Friends??

Statutory Warning: Negative splurges ahead. Reader's discretion is advised. 

Everyone is familiar with the vent spree I went on few days ago. I got messages, calls from so many of you. A lot of long lost friends got back in touch just to check if I was ok or if there is anything they can do to make me ok. Aww.. See this doesnt happen often. I am someone who goes to bed every night thinking, 'where are my friends?'. 

Where are the ones who used to hang out with me? The ones I used to fight mom for..


"I need to go on that trip mumma! I dont care if it is expensive. 
I want to go. All my friends are going."

Where are the ones who I used to lie for...just so that I get to be with them more?

"Mumma, if I don't go for this group study, I fail. I will definitely fail the exam."

Where are the ones who I used to go on long bike/car rides with? Where is the 'gedi' gang?

"Chaat, paanipuri, aalu tikki, rain, breeze, giggles, Jazzy B on the car audio, laughter"

Where are the ones who stood by me when I was low?

"Break ups, fights, tough times, ill-health, rain or shine"

Where are the ones......

Wait.. see I cant think of many things... I have always been this bird... flying from one shore to another..season after season..no long memories...no long stories (or probably too many)... but then..
look at me all grown up..with responsibilities and duties to fulfill..professionally and personally..still wondering sometimes..'Where are my friends?'

So when so many of you got back in touch.. I kind of didn't know what to do. What to share and what not to.. there is just so much to catch up on.. How will you understand what happened today when you were not there yesterday? How will you know the rain if you didnt understand the reason behind it?

I don't know how to be a friend.. I have never known.. I would never know.. For a simple reason I have never had a long time friend..or friends.. Just drizzles of emotions from people around me once in a while... at least that's how I look at it..

Where is that strong pillar or the shoulder to lean on or the 'I am here for you always' pat they define a friend with? Where is it? It is no where... 

927 'Friends' on my Facebook list... 
*smiles*

"Neha, these friendships disappear as time passes by. Don't run behind them like a shadow. Focus on your goal. You can be your biggest friend and your biggest enemy. You choose.", he said. She squirmed and replied sternly, "Dad, you just don't understand me. You don't understand your own daughter!!" He smiled, "Time will answer this for you."



Ciao!
Aparna 

To LinkedIn, From A Newbie

I was starting to have sleepless nights thinking about my LinkedIn profile. With only 2 and a half years of work experience, I was feeling doubtful whether I would have any solid content to go to a profile which shares the same online platform with the "biggies" of all industries. 

But nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot. I signed up. From the first step on-wards, all my doubts slowly started to vanish. It all seems so easy. Its like a mini interview wherein you just keep answering facts about your work experience, education etc. 

The catch was the "skills" and the "summary" section. I was staring at the screen. One does seem to wonder that at such an early juncture in your career what skills does one have to be qualified as a skill mention-able in your LinkedIn profile. But then one starts to think slowly. MS Office, Communication, Public Skills..... Words started to pour in my mind and I got to typing. Skill is simply defined as something you are good at. A little bit of thought could give you quite a list. I myself ended up mentioning 15+ skills. Quite an achievement, where I thought I could go blank. 

Then came the summary section. This one was another rocky ride. I turned to Google to look at few examples. Felt a little confident. Read it somewhere --- "Your LinkedIn Summary should describe why you do what you do and it should make someone want to read it, even if the reader has only 10 seconds". Sounds quite tricky. What could one write so interesting that someone in a rush would also want to stop by and have a look. Gave it a thought too and ended up writing a small note about my professional self. I am sure I will keep going back to my profile and keep updating the summary and skills. 

As I was finishing section after section, I kept feeling as if I am accomplishing something outstanding. Your skills, education, achievements, outlined in black and white could give you quite a high. It does not matter even if it is small compared to the world around you. You get to know a lot about yourself and that heart-warming feeling of pride comes in. 

Once you have filled out all the sections, LinkedIn provides a level of completion to your profile. Now ask me what level have I been conferred upon. Ask me. Ask me. Come On. Okay I am dying to tell you. "Expert". Yes, somehow LinkedIn feels that my profile has been completed till the "Expert" level. I don't know how to interpret it. But the word itself brought a big grin on my face.  

I did not stop there. I slowly started searching for people I know and out came a plethora of known faces. I was sitting for hours inviting people to connect. And now slowly notifications are coming in as invites are getting accepted. 

I don't need to mention that EVERYONE  is on LinkedIn. Now I am too. (It has surely excited me enough to come back and blog about it.) It is a wonderful platform to share, learn and grow. It is nothing like the usual social networking sites. It is carved out for professionals and there is space for everyone and it is all FREE FREE FREE! 

This post might seem trivial to all the LinkedIn members, because presumably it is a must to have this profile. But my sole purpose of writing this post would be achieved if I am able to get even one more person to come on to LinkedIn as a new member and experience being "Linked". When there is so much to learn and information/inspiration is available at the tip of your finger then why wait. 

I end my day now with a feeling of content and pride. Go register yourself to know what I am talking about. 

Thrilled and Excited.

Aparna Gautam

Orkut-Facebook-Blogger-Twitter

I am coming to mention my reading habit, umpteenth time now. But this post holds reference to what I have been reading off late. 

Almost all the management gurus, trainers, consultants have increasingly started to make reference to "How should one behave online? How should your social networking profile be? What should you say or not say? etc etc"

To be precise the following has been said about how to be while you are online:

- Do not use abusive words in your status updates/tweets/blogs

- Do not post offensive photographs 

- Do not say anything online that you would regret later (also holds good for emails).

I agree with all the above mentioned points. And if judged on these parameters my social life (online) would secure 99.99% marks (0.01% left to grace the benefit of doubt).

But then while you are reading the details on how a proper online social life should be, one tends to get doubtful. Especially people like me, who have been known for being online ALL THE TIME. :). Orkut-Facebook-Blogging-Twitter have been known to make everyone expressive. I can hardly think of anyone around me who doesn't get excited about sharing online, now be it, photographs, their achievements, thoughts or almost anything that matters. I do the same. I write. I write a lot. But will I be able to say that my online activities from the day I came online, have all been "proper". May be. May be not.  

Now should I go back and get on a "deleting frenzy"? Here comes the point I am trying to make in this post. I will not get on a deleting frenzy, not anymore, just so that a certain person does not judge me. When I read myself over and over, I have realized that I have grown mature over these years and my writes (be it my blogs, tweets, FB status updates) have all been proof of that. I would not want to miss my-self again. I would want to always remember how  I have evolved. No matter what I am tomorrow or where I am, achieving my dreams I would always come back to this and feel proud. 

I have realized that my emotions are my strength because I can express. All of this from Day 1 till date, has been me. I have learnt. I have grown but I would never forget my past and the teachings of it all. 

So here I am, 

promising to myself,

and to all the others,

who read me,

that,

I will continue,

to learn,

to share.

I promise to be,

proud of my beginning,

my destination,

and the road taken.

I promise to be,

Me!!

Lots of Sunshine,

Aparna Gautam

P.S. So you did notice? YES! My name. That's the whole point. :)

P.P.S. And please feel free to share what you think about your "Online Journey".