NaNoWriMo 2017 – Update #2

Hola writers and novelists and readers of the blog!

I am back again with another update on my WriMo progress. It’s November the 9th and I am done with the 15K words, very much in line with the goal on the ninth day.

Eight out of the nine days I have been able to complete the daily goal of 1,667 words, except November 7th, when I had gone to visit the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore (I might cover that in another post – let me know in the Comments if you are interested). Primarily, idea is spending more time in solo travel in the coming days and I wanted to make the start from places within Bangalore. There is a lot to Bangalore that I am yet to see and I am looking forward to cover them in 2018.

Okay, back to the writing update now: I am done with two short stories (spanning 6K and 4K words) and am working on the third, which I actually began before the 4K story, but is not complete yet. I am confident, at this rate, I would be able to complete the 50K goal with as many as ten stories. I don’t have ideas fleshed out for all the remaining seven stories yet (have only two more ideas left in my bucket list) and I am constantly looking out for inspiration to strike me. In fact, my Nov. 7th travel plans inspired the third story, which I started writing after putting a temporary pause on the second one.

In the past, whenever I have written stories, I have mostly completed them in a day. I find the process of writing a short story over a course of three to four days very helpful. First, it helps me get out the rut of being the the same characters’ skin for too long a time – I have noticed the plot points tend to suck and I end up beating about the bush too much if I am writing continuously for a long period. On the other hand, a day gives me fresh perspective and new ideas to fill my stories with. Because of my full-time job, I work with a lot of different people, coming across multiple viewpoints and thoughts around the clock. This helps me see life in a different way every single day. All these experience enrich me and by extension, my writing. Sometimes, I find the reflection of the current character I am writing in a coworker. Sometimes, I find a suitable dialogue for my character while I am in the elevator. This has helped me a lot in layering the characters. A charater who started out as docile will suddenly show streaks of mischief because I am in a different mood the next day.

As of work, we had somewhat of a kickoff call on the new project yesterday night. The pressure has not yet started building in and probably won’t as well for most of November, which only helps my cause of NaNoWriMo.

Fortunately for me, I have a senior team lead in the new project, which leaves me with a lot of time to focus on the details of my work instead of worrying about management. I am truly starting to think of it as a bliss. I had been leading a team of four people in my last account and it had kind of thrown me in a dump. It took me a long time to get over the emotional tiredness that the engagement has caused me. Right now, I find myself with a newly-found freedom at work, to do the things that I have always wanted to do.

Meanwhile, I am also continuing with the regime of exercises and good food at home. Any kind of routine makes me feel good about myself: the fact that I was able to get back to my word count yesterday after I staggered on Nov. 7th made me feel so much confidence yesterday.

It is incredible how much a day’s work can do for you: be it in your writing project, or your day job or your exercise routine. If, at the beginning of November, someone asked me to give them a book of 50K words by the end of the month, I would be like, “Are you kidding me?” But everyday, as I spend an hour on writing and consistently meet the daily word count, it feels as if the book is writing itself, without much effort from my side.

How’s November treating you guys? Let me know your NaNoWriMo progress in the Comments below.

Until later, keep at whatever you are doing one day at a time! I will bring you the next update soon! ❤

Taking back control

For the longest time,

My life was going downhill.

D-O-W-N-H-I-L-L!

People around me were leaving,

By the day, I was becoming emptier.

The emotions and inspirations that drove me once,

No longer drove me.

I waited for things to happen.

For good things to happen.

For good news to come.

For something to make me feel happy again.

But well, for someone who likes to take control

My fate wasn’t quite forthcoming with taking control.

So darker it became.

Deep dark, as I waited for things to change.

As I drowned into the darkness,

I thrashed my arms and my legs – hoping to find something to hold on to in the viscous dark.

I meditated, but my mind was never at peace.

I took control of my breathing.

That is when I realized that as long as our body is in harmony with the natural elements that sustain it, everything fall back in place.

Slowly, I was getting back control.

It’s been almost a week now since I have been feeling better.

The walls that were once choking me are still strong,

but gradually, the walls are weakening.

And my resolve, is slowly growing stronger.

 

 

 

Day 22: Camp NaNo (April)

I was looking at my monthly mobile pack usage earlier today. I have this Vodafone plan which gives me 500 free call minutes and 1 GB worth of internet. I never end up using the internet, but the call minutes get used up fast. You’d think in the era of Reliance Jio why still hold on to ancient phone packs? Well, my phone is approx. 2.5 years old and does not have 4G. I know it’s slowing and is probably due for a change, but right now I have other financial priorities to sort out.

