Two Tremors That Shook Me

I was watching TV after my dinner before going to bed. My mother in law was so fond of her everyday soaps, that she was flipping channels everytime there was an advertisement on one channel or the other. She watch three soaps at a time in half an hour. I was so bored that I walked out of the hall to my bedroom and was about to lie down. I felt that some one pushed me from behind. I thought that it was due to tiredness. After a few seconds, I could sense commotion on the streets. I realized that it was a tremor only after my husband, who was relaxing in the sit out, ran towards bedroom to ask me whether I felt it. And the earthquake was in Gujarat in the year of 2001.

Today, April 11,2012 at 2.13, noon, my chair started rocking me and I felt I was in a trance. The rocking lasted till 2.16pm. That was quite an experience to sit on the chair that was rocking continuously and to watch the water inside the bottle on my table, vibrating. Though everybody in our office experienced this, we didnt bother to run outside. Our office is in the third floor. Later we saw, through the glass window, that all the employees of other offices were standing outside on the road. Hopefully people in Indonesia are safe and devastation is minimal.

Luv u all
Uma
Freelancer

The More You Give, the More They Want

Yesterday morning while I was travelling from Chromepet to Guindy by the suburban train, I saw an aged woman sitting opposite to me with a smile on her face. She looked fresh and cheerful in spite of her age and a frail figure. A middle aged woman came near to the old lady and waved her hand at the old woman, to move and let her some space to sit. Its a very common practice among the lady commuters to look for some space at the end of the 3-seated bench to rest their back for some time after toiling in the kitchen at home in the morning. The aged woman was very happy to move and let the middle aged woman to sit.This middle aged woman was wearing a pink saree, so lets call her "Pinky", hereafter.

Its quite common among women folks to have their breakfast on their way to work, whichever modes of transport they use. Some of the office going young girls, make it a point to carry their kitty bags along with them to apply make up, tie their hair etc etc. Some religious minded women sing devotional songs together. Some read slokas aloud.

After settling herself, Pinky opened her food box.The contents fell on to her lap and left stains on her pink color saree. The older woman felt sorry for Pinky. She turned towards the young girl who was sitting next to her and asked her to lend a paper. The girl immediately tore a paper from the long size notebook that she was carrying and gave it to Pinky. There was no 'Thanks' from Pinky. She tore a piece of paper from the corner of the long size sheet and wiped the dots from her saree, spread the sheet and had her breakfast without any disturbance. I could sense Pinky's satisfaction on her face after she emptied the food box. 

Pinky turned towards the aged woman and asked her whether she had water. The aged woman opened her bag and pulled out a bottle of water and said,"Hot Water" and was about to put it back inside her lunch bag. Pinky said,"Can I have some water?". The lady had no other option than to hand over the water bottle to Pinky. Pinky drank some water and poured some water on her hands into the food box to wash her hands. Half of the bottle is empty now. The old woman watched this, but didn't utter a word except a smile. She should have seen more people like Pinky in her life time. Believe me, I felt bad for the old lady and angry at Pinky. Pinky returned the water bottle to the old lady. No 'Thanks' this time too.

I was wondering how can Pinky expect some one else to carry water for her. Isn't it her responsibility to bring water to drink and wash her hands, when she decided to have her breakfast in a public place? I guess Pinky read my mind. She told to the other person who was sitting opposite to her,"There is enough water in our office. So, I don't take the pain to carry it along with my other bags."

Facebook in my Freelance Profession

Yes. That's right. Facebook helped me in a particular task that was pending for more than two weeks. I guess you know, posting ads in Craigslist need phone verification to complete the process of account creation. My client Nick received many Business calls for his ads on Apartment Listings in California in Craigslist. So, we decided to have more than one account to post our ads in different categories in the Craigslist classified.

Bedtime Stories

My 4year old niece love to hear stories before going to sleep. She love flying Kites. So I made up a Kite story.

There lived a little boy, with his parents in a village. He love Kite flying. One windy afternoon, the boy stood on top of a hill and flew his Kite. The wind was so strong that the Kite pulled the boy up above the sky. The little boy enjoyed his flight with the Kite. The sun started setting in slowly and the wind started blowing slowly. The Kite landed in a dark place surrounded by trees and bushes. The boy started crying. After a while, there came a Dragon that offered to help him to reach his parents. The dragon carried the boy and his Kite on its back and dropped him in his house safely. The boy ran to his parents and the dragon returned to its home. The boy and the parents lived happily ever after.

