JAPAN - Never say Never again

One of my friends commented on facebook – “Ppl in our japan office walked long miles to reach home as train n all transport r closed!!!! At office, They r planning to clean up the wreckage n mess in the weekends...” This simply blows my mind off. These people have not learnt to buckle down in any circumstances. They simply throw a challenge to test their resilience, perseverance and dedication. We call them workaholic, but the work ethic is ingrained in their blood. That’s how they built a developed Japan, almost out of nothing. Japanese don’t work for themselves, rather work for the country.

The rise of Japan post World War II is true example of their determination of building the country. A country with no natural resources, vulnerable to frequent volcanic eruption and earthquake, war torn and savaged after World War II faced lots of economical and political challenges after the war. 1973 oil crisis was yet another shock to the country which was highly depended on the oil. Yet it is the strong will of the people, high work ethics and principle that have made Japan what it is today.

Having seen so many disasters and having successfully overcome them, I feel this Tsunami is yet another challenge. As always in past, they are ready to embrace and come out of it stronger and more prepared.

After all Japan teaches us never say never again. God bless the country.

House Shifting

Last week end we moved to a new apartment. This place is closer to Boston. Although my travel time has gone up significantly, I feel good for my wife, whose commute time has lessen from humongous 2 hours to 45-50 mins one way.

Looking back, I realize that I have lived in quite a few places in and outside India. Though some of my close friends may not buy this statement and blame me for sticking my ass in a place for ever, from my reference, I have lived in several places. May be I would have been living in many more places, had I not found my love in the city of Pune.

Keep moving, wherever your job takes you to. It is the demand of new workforce in a flat world. You never know where you would be working next month. Earlier, shifting a city didn’t seem to bother much, leave aside shifting a place. On the contrary, moving to new place used to make me excited. Dump all your clothes and other belongings in a bag, move on to a new place. If something is not worth taking along, leave it. However, post marriage shifting a house is becoming a torturous thing to do. What used to be a wake up, pack up and go to a new place, is now keep on awaking, keep on packing and don’t yet ready to go. What keeps you awake? - so many things to consider, so many options to weigh out, so many trade offs to make. What keeps me on packing? Well, Post marriage - this is quite obvious.

Although it’s only me and my wife, I can visualize why people look to settle down after having a family. Age is merely an excuse.