Anyways, the mobile usage report told me there were two days left before the plan would auto-renew. My bill renews on the 25th of every month and for a moment, I was shocked. I went on to check the date on my phone and there it was: April 22. Wow! It feels like just yesterday that I went to pay rent to my owner. And another paycheck will be in by this time next week and again I will start paying the recurring bills. Whew! Time is flying FAST. Sometimes, it indeed  feels like I am living from one rent payment to another.

Which brings me to my current NaNo Camp project. I am into the last 10K of my 50K goal. Whoo-hoo! I still have this weekend and the next to finish off, but I am hopeful that I might end up earlier.

As I mentioned in the last post, my current book is to be divided into two parts: 1) A mother’s POV 2) A daughter’s POV.

I hit a semi-‘The End’ moment in the project when I finished the mother’s POV on Friday. I was outlining the daughter’s POV this morning – practically going over the notes I had made in the last week of March and seeing if I could still stick to the same outline. So far, I think it is going to be fine if I follow it. I was writing until 12 PM and finished up two chapters of the daughter’s POV. Currently, my word count stands at 40.7K. Hopefully, I can get it to 42K by the end of the day.

I can’t believe it’s been 3 weeks already into April. I have been really disciplined this time and have written 20 out of 22 days, at an average of 1800 words. The only thing which is bothering me a little is that I might lose some interest after April 30.

I was part of a wonderful Camp time this summer – we had some great discussions where a lot of my questions about novelling was answered. By now, most of my cabin mates have completed their goals and are also editing. I don’t think I could have made this far without my wonderful cabin-mates. I hope I can extend the energy until the project actually completes – for the first draft I foresee 80K words, an additional 30K over my NaNo goal. Need to keep myself motivated.

How about you? How do you keep yourself motivated at what you do? Leave me some tips in the Comments.

1 year of professional life

A year ago, I was fresh out of college. Had dreams in eyes, but feet were firmly grounded in harsh reality. Having lived with working professionals during college, I had a glimpse of what life at work signified.

One year later, my eyes are more open. Financial independence has allowed me a better way of life (though my freedom is limited by loan).

I started work at Mu Sigma with a chill account and a cool team. Since the median age in this company is pretty low, there’s always a college-like environment around. Most people are unmarried, living in shared flats. The shared experience of it brings us closer.

Since August, when my account changed, things have gotten a little more hectic. But thankfully, I am surviving.

Below is a picture of myself with my parents, this day last October. It is a selfie, taken in a hotel room on the day of my joining. My father was suffering from a bad bout of cold and fever. My mother was also sick. But the smiles in the photo symbolizes their pride in their daughter!

 

This day last/this/next year

This day last year I boarded the train to Bangalore from Kolkata. Hours before we were to board the train, as we waited in the busy sidewalk of Dharmatala SBSTC bus stand, a fateful phone call informed us of my maternal grandfather’s demise. Minutes before that phone call, my brother and I were struggling to use our first free Ola ride.

That phone call changed things. My mother became fatherless. The first step towards my professional life was forever marked by a black day in the family. The instant thought that came to my mind was this: “What next?” Would we cancel going to Bangalore and head to my maternal uncle’s place? For a few selfish seconds, I wished we did not have to cancel going to Bangalore (even though I dreaded every moment of the forward journey), not thinking what it meant for my mother. The tickets to Bangalore were booked for me, my mother and father. My brother was to see us off to Howrah station and leave.

My mother solved our dilemma. Being the clear-thinking woman that she is, she prioritized her daughter’s future over her dead father. I think aside from giving birth to me, that was the greatest gift she ever gave to me.

October 4th, 2015 ushered in a lot of changes in my life. The next 33 odd hours in the train would put a lot of distance between my home and the life there to what lay ahead.

Days before that fateful train journey, as I prepared for life in Bangalore, I thought to myself, “How many days before life again becomes normal?” Even though I was about to move to a different state, different town, different culture, I knew in the end the novelty of the shift would rub off and life would be the everyday life again, as I would get used to the newness of it all. Bengal or Bangalore does not really matter as long as you go to sleep in a comfortable bed with a full stomach.

Lately, I have wanted to tear myself away from the mundane sameness of everyday life here in Bangalore. But today, I want to appreciate the things I have achieved since October 4th, 2015. I am grateful that I am healthy, that I had a good dinner, that I have a brand new day to look forward to. I am glad for the people around me, my parents, especially my mother, who keeps calling me at every opportunity she gets – which really goes a long way in removing homesickness. I am grateful for the good walk through ITPL to reach my office. I am grateful for the busy-ness that life at Mu Sigma has given me. Today, as I climbed down from the tenth to eighth floor in the morning, I could not but marvel looking at the sheer rapidity with which people were moving from one floor to another, swiping their IDs, getting to their work desk, ready to solve problems. I am grateful I am alive to see such movement. As long as their is motion, there is life.