My niece smiled at me. She asked,"Sis*, where has all the dinosaurs and dragons that lived earlier has gone now?"

Everyday Musings

Yesterday morning, after I boarded the 8.40am train in Pallavaram, a beggar hopped into the ladies' compartment. His face was unshaven and was wearing a faded white Kurta and Pyjama. The train started moving. He looked down, closed his eyes and muttered, "Ya!Allah". 


He started singing, stretching his palm for alms, "கேளுங்கள் தரப்படும். தட்டுங்கள் திறக்கப்படும் வேறென்ன கிடைக்கும் என்றார் இயேசு வேறென்ன கிடைக்கும் என்றார்"

Read your story in your Timeline in Facebook

I was just thinking yesterday, whether I can read my wall posts that I posted in Facebook, when I first joined Facebook in 2007. I don't really remember the exact date, that I joined Facebook. But I was curious to find out the date. One of my fellow blogger was referring to Timeline app in Facebook, that would show the history of our activities in Facebook. I tried it and it worked. Let me share it with you, so that you can do the same and relive the moments again. You got to click here to read the post in my professional blog.

Look at the screenshot that shows the date of my joining. Isn't it fun to find out the status updates, shares and friends that we added few years back?

Facebook Keeps Me Cheered Up

The Social Website that am fond of, is Facebook. Friends who knew me well, knows that I just cant make it through the day, without being on my farm in Farmville. There were days that I spent staring at my cattle and cottages proudly. Got loads of friends in my friends' list whom I don't even know. But happy to receive the generous gifts that they send me daily to my cattle and cottages. Also got new friends from all over the world, who share similar interests,

Black Money?

Black Money?

And I received a forwarded text message in my mobile and I quote here:

Tears Rolled Down My Cheeks

When I opened the door of my Cyber Cafe on the day of vacating, March 31,2011, emotions rushed to me like a wave of tsunami. I just couldn't help the tears that rolled down my cheeks, when I sat on my chair for the last time and looked around. It reminded me of the different type of customers that I came across. It reminded me of the difficult times, when my business wasn't running profitably. I had to reduce the number of computers to 5 from 9 in 2004. Added the Sony PS2 to attract kids in the neighborhood. It worked and I could run the business smoothly until the building owner expired in January 2011. Real Estate was doing so well and the rental charge was too high that I couldn't find any suitable place to shift my Business. I also, didn't want to take a risk by moving my business to a costlier place, without knowing whether I can sustain my Business or not. Do you think that I should have taken the risk?

MAN

I happened to meet an ex-fighter pilot, online. He was serving the Indian Air Force before becoming a civilian pilot. He liked reading most of my blogs. In fact I quote his own words here - "if u hve any thing to discuss on aviation...i ll be of help;i would like to get more on human relations frm u". 

Are Women From Venus?

There was a friend request in facebook from a good looking lady. She had sharp features that would attract any man. I envied her secretly though I didn't let her know that in our week's conversation, online.

To my surprise, she said that she was abandoned by her husband a year ago. She had a little boy of 2 and a half years old. The boy looked healthy on cam. They made a good happy family picture on cam, san a man by her side. But it doesn't matter. I am of an opinion that there is no point in sticking together in the name of marriage if a couple have problem with one another. It is good to be separated and stay peaceful rather than being together staying peaceless. She was a freelancer too. She wrote emotional articles on human relationship. And I remember that she was even trying to find a publisher to publish her works. I started admiring her and her inner strength. She earned respect and dignity.

I thought of spending a weekend with her family.

