It's been a while since I have written - 7 months to be exact. It's not lethargy or disinterest, but an unyielding stream of events- some great, some good and some very ugly.
Well as they say, start with the good. It's probably old news for some, but I shifted back to Mumbai, this time with husband in tow. My new home is no longer under a sink. It's a place , little bigger than a shoebox in an upscale locale in Andheri west. Probably the reason we're paying through our noses and every other crevice in the body for it. Someone recently asked me if my marriage had changed since I moved, well it has, drastically. It feels "married" now.. The meaning of "partnership" and "bonding" and "patience" and "facepalm" is all redefined now. Not that living with in-laws isn't great, but there is some magic in THIS. Everything takes on a new meaning, your attitude and behavior towards the guy/girl you love changes when you know that no one is watching. Funnily you also become independent and more-dependent-on-each-other at the same time. So yes, highly recommended to live alone/separately for the first few years after getting married. Coming back to current topics, I went back to advertising, against much of my own wanting. I knew I was going back to horrendous work-hours and unreasonable work-load but what was in store was much much worse. For the first time in my life, I doubted myself at a job I knew I was good at. I obviously didn't do enough research before accepting the job or the clients handed to me and I was given the raw end of a raw deal. A broken team was handed over to me assuming I am some Magic GodMother, who can just swoosh her wand and make all the troubles go away. I also had the grave misfortune of meeting probably the most vile, blame-slinging bitch in the business (read client). Being good at one's job basically gives her the license to be an intolerant, oppressive bully - something I wasn't going to take. Add to that, an unmotivated junior, a half-wit AF boss and a too-cool-for-school superboss. Losing my nerve and mind were the first things to happen, what followed was a flawless loss of self-doubt and all motivation to wake up in the morning. The first casualty of this kind of professional abuse is work-life balance and mine went for a toss. For 2 months, I was living with a stranger whom I would meet at an ungodly hour (if i were lucky that night). I would leave, before he was up. At this point, at the end of the 2 months, for the first time, I felt my marriage being tested and after much dialogue I decided to quit. At a time when you see your world slipping away, I had one person telling me "Dont worry, i'll take care of everything else. Doesn't matter if you don't get a job." I think that night, i fell in love with him all over again. I think that's what a marriage is - underneath all the Instagram and PDA and sweetnothings and frivolous fights - its knowing that now, in a planet populated by a trillion people, you have 1 person you can blindly, unconditionally count on. And quit, I did.. and obviously a lot of dirt hit the fan. But I was not going to hold back either. After making my peace, and also giving a piece of my mind, I moved on not knowing how two of us would survive rent and Mumbai on a single salary. But fortune favors the brave and that's what I was I guess. So the very next day I got a call from a tech start-up that was looking for a digital writer and manager for their new app. Voila! Wonderful how things fall into places where you wanted them, not at that time but when you are ready. Getting to do a job you love comes to very few and I feel lucky today to be sitting here and writing this. In a way I am glad things happened the way they did because today I appreciate a good opportunity more than I ever did. It's been 2 months here and it is (knock on wood) the life I started out to live in Mumbai - simple, risky with handful of drama and a pinch of magic.
Well as they say, start with the good. It's probably old news for some, but I shifted back to Mumbai, this time with husband in tow. My new home is no longer under a sink. It's a place , little bigger than a shoebox in an upscale locale in Andheri west. Probably the reason we're paying through our noses and every other crevice in the body for it. Someone recently asked me if my marriage had changed since I moved, well it has, drastically. It feels "married" now.. The meaning of "partnership" and "bonding" and "patience" and "facepalm" is all redefined now. Not that living with in-laws isn't great, but there is some magic in THIS. Everything takes on a new meaning, your attitude and behavior towards the guy/girl you love changes when you know that no one is watching. Funnily you also become independent and more-dependent-on-each-other at the same time. So yes, highly recommended to live alone/separately for the first few years after getting married. Coming back to current topics, I went back to advertising, against much of my own wanting. I knew I was going back to horrendous work-hours and unreasonable work-load but what was in store was much much worse. For the first time in my life, I doubted myself at a job I knew I was good at. I obviously didn't do enough research before accepting the job or the clients handed to me and I was given the raw end of a raw deal. A broken team was handed over to me assuming I am some Magic GodMother, who can just swoosh her wand and make all the troubles go away. I also had the grave misfortune of meeting probably the most vile, blame-slinging bitch in the business (read client). Being good at one's job basically gives her the license to be an intolerant, oppressive bully - something I wasn't going to take. Add to that, an unmotivated junior, a half-wit AF boss and a too-cool-for-school superboss. Losing my nerve and mind were the first things to happen, what followed was a flawless loss of self-doubt and all motivation to wake up in the morning. The first casualty of this kind of professional abuse is work-life balance and mine went for a toss. For 2 months, I was living with a stranger whom I would meet at an ungodly hour (if i were lucky that night). I would leave, before he was up. At this point, at the end of the 2 months, for the first time, I felt my marriage being tested and after much dialogue I decided to quit. At a time when you see your world slipping away, I had one person telling me "Dont worry, i'll take care of everything else. Doesn't matter if you don't get a job." I think that night, i fell in love with him all over again. I think that's what a marriage is - underneath all the Instagram and PDA and sweetnothings and frivolous fights - its knowing that now, in a planet populated by a trillion people, you have 1 person you can blindly, unconditionally count on. And quit, I did.. and obviously a lot of dirt hit the fan. But I was not going to hold back either. After making my peace, and also giving a piece of my mind, I moved on not knowing how two of us would survive rent and Mumbai on a single salary. But fortune favors the brave and that's what I was I guess. So the very next day I got a call from a tech start-up that was looking for a digital writer and manager for their new app. Voila! Wonderful how things fall into places where you wanted them, not at that time but when you are ready. Getting to do a job you love comes to very few and I feel lucky today to be sitting here and writing this. In a way I am glad things happened the way they did because today I appreciate a good opportunity more than I ever did. It's been 2 months here and it is (knock on wood) the life I started out to live in Mumbai - simple, risky with handful of drama and a pinch of magic.
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