Today, I  bought a pressure cooker off the money I had received courtesy the spot award in my previous project. Felt so good! This was the first kitchen purchase with my own money.

As I write this, I cannot but wonder, what will 4th October, 2017 show me? Will I be sitting in the same room as I am now, typing another blog post? Will I still have the people I love around me? Will I have been able to buy something really nice for my mother, my first true gift to her since I started working? As I dream of the things that I want to achieve, I can hear my mother saying not to let my dreams run loose – for they may never come true if I put them in words. As per her, there is probably someone who is listening on our dreams, ready to stop whatever we dream from happening the moment we dream it through. Having fed such thoughts since childhood, my heart hesitates.

Yet the mind wanders…

 

Monday Mumbles…

Good morning everyone!

It is a cheerful Monday here in Bangalore. Though there are clouds as well, but they are shifting to show the sun.

This morning I printed out the first (rough) draft of my second book. I had reached a point in the book where I did not know how to go on any further. So I wanted to revisit what I had built until now and add words as I go. I have approximately 12,000 words on board now. Hoping that when I revisit what I have created so far, I will have more things to say here and there – which will help me reach the word count.

Besides, life is looking better, even though I spent the weekend thinking of my remaining student loan. When you have a limited income and a huge debt, you fight that incessant question whether it is best to pay off the loan, or save some money for emergency. It makes me sad that I have hardly saved much since I started working.

But thankfully, health-wise I have been doing better. I was reading The Lives of Others this weekend. I have this knack for reading Bengali authors who write in English. Being so far away from Bengal, the nostalgia I have associated with the place comes alive when I read about Bengali life and culture, even if it’s in English. No wonder Jhumpa Lahiri is my favorite author. I am enjoying Neel Mukherjee’s (author of The Lives of Others) style of writing as well, though I am not very sure what is he trying to drive at by going back and back into the family tree of the main characters. Is the reason to increase the word count, or is it necessary to understand the main characters in the light of their upbringing and the people who influenced them? I guess I can have the answer to that only when I finish the book. The nice thing about reading about Bengali life in contemporary writing is how the small, insignificant things in Bengali lifestyle come alive in these writings. As a writer, maybe I would never have thought about exploring those things.

What about you? How is life going for you all? To all the budding writers out there, what are you writing about? What are the challenges that you are facing with your WIP? Share you experience with me in the Comments!

Sickened ramblings

Yesterday I wrote a post and let it remain in the drafts. It was the first day of the month and for the last few days I had been feeling poorly. It has more to do with my health. That made me question everything that was happening in my life.

I have questioned my work, my lifestyle – whether it is really worth staying so far from home, all by myself. There was just so much negativity around. Add to that the stubborn Bangalore rain, which doesn’t bother to stop.

Thankfully, it is a bright day this morning. I have feeling more positive.

Unfortunately, my blogging habit has taken a hit. I am hardly ever on the Reader. After I write something, I wonder, would it make any difference if I did not post this? Does this post add any value to the reader? Most often, I find the answer in the negative. And hence, the pile of my drafts increases.

As to the book front, I am close to 11k words in my book. For those who are new, my second book is a non-fiction account on Fear. I have been pretty much a timid person all my life – with my energy level being perpetually low when doing new things, which inspired the need of a self-help book on Fear. I am hoping to complete the first draft by the end of this month (which was July 31st before, on account of Camp Nano – which unfortunately, I could not complete). Having a day job indeed makes things hard at the creative end. You are so exhausted  by the time weekend comes, you don’t feel like doing anything on the two precious days. It doesn’t help that I am not as disciplined about my health and hobbies as the other aspects of my life (read work). I am not the first one to struggle with this, and I won’t be the last. Yet, I stop myself from feeling guilty because I don’t need the added guilt to weigh me down. As it is, it is pretty bad.

Last night when I went to sleep, I was feverish. Random thoughts kept crawling into my mind and forcing me to work my mind. I had no means to stop the flow of thoughts. The thoughts were like dreams that are too real – I found myself talking to people in my mind and thinking hard before I formed my replies. I guess some of the people might have been from the client side. I have experienced this often when I run fever.

But thankfully, it is somewhat a bright day today. I can see the sun from my work window. That is cheering me up for now.

What about you? How is life at your end? How do you deal with the clouds in your life? Let me know in the comments.

Hello from a beautiful July morning!

It is a beautiful morning. The sun is hiding behind the clouds, but there is no gloom in the weather. The air is smooth. The temperature is optimum. I had a pleasant walk while coming to office. There is not discomfort in my body, no tiredness after a late night. I feel good.

