Dare to dream!

Updated on 29th March 2013:  This post has been selected as one of the top 10 entries in the International Women's day blogging contest conducted by Sulekha. Details here.


A YEAR AGO:

Radha was fuming. It was official. She will not be leading the new project.  Than the sense of betrayal, the unreasonable reason that her boss had quoted for not choosing her was more vexing.

“Look Radha”, he had told her earlier during the day, “You may be consistent, you may be enterprising but what I’m looking for is commitment. That’s where I think Suresh fares better.”

When Radha dared to ask him what made him think so, pat came the reply, “ You see, Suresh is unmarried and fully committed to work. But you know…you… have other commitments; I mean family…, kids…. This project has very strict deadlines. If your child falls sick and you suddenly go on leave…like how you did a year ago… hmm, hope you get the point…”. His words reeked of chauvinism.

Radha was dumbstruck.

Six years ago, this very same corporate life seemed like a bed of roses. A fantasy turned into reality.  A programming job in one of the IT majors. Not sure if that was what she wanted, but she, for sure wanted to ride the wave. A first month salary that was way higher than her father’s last drawn salary. Whether well-deserved or not was a question deserved to be asked at that point but remained unasked. As a multi-talented, intelligent and diligent person, Radha basked in her new found financial independence and expressive freedom. She almost bordered on being a workaholic. In addition to working hard, she gave vent to her creativity too, participating in office cultural events and what not.

Lives change. Hers did too. The sugar castle started crumbling, slowly but surely.  As work became more and more hectic, the changes in her personal life sheared her from her work more often than she wanted. Marriage, pregnancy, miscarriage, maternity leave etc. crossed off several days from her working calendar. Radha had to admit it – she was not really enjoying this life. When in office, her mind lurked around home and vice versa. She just remembered how long it had been since she penned down anything. It used to be her favorite pastime. “What was the last book that I read?”, she thought. She felt as if she was being whisked away into a gloomy black hole.  

“Enough is enough”, thought Radha. This was it. The incident had driven her into the retrospective mode. “What makes me stick on to this job? Do I take pride in being a technologist? Well, not really.  Creativity is my forte. Then what, money? Hmm, how do I make money and still be entitled to living a guilt-free life?”

Radha thought hard. Then it dawned on her. The power of internet seemed to be the panacea for all her woes. With the moral support of her understanding family and to her boss’ utter dismay, she succeeded in getting a 6 months long sabbatical. She weighed her strengths – she had a flair for writing, had a working knowledge of four languages, could design logos and doodles and had a leaning towards jewelry designing too! She went ahead, enrolled herself in many freelancing websites and subscribed to their feeds. She established the much needed contacts – she interacted with many writers, translators and designers on social networks and local hangouts. Her semi-orphaned blog too got a new lease of life; she started posting almost on a daily basis, all the while aggressively marketing the same.

The first 2 months were almost dry. But soon after, work and hence money started trickling in. She took up a part-time, work from home job as a social media consultant – her job was to update the company’s facebook, twitter and blog accounts. While this ensured a fixed income every month, she got ample time to hone her skills and be on the lookout for fresh work. She understood that not all her hobbies could fetch her revenues – she had to be really good at what she was doing, keep doing it consistently and most importantly, stay afloat and visible. Hence she stuck to writing and translation.  She eventually learnt which jobs required lesser time and effort yet paid more. She figured out how to spot that one interesting, well-paying piece of work from a host of other mundane jobs. She also built up a loyal clientele for her niche skill – top class regional language translation work combined with excellent writing abilities. Through her friends in the media, she landed on a regular ad-scripting contract. She definitely wasn’t making as much as her well-heeled job, but it was a glimmer of hope.

TODAY:

Radha has quit her full time job and established herself as a good freelance translator. Her company is very happy with her blog posts and status updates. Her monthly income is a little over half of her corporate salary, but her heart brims with contentment and a sense of accomplishment. Financial independence + Quality time with family + creative freedom. What more could a woman ask for!!!!

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Courtesy: Google image search

Radha is fictitious, but has shades of me in her. Having successfully established a work-from-home career in the past 2 years after many years in the corporate world, I bet it’s a realizable dream. However, here are a few words of caution:

1.       Freelancing/working from home requires a great deal of discipline. If you love lazing around/sleeping, then this may not be your thing.

2.       You have to be critical of yourself, almost all the time. The day you feel you are the best, is your doomsday. However, be confident and exude this confidence when bidding for a new project or talking to a prospective client.

3.       There are zillions of jobs out there – be selective. Apply due diligence. Do what you think you can do best. Translation, Social media consulting, focused writing(food, travel, web, media etc.) designing (jewelry, clothes, accessories, websites, furniture, logos, pamphlets, brochures and more), tailoring, painting(for sale), dubbing etc. are some good options, especially for women.

Now, dare to dream! Dare to quit!

(This is my entry for the Sulekha blogging contest - 'Alternate careers for women')

The Aura of Athirapilly!

