"Has it taken more than it has given?" a friend asked me. I was about to leave a city (Pune) to go back to my hometown, and the question was aimed at the city itself. Strangely, I'd never thought of it that way. I mean, a city that takes and gives? That was new! There was a pause in the conversation as I considered it for a while.
It has been nearly six years, and I've often wondered, not without regret, at how my career could have been had I not made that fateful decision to move out of my previous company in a hurry. Maybe there is a lesson to be learnt here: never be in a hurry to choose a new job just because you don't like your present one; it's better to be late than sorry quickly. As someone said, "Never choose a job over a career."
So yeah, my stint in this company has been long, but it has often left me agitated. At its typical (Indian government employee) Babu-like HR folks; at its policies that evoke emotions ranging from fury to helpless resignation; at its people who think it's more important to just get a job done than it is to finish it well; at its regulations that defy all reason. I hated it, and yet, incredibly, my inertia got the better of me for three long years. I suppose you wonder what it says about me as a person, eh?
Of course, my move to this city had also given me a few things that I never realised I could like immensely. Like a sense of my space; freedom from frequent and annoying disturbances while deeply engrossed in reading; freedom to explore a place at any time of the day I chose; a chance to meet new people who became "friends for life"; a chance to experience "special" relationships (nothing came of this though!); opportunities to learn how to go about a lot of things in life (from negotiating the rent for a house, to finding the best places to eat).
Coming back to the question, in balance, it hasn't been all that bad, especially if I left my job out of the equation. The city has given more than it has taken, and I'm happy about it.
Pune, I'll miss your climate, your vantage location w.r.t. many interesting places, the quality of your water, but I'll never, ever miss the really sad, I-don't-want-your-custom attitude of your shopkeepers (hoteliers and others fall into this group too).
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