Everything happens for a reason !!

           "There is a new project requirement which requires you to travel for 6 months to Singapore. We are yet to receive the final dates for your travel and will update you soon." informed our project manager in one of our meetings to Vishu. We all knew the best bet for this travel would be Vishu. You see, he was the most hard working and senior most in our team. He would work late nights and we have never seen him telling no to anyone. At the same time we all knew that he worked crazy hard because he always wanted an onsite opportunity. So we were really excited and happy for him. 
        For the first time we noticed that excitement in Vishu. He was looking extremely happy about this. When we went to congratulate him for this opportunity, he told us that at the start of this year, he had promised his parents that he would make a visit to the Sabarimala in December to make this dream come true. Now this news was told to us in the month of December and by then Vishu had started his preparation for the Sabarimala pilgrimage. He had to fast for 41 days and not shave till the completion of pilgrimage. He wore a traditional black dress to work.
        On Monday, our manager told Vishu that the vice president wanted to have a meeting with him that day. It was a meeting through web camera where he got to see and speak with the vice president at the client side. The meeting went off for about 30 minutes where they explained him the expectations and requirements for his travel. Overall he felt that the meeting went good and he was mentally all set to travel Singapore. Later his manager asked him about the meeting and he gave the same feedback. He also told that he would be informed about his travel date soon.
       About 3 weeks went by after this conversation happened and there was no news about his travel dates. When inquired with his manager, they broke a news that the client gave a negative feedback about his appearance and felt he would not be suitable for this role. So they had cancelled his travel only for the reason because of his appearance. Vishu was totally upset about this and felt very disappointed that he was so close to fulfilling his dream and had lost a golden opportunity. When we heard about this, we were all shocked. We told him everything happens for the good and consoled him to complete the pilgrimage and try for next client opportunity.
        Once back from his pilgrimage, Vishu took all the efforts and worked extra hard to not miss the next onsite travel. His hard work and devotion payed off. In the next onsite travel, he was chosen from our team to travel to Los Angeles for 1 year. This then got further extended and he is now travelling next month to India for a holiday. We are so excited to meet him and the power of first impression always comes to our mind whenever we think of his story. 

This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette

Happy Anniversary Sir !!

             "Class, today we are going to run 10KM without stopping. Those who stop will be made to run an additional 500 metres" yelled our sports sir. He was so passionate about sports that he would go running on every weekend. We also got to hear that he also went to a local gym in the evening and led a very healthy lifestyle. 

             He was an introvert by nature who had very few friends. He would always be seen with a serious face. I think one can count the number of times he must have smiled or laughed in our class. 

             He led a very disciplined life. He had a fit body, very good height, dusky complexion and tip-top dressing. But one thing that he sported always was a mustache and stubble. This somehow did not go well with his appearance and he looked cruel with his stubble. 

            Naturally with his behavior and appearance he failed to impress his lady-love, our Maths teacher. It was rumored that he had proposed to her once and she had rejected him. She was beautiful, gentle and kind which was a total contrast to his behavior.  She was a very friendly person by nature and would engage in jovial conversations with us. During one such conversation, she too mentioned how much she hates men sporting mustache and stubble. This was probably the turning point of the entire story.

           The next day we were all shocked to see our sir. He had somehow overheard this conversation and took her words so seriously that he Gillette-shaved his mustache and stubble that he had since god knows. He looked much different now. But definitely had a pleasant appearance. When asked the reason for this change he simply smiled and told that someone had commented over his stubble which hurt him badly. So he wanted to try a new look. In the days that went, not only did he change his appearance but his behavior also changed. He made a lot of friends and became good friends with maths teacher. 

        The next year we got the news of their engagement. We were very happy to hear this. In our next class, he personally invited all of us to their wedding. All of us were excited for them and could not help but think what change can shaving off a stubble do. If he had not come across that conversation about our teacher hating men with stubble, he would have continued being as he was. He would have never led a joyful life and got his lady love.Today marks their tenth wedding anniversary and over the years we still remember his story. 

This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette

Weekly Workout Recap - 28Dec

Walking update for the week 22nd Dec-28th Dec !

DayDateStepsDistance in KMTime
112/22/2014113967.291 Hr 10 Min
212/23/2014102776.5755 Min
312/24/2014116777.471 Hr 20 Min
412/25/2014119327.631 Hr 30 Min
512/26/2014115957.421 Hr 20 Min
612/27/2014118347.571 Hr 30 Min
712/28/2014112797.211 Hr 10 Min

Total Weekly Distance : 51.19 Km
Total Distance in Dec : 161.88 Km

Weekly Workout Recap - 21Dec

After travelling back from Chennai last week, this week has been very quiet and low key. We spent the weekend cleaning and laundry.
In addition, provision and vegetables shopping was primarily in our to-do this week. We have the Sodexo gift pass coupon worth Rs 1000 that was due to expire by this month end. This sodexo gift pass was won by the hubby in the Ora-ovation event held in his work area in Feb and since then was lying idle in one of the shelf. So we planned to utilize that for the provision shopping and headed to Vijeta Supermarkets nearby.
With a list of all the essentials lentils and grocery for the week, the provision shopping was done and the gift pass was also successfully utilized efficiently.

This weeks workout has been mostly walking indoors and in the evening on weekends -

DayDateStepsDistance in KMTime
112/15/201452593.1530 Min
212/16/201470834.2545 Min
312/17/201465433.9230 Min
412/18/201454543.2730 Min
512/19/201455893.3530 Min
612/20/201480534.8345 Min
712/21/201468174.0945 Min


Total Weekly Distance : 26.86 Km
Total Distance in Dec : 110.69 Km

Weekly Workout Recap - 14Dec

This entire week we are in Chennai visiting my parents. On Wednesday, we had our cousin Kaushik's wedding. We went to the marriage hall on Tue and returned back home on Thu. Then we spent two more days with my parents and started to Hyderabad today. 

This week I walked when at home daily. The hubby also insisted on having evening walks then to get some fresh air. But the days we were in the wedding hall, there was lot of eating and no measured steps. This will be taken care of once we return back to Hyderabad.


DayDateStepsDistance in KMTime
112/8/2014111036.661 hour
212/9/2014Did not measure4Throughout the day
312/10/2014Did not measure4Throughout the day
412/11/2014Did not measure5Throughout the day
512/12/201481944.9145 Min
612/13/201480384.8245 Min
712/14/201447872.8730 Min

Total Weekly Distance : 32.26 Km
Total Distance in Dec : 83.83 Km

Weekly Workout Recap - 7Dec

Walking update for the week 1st Dec-7th Dec !

DayDateStepsDistance in KMTime
112/1/2014113477.261 Hr 10 Min
212/2/2014118387.571 Hr 30 Min
312/3/2014118057.551 Hr 30 Min
412/4/2014108746.951 Hr 5 Min
512/5/2014116877.471 Hr 20 Min
612/6/2014117167.491 Hr 20 Min
712/7/2014113247.241 Hr 10 Min


Total Weekly Distance : 51.57 Km
Total Distance in Dec : 51.57 Km