A Dream... waiting too long..

Finally I get to write! So much was happening in the last three months and I just couldn’t find time to write. Anyways, here it goes…

It’s been about two months since I am back. As usual, ‘time scale’ shrinks as I look back. Really didn’t understand how and when time passed, yet West Lafayette seems like a long long time ago. Merging back in Pune was so easy. Feels like I was always here, just had been for a few days somewhere, everything’s just like it was (just that aaji is not there).

From -20*C to 40*C, from clean, lonely streets to crowded, bind-bogging traffic, from the serene banks of the Wabash to the filthy banks of Mula, disciplined traffic to signal breakers… the list of contrasts is endless. But the feeling of “being home” supersedes all the negatives. I am not an outsider anymore! And ya…, Pune Rocks! But that’s probably the second reason why I fell good right now. The 'Thrill' of doing business has been the fuel, always. A dream waiting too long to get realized.

I reached Pune on 1^st March, it was a Sunday. Jetlag got me sleeping early, and I woke up in the night at 3 am, laid there till 4 am, then my body started aching so I got up, took a shower and started unpacking/arranging my stuff. By 8 am I was bored, called Mami, asking if I could come to office from today, and since that day I am running on a wheel that never stops rotating. 1^st May was a compulsory holiday to office and site, so I used this opportunity to look back a bit at what’s happened.

First question Mama asked me on coming back was, “what’s gonna be the name of your company?”, and I realized I had not done any homework. Coming back was such a hasty thing that I never had time to thing about what I am doing to do. Anyways, so that night I called Sachin and we were hunting for a name till 2 am in the night. Shapes, Nirmitee, Curves, Forms, Nirmaan… ‘Lines & Curves’… there.. we had our name. Any design, any form, any visual is basically lines and curves; what could be a better name for a design consultancy… I loved it! Then the logo, visiting cards, letter heads, banner, legal, financial matters, administration etc followed.

Recession was probably not the best time to start a new business in a field I knew almost nothing about. I reduced the staff to just one accountant, fearing that heavy overheads are not affordable in this recession. I got myself a teaching job in MIT, to teach construction business management, hoping that this income would help a little to ease the essential capital requirements for my new business. However, I had not expected what happened. Within a months time I was overloaded with interior design works and I had sites all around Pune – Baner, Sanghvi, Kothrud, Shivajinagar, Warje, Chakan, Wakad, Shanivar Peth, Tilak road and Bibewadi. Cash started flowing in and out, L&C was rolling… Within 15 days I had to call one of my staff back to work. I was fortunate she had not committed anywhere else. I really need to hire more staff right now but I am going to try to push this decision as far away as I can. A rupee saved is a rupee invested.

It’s funny how much you want something till you get it, and then when you finally have it, you don’t have time to look at it, embrace it, and feel happy about it. Before ending the write-up I should confess that I have screwed-up my social life. Although I do enjoy every bit of my life right now, I have not given a single party to anyone, neither my friends, nor my relatives, not a single movie after coming back, no natak, no ganyacha karyakram, I haven’t left Pune, not visited any place except cycles of Office->Site->Home. I remember how any bad news in India would make me angry in US; and now I haven't read news for 3 months. I do miss Neon Cactus sometimes… and my crime partners. One good thing that I could pull-off is landscaping on Sundays. Playing with canvas and colors again after 3 years!! I hope, the next time I get to write on the blog comes soon enough, and I have more to write about the people I met, the places I visited and probably some pictures of L&C’s first creations.

For here or To go ?!

I guess, the first question every Indian faces when he come to US is - "For here, or To go?". I was asked the same question at a MacD stall at the Chicago airport, my first day in US. For those who dont know, this means, do you want the burger here or do you want it packed to carry away.

Obviously the question asks more than just that and we come up with all possible explanations to debate, "Why I am here". Everyone has their own reasons, and so do I. With my thesis almost done and time to leave US coming near, I think time is ripe to look back at it all...

All the reasons we all come-up with are true. The education is better, jobs pay higher, living standards are better etc. etc. But does that me we stay here or go back. For me the choice was relatively simple. I wanted to have my own business real bad, and I had an opportunity waiting for me in Pune. Moreover I cannot explain the feeling of going home, home is home and no matter how rich and powerful you become in US, you are still an outsider. No matter how high the statue if liberty is, racism is very much alive in US. Average American is more conservative than an average Indian, I can say this after experiencing it first hand...

Summing-up the whole experience, I should thank all the friends I made in US, especially my roommates... The place would have been a ghost town without them. I made friends for life and with them unforgettable memories! Great professors, exemplary institutions and systems, and the Obama election campaign going parallel to all this with our crazy late night discussions, debates just made it some of the best days of my life. These two years are only the second best time in my life after my engineering college days.