The year 2014 was a great year, marked by several
milestones in our personal and professional lives. For the very first time, we
joined a Toronto based Tamil forum, to celebrate Pongal Celebration this year
and as our friends supported and encouraged, Unni Maya performed `Karagattam - a Tamil folk dance form with a group of
kids. This was very first stage dance performance (serious one).
The winter this time was one of it’s kind. Not just
since we immigrated to Canada but since the past 35 years reports say this this
winter was the worst ever since. We experienced bone-chilling temperatures upto
-45deg C and also witnessed a rare occurrence (so far) called an Ice rain. It
left many parts of the GTA powerless and we had power gone for a day. It
brought several trees down and costed the City and all the GTA municipalities
millions of dollars to restore normalcy.
As temperatures, dipped below -20Deg C in the nights,
we experienced another phenomenon called Cryoseism or Frost Quake. This is all about water seeping underground getting frozen and the expansion causes a quake like phenomenon with loud thunder-like sounds.
But came the Spring season, my father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister and my niece along with friend Prasanna`s family visited us. We had a great time and enjoyed their company thoroughly; it was like re-living those Valasaravakkam days. Though it was still spring and we had mild temperatures, the kids enjoyed their time here. Boxgrove home was full to it`s capacity, literally. Shanthi drew out a comprehensive plan and organized it greatly. Neighbours and friends were very helpful as always. This time I decided to do the lawn care myself. I was largely successful and took good care of the lawn.
May 2014 marked a milestone in my professional life. My persuasive effort to come out of my 7 years long assignment bore fruit. My boss helped me to a great deal and he indeed came out of his way and ensured I had a smooth exit. It was a big decision, but an overdue one, I left my previous team with a really heavy heart, not just because I had developed a personal bonding with the team and the clients. It was because I felt that I didn`t pass the baton to a confidante who would protect the interests of my team and their aspirations. I always believed in taking good care of the team so that they would feel safe and remain focussed on delivering and contributing. That`s simply how I built a strong team of skillful associates each of them had spent as much as time I had spent in the team. We together created a record of consistently high Say/Do record and 100% Customer Satisfaction scope for 4 years in a row. While I have won several appreciations and award throughout my career, I cherish the farewell trophy from this team as the best one. It read `Dharan Prakash – Best Manager, AD team` - It`s in my living room and turns me on every time I give it a glance.
For the very first time, I got an opportunity
to work for a Banking client. It`s a great opportunity to work for a
business-critical IT currency program that had a cross-channel impact and it
was Canada`s one of the leading financial houses. Suddenly every aspect of my
professional life changed – my boss, fellow members, logistics, commute, the
work culture etc etc. I had to put in some crazy hours to get myself
established amidst a huge IT team. But it was all learning, I got into that
flow, every day, every call, every meeting, every email had to be put forth
with a newbie`s cautiousness and many of them invited criticism – stood through
it and managed my first assignment well to be picked up for a second and my
current assignment by the same client. It`s another multi-channel engagement
and one of the biggest programs I have ever worked for next to UK`s NHS. Though
it required a lot of commuting time, I had to give my gym membership and make
some other adjustments in our overall schedule. Shanthi as usual was a pillar
of support, cooperating in every which way she could.
Irrespective me taking up a new assignment and
being super-busy, we had a very active summer this time. I had regretted that
the 2013 summer wasn`t that good mainly due to the loss in the family and we
were still coming out of the shock. This year we had several long drives, tried
our hands on fishing and participated in several summer events across the city
and for the very first time tried Camping. I must say that it was truly amazing
and we came out recharged and rejuvenated.
Shanthi was pursuing her career in Customer
Service space while trying out jobs in Accounting, IT and financial sectors.
Towards the end of the year she took up an internship opportunity in a startup
Digital Services firm and now this is her second month into the job. She had a
steep learning curve and worked hard to learn stuff and very much motivated to
return to IT which is her academic stream.
Unni Maya did very well but we have a mixed
feeling about her progress this year. She has seen so far 3 class teachers and
she is at times confused and overwhelmed. She regained her Skating skills this
year and had a few groups music concerts this year. She is growing up faster
than we thought and it`s interesting and I heard it`s rare now a days, atlease
in this part of the world to have a teenage daughter or son while you are under
40. In a couple of years, Unni will become a teenager and we strive heard to
support her, groom her and lead her into a successful career and life
thereafter.
Several historical events happened in India as
well. After a couple of decades, a central government took over with absolute
majority. India succeeded in it’s first ever Mars mission.
Towards the end of the year, on 29th
Nov, we became Citizens of Canada J We wrapped up the year with a great
X’mas season – had a wonderful X’mas party in the neighbourhood and this time
we chose to buy gifts for people whom we seldom consider. We tried it and it gave
us warmth and satisfaction. Shanthi chose to buy something for the friend at
the Hakka restaurant we usually visit and he always treats us with warm
geniality. I chose to buy one for my regular hairstylist for the past 7 years. J J We would like to continue this.
Next year Shanthi wants to gift the City guys who helps with garbage disposal
on our streets. We wrapped up the X'mas season with an in-house De-cluttering initiative and spend about 15 hours doing it and disposed a truck load of unwanted stuff in a responsible way. So definitely, the New Year is clutter-less for us.
Here`s a quick assessment on my 2014
Resolutions and Goals
Ahhh –
missed it terribly. Most part of the year, I was not going to the Gym, I took
the excuse of work pressure and new work environment to eat like crazy and
developed some sort of irregular diet habits.
Perfectly
accomplished. It’s not just these books (see below) that I read. 2 hours of everyday
commute gave me a plenty of time to read and listen. I have listened to and
watched several hours of TED talks and life-style lectures as that of Robin
Sharma, Isha Jaggi Vasudev, Simon Sinek and so on.
#Learn4life Target 2 professional certifications
Thumbs
down; didn’t take even the initiative; Whatever spare time I had where I wanted
to learn, I spent time in knowing more about the new domain / client’s business
background etc. Not an acceptable excuse, but really need to motivate myself on
this one.
#Career Significant change the "what, where, how" of my work life
Super-accomplished!
If you want me to pick one significant change in the year 2014, I would pick
this. As I had elaborated above, gave up my role, team and the pet assignment
that held me for the past 7 years to grab this exciting new assignment at a
Bank downtown. J J
#austerity No new clothes this year
Fail,
fail, utter failure. My wardrobe was full of over-sized garments and weren’t
enough to support my urge of how I want to present myself. Started with a suit
and kept adding on; I have no regrets as “often Apparel proclaims the man” J J
It won’t
be fair for me to assess my accomplishment on this myself hence asked both my wife
and daughter. Both of them are of the opinion that I have improved on this J And both of them don’t buy into my idea of
improving on this as an annual resolution.
Here are my goals for the New Year
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