Stillbirth - Thanks, Men Are From Mars

The baby was cute and fresh. The baby smiled at me, giving me the hope of life. It gave me the feeling that I would depend on it for my happiness. But somehow I felt that the baby was going to leave me sooner. It smiled at me weakly sometimes. I felt wanted when it cried all day and night demanding my attention. Sometimes it didn't cry for days together, leaving me with a feeling of unwanted. Every time I felt happy with a new born baby, it has left me with grief and sorrow. This baby left me in two weeks time. Since I was expecting the loss, it didn't affect me much. I have learnt to take this in my stride. This is not the first baby that left me. Please don't ask me the number of babies that I have lost. Because, I have lost count. I am happy that this baby left me earlier, than to take me too far and leave me with a feeling of lost in a vast abyss.

I am here with you again, feeling unwanted.

Who is Uma Mahi?

My Client Tobias Wegenast – is a Management Consultant. He conducts workshops and impart training on Personality Development and also offer corporate management solutions. And am thoroughly enjoying analyzing his candidates’ training results and preparing Reports for his candidates.

I took the questionnaire on myself and analysed my personality traits. Frankly, it did help me to get an insight into my personality.

Want to know my personality trait? Am an ESTJ.

Osama Bin Laden is Dead. Time To Learn Lessons by India.

Osama is dead. Great. Nice to know about his death from a very reliable source - Obama, the President of United States. United States has always acted as a World Policeman. The whole world knows how it acted during the war between Iran and Iraq. Everybody knows how it showed its high handedness in the Saddam Hussain issue. The history speaks for itself. US is worried only about the list of terrorists here




And do you want to have the list of terrorists that US is waiting to be attacked?
Hafiz Saeed and a whole list of the trainees from the terrorist training camps that are being operated, at present, in the Pakistani soil.

Isn't it funny to think that the World Policeman could lay his hands on some one who  eluded police for ten years after committing the crime, but decided to wait until the trainees from the terrorist training camps graduated and are ready to attack his land? The world knows that Pakistan is the safe haven for terrorists and their organisations and their training camps. Why can't the training camps be wiped out of the world map, well before it brought out the most wanted terrorists? Should we think that US is playing games, by letting Pakistan nourishes the terrorist organizations in its     territory, to keep a check on India's growth?



If that is the case, then India should learn from US's recent attack on Osama Bin Laden. Its high time we felt ashamed of complaining about Dossiers asked by Pakistan every time we submit one in the Ajmal Kasab's case? Pakistan is an ally of terrorism, so long as it sees India as a threat to its own survival. Time to act quickly to wipe out the state sponsored terrorist groups from Pakistan. We got to do it so clandestinely that even Pakistan should be taken by surprise. Wake up India. Help yourself.







Luv u all
Uma
My Workplace
My Services
My Official Blog Posts My Client - Patrick, The Great Speaker
My Client - Aditya, The Upcoming Scientist
My Client - Mark Peysha, Director of the Tony Robbins Films
My Client - Brian K. Gillman, Entrepreneur
My Client - Tobias Wegenast, Experiential Leadership Development
My Client - Karen Waksman, The Great Speaker
My Client - Sarah Tolson, Certified Financial Planner
My Client - Mike Mastracci, attorney and counselor at law
My Client - Jennifer Fink, a Certified Professional Photographer
My Client - Amy Alvis,estate planning
My Client - Kim McAtee, Realtor
My Client - Sean Coleman, entrepreneur, engineer, and social hacker
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The First Social Event That Broke the Ice

That was our Director's Birthday. Ahem! Don't ask his age. Because I don't know. Now, come on, everybody has their own social media presence in the Internet World. Do your home work please. :)

I thought that I can recreate the celebration here and relive the nice moments that our employees shared together at our office.

Let us start with the cake. Chef, do you think that you might have done a better job?

His name is Peter Spackman. Okay. You got the clue to search in the Internet World to find more about him. Now is the time to take a look at the person who bears the name. I am sure the candles were told to not to fly away from the cake.

Time to sing the Birthday Song. We all sang Happy Birthday in unison and wished him another happy year ahead.

Believe me it was really really hard to blow the candles out. It needed extra effort from him.

Waiting for our VIP to take his own piece.

The next VIPs are our General Manager and the Auditor.

Come on Mr. Auditor, we don't want the Birthday expense statement now.

Completed his expenses statement, took his own piece of cake gleefully and left the rest, to us to scramble for our own piece. Our General Manager is looking at us. LOL.

