchy powder on the bed for the first night, etc etc. My dear friend, Dileep, went one step further and decided to give such a surprise for our engagement.

He created the following comic strip from a collection of innocent pictures taken at the engagement. Suffice to say, he's not getting invited to the marriage.

***

So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.

Will you marry me??

***

Ek bandha thaa,

Ek bandhi thi,

Ye he unki love story,

And for us, it is the most beautiful piece of history.

***

We met 285 days ago. Our first impression were the polar opposite of what it’s now. After all, “Meh” and “Nerd” aren’t the more pleasing of first thoughts about your life partner. Over six months, our perceptions changed as we slowly fell in love, as fast as we could. And now, in another 30 odd hours, we are going to exchange two pieces of precious metal to officially indicate that we are each other’s for as long as possible. However, it has been months since we decided to be each other’s for forever and more.

The journey of us reaching this point will have to wait though. Today, there is a more pressing story to pursue. I’ve an important question that I have to ask her. I’ve already asked her this question before, and I know the answer to it. And, if you have read the heading for this post, you’ll know what the question is. If the question and the answer are already known, the real question is then with regards to the purpose of asking it again.

The original purpose was that I had made a promise to her that I would write about her the day before our engagement. But as the days caught up with me, I found myself at a loss of words. But slowly, there came into view another purpose for this prose. The purpose of this prose now is to remind her why I asked her that question the first time.

Shall we begin then my dear??

***

1. Total disclosure.

If there was a foundation to build our life on, it couldn’t have gotten better than this. Our deal to enforce total disclosure was not the best of ideas back then. It had its rough moments. To compensate for that, it also had its not so rough moments. But what it gave us was the freedom of speech – the freedom to tell what we love/hate about each other. And it’s what paved the way for us to find out that we love as much as possible about the other, and we hate as less as possible about the other.

2. Can’t say no to each other.

The idea of not being able to say NO to the other works marvels when you are with the right person. If not for the right person, it may leave you feeling vulnerable and exploited. But the idea of saying yes to everything you say, keeping full faith and trust in you, is not something I dread, but actually something I enjoy. And I love the fact that you trust me as much, to say yes all the time.

3. You support me supporting Arsenal.

I always feared about how my future other half would feel about my unhealthy obsession with the football club, Arsenal FC. Just the past fortnight tells the whole story. Two Saturdays ago, you saw me go into grumpy mood after the Man United game that we lost 2-1. Over the past two days, you see me merry as we won three games on the trot. I’m highly susceptible to the fortunes of a team playing 8500km away. To understand and handle this fluctuation, on top of the myriad other factors which affect ones mood, is difficult.

And so, I am as happy as I can be, in knowing that you support me supporting Arsenal.

4. Similarities

Just the past week, you knocked your left knee against something, making it swell up. To mirror that, my body decided to skip more than a couple of steps on the stairs. Now, I’ve a swelling on my left ankle. I know you hate me saying this but, "See, we are sooooooooo similar."

Jokes and painful knocks aside, I think we are way too similar than you would like to admit. For starters, we both had to give up an activity that we love because of an ankle ligament injury we had while performing it. You lost your left ankle to dancing, I lost my right ankle to football.

We both decided to try to make it in core engineering and hence, passed up opportunities in other sectors which would have suited us better. We ended up regretting our decisions and chose a different course.

What I mean to say by all this is that we could understand each other’s viewpoints, and more importantly pains, because of these similarities. And that brought us closer.

5. Accepting me

I always feel like I have different personalities to match different situations. One to fit in with my friends, one to fit in with family, one for work, one for strangers, one for acquaintances. When I felt someone/some group needed me to be something else, I make a new personality to match that. For you though, I didn't have to make a new personality. I tried on a lot of different personalities before deciding that being myself was the best option with you. Because you accept me for what I’m.

***

And for these reasons, and lots more, I love you. But most of the time, I love you for no particular reason at all.

I still haven’t decided whether I should go formal and ask

"Ms.Sreerenjini Menon, will you be interested in accepting a proposal of marriage from me??"

Or, whether I should try the other way.

"Ammu, will you be mine forever??"

I am going to put them both away and just ask

"Will you marry me??"

I know we both can’t wait to start our lives together.

***

I think I have just justified my nerd credentials with this writeup. I don’t care. I am lucky enough to find someone who loves me as much I love her. I have refrained from terming us as soulmates during the discourse, but I would be hugely surprised if this isn’t as close as it gets to being soulmates.

And so, let me take your leave. There’s a lady waiting for me, with a ring. I never intend to disappoint her.  Hopefully, we will have a few snapshots of the function when we meet next week. Until then, bye.