December Song...

December is approaching, and usually I would be super excited because it means, Christmas, new year and yes, MY BIRTHDAY! And it also means that for the next two months I shall have the license to do anything, to eat anything, to not feel guilty about not exercising because, hey, the new year resolutions are coming up, and if I start being good from now on, what new resolutions can I make? Perfect as I am, I also need LITTLE room for self improvement, which can be postponed for the next two months. So right now, it’s time to live it up, to get up late, and to not obsess about weight (and finish those Diwali chocolates) and career (the job hunt/further studies/doing something meaningful).

But unfortunately, this year, things are a little different. On the job front, well, people say even though the worst is behind us, things are still gloomy in the marketplace. Not if you look in our department as everyday we are greeted by the news of someone or the other leaving. Nobody knows where they are going, how they are going, but yes, they are going. My concern: we have to arrange more pizza parties and farewell cakes and parting gifts, and of course, with the team size reduced to half of what it was when we joined, we don’t know what’s going to happen next, or who is going to go next. The other problem is that people around me (batch mates, seniors, friends) are suddenly bitten by the marriage bug, like this December is their last chance to get hitched or wait for six more months (very like the twice a year concept of CFA/FRM): if you don’t clear the hurdle now, it effectively means losing a year. So yes, as people are on the marriage fasttrack, as they outdo each other in the race to the mandap, as they make lifetime decisions in a matter of few hours, it freaks me out:
a) Because I have to spend money, travel across the country, and attend weddings, which admittedly, isn’t my idea to spend a weekend.
b) Because now I can no longer push my weight loss goal to next year. I have to do it RIGHT NOW.
c) Because I have to obsess about what gifts to buy.
d) Because I have to pacify my mom that just because everybody else is getting married doesn’t automatically mean I will die alone (but secretly, I know the probability of that happening is quite high, which is why I may get a dog for myself).
e) Because, I am yet to unravel the mystery behind choosing the life partner: so far, I was blissfully happy and convinced in my “feel right” theory, according to which I am supposed to when it happens, when I meet the right person, when it, well, “feels right”! But as I talk to more people, it no longer seems so simple, so effortless, and so natural.

And yes, I read Chetan Bhagat’s latest book, ‘Two States’, and it further freaked me out: The Great Indian Marriage, really really has all aspects of a B school education- legal, political, economic, social, and of course that vague jargon that we throw in when we can’t logically explain what we are doing: STRATEGY! But on a serious note, while this book was better than his two previous ones, I can’t help wondering how little expectation we have from Indian English literature. Sure, the guy is funny, but four best sellers? Seriously? May be I do have SOME hope of making it big!