To tell you the truth, the occasion really broke the ice between myself and other employees.I had a feeling that only a few employees were okay with me and others were teasing me among themselves. Because I was turning to our System-Admin for each and every information that I needed. He is a nice person and kind enough to lend me a helping hand whenever I needed one. Now, I believe that am a pal of all of the employees. We do crack jokes when we happen to be together. I look at their eyes without any reservations when I need their help.Thanks for that Birthday Celebration.

Many more Happy Returns of the day to our beloved Mr. Peter Spackman

this celebration reminded me of my own Birthday Celebration

Luv u all
Uma
My Workplace
My Services
My Official Blog Posts My Client - Patrick, The Great Speaker
My Client - Aditya, The Upcoming Scientist
My Client - Mark Peysha, Director of the Tony Robbins Films
My Client - Brian K. Gillman, Entrepreneur
My Client - Tobias Wegenast, Experiential Leadership Development
My Client - Karen Waksman, The Great Speaker
My Client - Sarah Tolson, Certified Financial Planner
My Client - Mike Mastracci, attorney and counselor at law
My Client - Jennifer Fink, a Certified Professional Photographer
My Client - Amy Alvis,estate planning
My Client - Kim McAtee, Realtor
My Client - Sean Coleman, entrepreneur, engineer, and social hacker
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Lost My Workout Hours

Yeah. You read it right. I used to open my Cyber Cafe at 11.30am everyday and close it at 9.15pm every night. Though I went to bed late every night, I had the time for my work out every morning.That was the most pleasant phase of my life time.

This new job deprived me of that comfort. The working hours is 9am to 6pm. Neither do I get time in the morning nor in the evening :(.

I need to leave home at 8am to reach my office at 9am every day morning. And it becomes darker by the time I reach my home. I just couldn't go out for jogging in the dark. And I had to be content with my in-house physical exercises sans jogging and brisk walking, which I feel helps me to burn more fat.

Should I try to learn new tricks to burn those fats or reduce the accumulation of fat in my body? I thought this is going to help me and I am sure it would help you too.

To find the secret Click Here!

Luv u all
Uma
My Workplace
My Services
My Official Blog Posts My Client - Patrick, The Great Speaker
My Client - Aditya, The Upcoming Scientist
My Client - Mark Peysha, Director of the Tony Robbins Films
My Client - Brian K. Gillman, Entrepreneur
My Client - Tobias Wegenast, Experiential Leadership Development
My Client - Karen Waksman, The Great Speaker
My Client - Sarah Tolson, Certified Financial Planner
My Client - Mike Mastracci, attorney and counselor at law
My Client - Jennifer Fink, a Certified Professional Photographer
My Client - Amy Alvis,estate planning
My Client - Kim McAtee, Realtor
My Client - Sean Coleman, entrepreneur, engineer, and social hacker
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Third Innings of My Career

I have started the third innings of my career from March 14th,2011. I was a bit nervous about my new job. Though the job is nothing but a General Administration, this gave me a feel of strangeness. I was going to work for an organization after running a business (Cyber Cafe) on my own since 2000. It is been 3 days and people here are very helpful and nice to me. Work space is little cramped. I have informed this to the concerned authorities and hoping it to be resolved soon. So far so good.

Thank you guys, for all the emotional support you gave me during this transition.


Luv u all
Uma
My Workplace
My Services
My Client - Patrick, The Great Speaker
My Client - Aditya, The Upcoming Scientist
My Client - Mark Peysha, Director of the Tony Robbins Films
My Client - Brian K. Gillman, Entrepreneur
My Client - Tobias Wegenast, Experiential Leadership Development
My Client - Karen Waksman, The Great Speaker
My Client - Sarah Tolson, Certified Financial Planner
My Client - Mike Mastracci, attorney and counselor at law
My Client - Jennifer Fink, a Certified Professional Photographer
My Client - Amy Alvis,estate planning
My Client - Kim McAtee, Realtor
My Client - Sean Coleman, entrepreneur, engineer, and social hacker
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Why Am I Not Happy? :(

Why am I not happy with my decision of taking up a job?