Being a South Indian, I’ve grown up to watching Maniratnam’s movies. Those who are wondering who he is can read up about him here.  To cut it short, he is one of India’s finest film makers. Before I digress further or you nod your head in disapproval, let me tell you this – quite a few of his romantic songs have one freaking awesome backdrop – A gorgeous river and a wet, wild waterfall.  And that was where my husband and I were headed to, that weekend.

Maniratnam's magic wand - the milky misty Athirapilly!

Athirapilly. Yay! It was almost like a dream come true. But wait…! What about the tickets? Every Friday, a major chunk of Bangalore’s population migrates to rest of India, with the keralite group forming a big part of it. If you chance upon a confirmed ticket at the last minute, it has to be called Will of Providence (or whatever you deem fit). We weren’t so blessed or lucky but we had OUR will; we found OUR way. First of all, no ticket, so no child. Yes, I had to leave my 5 year old son behind (with his grandparents, of course). Second, our way was neither via Ernakulam nor Thrissur, it was via Calicut and that too, travelling by the most uncomfortable means – last row of a rattling government bus! Strong-willed, ain’t I?

We boarded our bus to Calicut at Mysore road bus station. We were supposed to reach Calicut early the next morning, so that we could catch our connecting train to Chalakkudi. But Mr. Murphy was working overtime plotting against us; hence it so happened that our bus was delayed by over 3 hours. Add to it, the check post delays, the extremely bumpy ghat roads etc., which sealed our fate. We missed our train and arrived in Calicut by noon.

Feeling itchy and sweaty (blame the humid weather in Calicut), we chalked out a plan B. Take a train to Chalakkudi and then a cab to Athirapilly. Sounded perfect, but was impossible. There wasn’t any train to Chalakkudi at that time of the day. Okay, no problem, plan C!  Calicut to Shoranur, Shoranur to Chalakkudi. Phew! This plan didn’t fail us. We reached Chalakkudi by 4 30 PM.

By the time we reached Chalakkudi, we were almost drained out, both physically and mentally. To our surprise and relief, my husband’s friend, who lives in Chalakkudi, had come to receive us. As the entry gate to Athirapilly closed by 5 30 PM, he directly took us to the Athirapilly falls. His two little children had tagged along with him, in anticipation of meeting my son and that I was feeling guiltier than ever needs no mention.

The trek from the main gate to the head of the falls was a short yet sweet one. Soaking in the sights sounds and smells of the forest around us, we treaded towards the falls.  It was the month of November and the falls had a good volume of water. One may choose to go down further, to watch the mighty descent at a closer angle and we did just that. And we definitely weren’t disappointed. The colossal rocks at the point of plunge turn the silvery, docile Chalakkudi river into a frothy, milky maniac, roaring and trumpeting as she plummets, only to be tamed again by the boulders silently resting on the river bed. The glorious panorama, with the sun setting in the background, along with the spray of fresh, herb-scented mist is sure to remain etched in my brain cells forever. I knew it the very moment I beheld it.

The plunge

                            

The rest of story isn’t as dramatic, or I should say, I didn’t attach that much drama to that part. I had traveled all the way to see where the noteworthy director’s celluloid figures had actually danced and that mission had been accomplished. I was satisfied. The next morning, we visited the relatively meek Vazhachal falls, Kodanad elephant sanctuary, Kaladi Adi Shankara temple etc. and then boarded our train to Bangalore from Alwaye(Aluva) station. As the train took me farther and farther away from Athirapilly, I realized that a tiny portion of my soul had permanently been  left behind – lurking around the place.

  

The portion of map inside the rectangle roughly indicates where we had been to.
Image courstesy: Nivalink and google image search. I DO NOT OWN THIS IMAGE.

Now for the FACTS:

Athirapilly, almost always mispronounced as Athirapally, famed along with its mellower twin, Vazhachal, is easily the most popular tourist destination in northern Kerala, in the dense forests of Western Ghats. It is midway between Ernakulam and Thrissur and can be easily reached from both places by train. Believe me,taking a train is more comfortable than a bumpy bus ride. You may also choose to rent a cab from Thrissur or Ernakulam. As of this date, the cab guys charge anywhere between 10 and 12 rupees per km for a non a/c car. If you are coming to Ernakulam by train and planning to take a cab to Athirapilly, then it is advisable to alight at Angamali station. It is a much shorter drive from here and you will save on the cab fare. 

There are quite a few hotel options in Athirapilly but most of them are luxury ones, the more notable ones being The Rainforest and Ayursoukhyam. We stayed in a rather humble resort known as Kanova Resort(formerly known as Richmond resort), which offered us an a/c room for Rs. 2500/night with complimentary breakfast,  quite cheap by Athirapilly standards. Any place devoid of too much luxury works for me and this one, by the river side with a spacious room and simple, tasty breakfast provided good value for the money spent.

Hope this helps and do let me know if this post inspired you to visit Athirapilly!