Hola folks,
Sigh! Half the year gone by....and what have I to show for it?
The year 2016 began with a bang, a fresh new start with all the hopes and aspirations that the previous year had not yielded to. This year has to be different, I hoped and prayed fervently. My life in 2015 had only revolved around meaningless interactions on Facebook and Whatapp; this had to change! I yearned to evolve and come out of the mind-numbing rut. While my peers discussed newer platforms, I heard them out with pretending indifference; yet a gnawing insecurity pervaded me. I needed to come up to speed with all these new updates and tech or be left far behind in this mad race. I had to get out from under my boss's thumb, a boss who was herself steeped in blissful ignorance. My life revolved around this single person, she was the sun and I was one of her satellites, rather I was her closest confidante and easily the biggest doormat!
Thankfully, I think I managed to convey the vibes for a much needed change in our work-life. I saw her fumbling, trying to find her way through the maze of new applications, updates and social media jargon. I tried to help her by being more plucky, resourceful and efficient. The first couple of months thus flew past in a delirious journey of reinvention for both of us. We were in a symbiotic relation - having a tech-savvy PA was bound to be a blessing to my boss while her being interested in upgrading herself was motivation for me. Together we embarked on journeys hitherto uncharted by our standards. Tweets and pings abounded our realm at such an astonishing rate that it was difficult to give sufficient attention to all of them! Being smarter, I offered to help my boss save the passwords to numerous accounts besides helping her find her way in the vast social media jungles.
However by March, I realized my boss was losing steam in the new ventures of self-upgradation. Twitter, Snapchat, Evernote, Hootsuite, Slack, LinkedIn and others failed to respond to her overtures and she felt demotivated. I tried to pitch her with frequent pop-ups on newer propagandas. Slowly she slipped back into her old mode and in fact so did I. Facebook, Whatsapp and the Playstore beckoned us with the old familiarity of childhood friendships that required you to just indulge in light-hearted banter and not continually stamp your presence in the netherworlds of digital-marketing.
This regressive mode proceeded through March and I was almost besides myself at this downward spiral. However a beacon of light shone in form of a major blogging event in April. My boss picked up her scattered wits and was soon immersed in thoughtful research and literary pursuits for the event that required me to be a vital part of the proceedings. I constantly reminded her that she had to collaborate her efforts with social media interaction and soon she was completely dependent on me on that aspect. I found myself engrossed in her pursuits and helped her regain her mojo on the social media. April was indeed the high point in my career as I was using my faculties to their maximum extent; totally in-sync with my boss, since our association for the last four years.
But constant, non-stop overwork and little or scant attention to my well-being by my uncaring boss, took their toll on my batteries.....at the end of April, I was over-stretched beyond my working, thinking capacity and my memory soon started playing tricks. Unknown to me, lethal infections had taken root in my brain during my month-long overdrive! When the boss asked me to retrieve the Snapchat or Slack password, I couldn't for the life of me remember where I had saved it. Soon words and images started to blur in my mind till all of it was a gibberish whirl. I had never been of a very strong mind, but this long assault on it, seemed like the final straw; I was heading for a total-breakdown!
May was a period of gloom, as I lay listless and lifeless. Some sense of pity or loyalty led my boss to personally take me for a consultation. In the hands of a 'quack' she placed me for treatment. His unconventional methods however did seem to trigger back my lost senses; as memories slowly trickled back, then in a surge I was almost back to normal! I reported back to duty, a trifle light-headed, taking my time to respond to queries, while my friends subtly tut-tutted their sympathy at my debilitated condition. Nevertheless, I was back, thankful for the narrow scrape I had had and raring to have go at life again!
June was upon us and I couldn't believe my luck at finding myself escorting my boss on an international holiday! Yes, fortune definitely favors the perseverant! A troupe of assistants joined the bandwagon, yet none of them were at the right place or time when my boss needed help. I helped her capture the most amazing shots, navigate tricky roads, suggest the best eat-outs....always around and handy, that's me!
I think, this holiday brought us both a lot closer, we realized we just had to understand each other's needs. I needed her to make my existence real while she needed me to make her's worthwhile and memorable!
Yes, a good half-year has passed by me, I surmise and I still have miles to go before I sleep.
As narrated to me by my 4 year-old Samsung Galaxy Grande 2!!
Cheers ;)
Kala
This post was written in response to a campaign - HALF TIME 2016 by @Blogchatter for its initiative for like-minded bloggers, the blogbuddies.
Cheers to my blogbuddy team #Writehouse!
Copyright © 2016 KALA RAVI