Is it because I  feel bad to go and work for some body else?
Is it because I have got used to work for myself since 2000?
Is it because I feel that I am taking up a position that is not a challenging one? Its a co-ordinator position that includes taking care of the entire organization's activities.
Is it because I might have to close my business?
Is it because I will loose my freedom of having been on my own for so long?
Is it because I will loose the time that I spend with my friends everyday in my own Business place?
Is it because I am taking up this job only for mom's happiness?

She wants me to "SETTLE" in life. When I asked her what did she mean by "SETTLE", she said that I must have a REGULAR income. She is a retired government employee from the Department of Telecommunication. REGULAR INCOME is a blessing to all the employees of the government organization, then as well as now.

I do agree, that a Business doesn't always promises to yield a REGULAR income, unless you have a Business that provides a service, to a larger organization, that is repetitive everyday or every month. Just like the Business my friend Shankar does, an auditing firm. He has three to four clients, who needs him to take care of their Financial activities, every month. Hence, he gets a REGULAR income every month. There was a time, I saw him upset and disappointed when he was on the verge of loosing one of his corporate clients. The lose made him to even ask his employees to look for another job within a month's time. Now, what does a REGULAR income means in his business? The same goes with a company that I am going to work with. What would happen to myself and other employees if that organization has to loose a good contract, which in turn might make them to wind up their business? Will I get a REGULAR income? How can I feel secure just because the company that am going to work with, is doing well, NOW?

I want to keep my Business running to support myself, as long as I can run it profitably. I don't want to close it.

Mom, are you listening to me? Do you remember my friends who lost their job during the recession? They were all working in a Bigger organization and was drawing REGULAR INCOME for many years, until they were asked to leave.









Luv u all
Uma
My Workplace
My Services
My Client - Patrick, The Great Speaker
My Client - Aditya, The Upcoming Scientist
My Client - Mark Peysha, Director of the Tony Robbins Films
My Client - Brian K. Gillman, Entrepreneur
My Client - Tobias Wegenast, Experiential Leadership Development
My Client - Karen Waksman, The Great Speaker
My Client - Sarah Tolson, Certified Financial Planner
My Client - Mike Mastracci, attorney and counselor at law
My Client - Jennifer Fink, a Certified Professional Photographer
My Client - Amy Alvis,estate planning
My Client - Kim McAtee, Realtor
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No Indian Employer Would ........... - Revised and Posted

Okay. Its time to share now.

I learnt that the Organization wouldn't mind me doing my freelance work too, as long as I perform my assigned duties properly.

Now, I don't think any Indian Employer would accept.

What do you think?

P.S. I revised this post.

Luv u all
Uma
My Workplace
My Services
My Client - Patrick, The Great Speaker
My Client - Aditya, The Upcoming Scientist
My Client - Mark Peysha, Director of the Tony Robbins Films
My Client - Brian K. Gillman, Entrepreneur
My Client - Tobias Wegenast, Experiential Leadership Development
My Client - Karen Waksman, The Great Speaker
My Client - Sarah Tolson, Certified Financial Planner
My Client - Mike Mastracci, attorney and counselor at law
My Client - Jennifer Fink, a Certified Professional Photographer
My Client - Amy Alvis,estate planning
My Client - Kim McAtee, Realtor
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Need Your Suggestions Friends. Please Help Me! - Revised and Posted

Hi my dear friends! you all know that I have been served with a notice by this building owner to vacate the place by the month of May 2011. I am yet to find a suitable place for my business.

I am running this Cyber Cafe since 2002 and I have a very strong Client Base. I am going to miss them and vice versa. My customers has already started sharing their disappointment.

It is true that I have been hunting for a place since September last year. And I should admit that the search was a good experience in itself. I found that the commercial building owners has become more greedy these days. The office space that is quarter of the size of my present office cost three times the rent that I pay now. And the size of the space equivalent to the present one is only available for Lease for Lakhs of Rupees, which is not affordable. Real Estate is doing really well, I guess.

I was looking for an office space in an around  T.Nagar. Because there is no other Cyber Cafe within 2 kms radius, that can provide a good service such as mine.There is another Cyber Cafe, which is situated within 1km from my Cafe, but customers still prefer to use my Service. Hence the decision to look in and around this T.Nagar.