It is a beautiful morning.

I woke up to the bell – my maid had come for cleaning. I lingered in bed for a few moments, waiting to see if any of my flatmates opened the door. Nobody likes to be the one to get up from bed and open the door for the maid in the morning. When no one else did, I had to go open the door. By the time I came back and was trying to get a few minutes of comfort in the warmth of my mink blanket, my roommate announced she had to reach office by 8.30 AM too, so I better get ready ASAP. Okay, boss!

I had been dreaming. In the dream,  I was aware of a semi-consciousness. It was as if I was actually awake and seeing the things happen. What ‘the things’ were, however, I do not remember. But I have a feeling that it was related to the unfinished task I had left in office on Friday. It was the last thought on my mind before I fell asleep last night – I had to debug a stubborn error in the code and get the script client-ready. I felt pretty tired in the dream, though. So when I got up from the bed for good, I wondered if I was going to feel well throughout the day.

We have a team outing scheduled today. I had missed the last due to ill-health. By the time I was walking to office, breathing in the fresh morning air, I knew it was going to be a beautiful morning.

So, here I am, at my desk. My bottle is filled with water. My pen is ready and I have a big copy by my side and a cool laptop where I am typing this. No one in my team is still here; the bay is almost empty. I love the silence!

Today is going to be a beautiful day.

On other news, I am Camping at Camp NaNoWriMo this July. I am working on a non-fiction I started last September. Hope to see it through completion by the end of this month. I have also been watching couple of old Bengali movies. I am fascinated by the magic of Satyajit Ray. Life’s good. How about you?

 

The Mu Sigma Times and Other News

I recently got plunged into a number of things at work. Japanese classes were already there, and they are drawing towards an end. We shall have the ‘graduation ceremony’ in two weeks’ time. Me and my teammate are planning to do a small skit for our graduation ceremony.

Besides that, I applied for the position of field writer in Mu Sigma Times.Mu Sigma Times is Mu Sigma’s live news channel – one stop where you can get to know what is happening across different accounts in the company. It also features other varieties of articles ranging from travelogues to lives of authors to different trends sweeping through the analytics industry.

The idea behind applying for the post was to keep in touch with writing. As it happens, due to the day job, I am not able to devote much time to writing. Being a ‘jouranlist’ for the MST shall be one way to keep myself close to my passion. That said, it is an added incentive that I get to don the hat of a journalist in a workplace which has nothing to do with media/journalism. It is so cool!

We had the first meeting with the editors today and they held a very engaging session as to what the goals were with respect to Mu Sigma Times. For the first time, being among people who actually enjoy writing, I felt at home. I felt as if they were my people.

I also met a very interesting person, Debdeep Basu. He is also a fellow blogger at The Pensieve. Post the meeting we had a very lively conversation about writing, books, and movies over coffee.

Don’t be surprised at all if keep bragging about Mu Sigma Times on the blog in the coming days.

Oh, also, I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo  (July) today. I am planning to finish a non-fiction book this time, something that has been pending for about eight months now. Anyone amongst you doing NaNo this July? Let me know in the Comments.

Happy weekend, guys! Cheerio!

Does your work define you?

Since this is May, I thought I’d write a few posts on our work lives. After all, work is where we spend the most part of our day to day lives.

Today, let me tell you what my work is like. I completed engineering and joined Mu Sigma, one of the core analytics company based out of Bangalore, India. My current project is related to an online travel agency. On a day-to-day basis, I look at the data the client sends us: how much which flight cost and what is the gross profit the client generated etc. We then use that data to build models that can help to predict certain future trends.

The work is interesting, as I am still finding my grips around learning the business. Work pressure is there, of course, but it is healthy. That is to say I don’t end up leaving office past midnight or something.

I have been in this industry not long enough to claim that my work defines me. But my work definitely has given me a lot of opportunities to learn. I have loved coding since college, even though I am not too great in it. We keep having good-code practice measures across the company to ensure we write good codes from which I learnt a lot. I guess this is what job experience does to you – the learnings that you acquire from the work you do leave their impact beyond the four walls of the company you are working for. You learn to value planning and time. At my workplace, we are always under pressure to give our best – if I fail to do all the tasks I plan for in the morning, I realize there has been a planing error. Next time, I try to plan better. There is a corrective force that is always in place.

What about you? Today, tell me what you job experience is like. Do you enjoy doing what you do? Does you work indeed define you? Tell me one challenge that you have faced at work and overcame successfully. I am all eyes to read your responses.

P.S: In case you are not comfortable commenting publicly, you can share your thoughts with me in the Message box below.

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