There were instances, where I found that the owners demanded us to pay the commission to the brokers, even if we were not referred by the brokers. And there were places, that looked like a go-down, without a proper ventilation and no space to fix my Air conditioner. Some offices didn't have a 3phase electricity connection and the owners either refused to share the cost to set up a 3 phase electricity connection or they didn't let us to set up a 3phase electricity connection. Some commercial complexes don't have the rest room facility. I need one, since I stay in my office from 11.00am to 9.30pm every day. Some business centers don't allow any office to work after 7pm. 

So I started looking for a place in Suburban areas. But still didn't succeed.

I should mention about an interesting incident that happened during the search.I once called a mobile number that I took from an advertisement of Free Ads from the "Commercial Space Available" section. When I called him in the morning, he said that he was watching movie and asked me to call him in the afternoon. I called him again in the afternoon at 3pm. He told me that he was busy and asked me to call after 5pm. I did. When I said that I was looking for a place to set up a Cyber Cafe, he told me that it was a residential area and not sure whether it would serve my purpose.I asked his suggestion. He asked me to come and check for myself. He asked me to come to a place near a car service shop, from where he took me to a building. He was a middle aged man and looked like he was boozing all day. I followed him. That was a multi-storey building, which didn't look well in the ground floor itself. A woman was washing clothes on the way to the entrance of the pathway of the ground floor. There were a group of persons who were sitting and chatting in the adjacent room. The alley was dark. I was expecting him to switch on the light. But he just walked passed the alley and I felt suspicious and stopped near the lady who was washing clothes. This man went inside the dark and disappeared. He came back with a torch light in his hand and switched on the torch light and showed me a space below the staircase. I was confused and irritated. He then said that a screen can be used to get some privacy over there in the corner. I was silently bearing my confused and mixed emotions. I wanted to yell at him. At the same time I laughed at my vulnerable position there.And I was also wondering what made this man to call me and show me a space below the staircase, that can only be used to steal a hug or a smooch by the young inmates of that building. My friend Haseem, accompanied me to that place and we both were laughing out louder, all the way to my Cafe, after we left that building.

Few days back one of my friends suggested me to take a up a job, instead of running around the city to find a place.He also reminded me about the struggle that I had to make to get my Cyber Cafe License renewed last year. If those of you who remember reading those blogs, that I have deleted, after my friends suggested to delete it, would also recommend the same, I guess. It was a nightmare for three days to get the Police to inspect my Cyber Cafe to renew my License.

I know that my business is not doing as good as it used to be three years back. But I thought that I can add more services like networking games to pull the young crowd and adding up an eating joint. This will again demand me to pump in more money apart from my expenses that I will have to bear in shifting and setting up. Since everyone can check mails in their mobile these days, I don't get much browsing customers. I get more business from Typing jobs, Print jobs, Scan jobs and cd writing jobs. And then kids come to play in the playstation. When my friend suggested me this, I was tempted to consider the option.

And many of you, know that I also freelance and I have almost 9 overseas clients. And I keep assisting them throughout the year. So I am thinking to take up this job as well as help my online clients, which will be an added advantage for me.

I am going to preserve my Computer Cabins for future use. I shall gift the computers to my 5yr old niece and other kids, who can use it for their studies. I shall also gift the Playstation to my nephew and niece.

Now, I need your suggestion, my dear friends. What would you suggest? Would you suggest me to take up this job, right now? Or would you want me to continue with my Cyber Cafe business? Please help me to take a decision.

Deep into my heart, I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur. Owner of atleast a small enterprise, if not a big one. I shall wait until I find myself financially sound to start an enterprise again to run it successfully for the rest of my life.


P.S. I have revised this post.

Luv u all
Uma
My Workplace
My Services
My Client - Patrick, The Great Speaker
My Client - Aditya, The Upcoming Scientist
My Client - Mark Peysha, Director of the Tony Robbins Films
My Client - Brian K. Gillman, Entrepreneur
My Client - Karen Waksman, The Great Speaker
My Client - Sarah Tolson, Certified Financial Planner
My Client - Mike Mastracci, attorney and counselor at law
My Client - Jennifer Fink, a Certified Professional Photographer
My Client - Amy Alvis,estate planning
My Client - Kim McAtee, Realtor
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