Bloodventurous

Hope you are not in the same 'well' as I am. My boss treated us for his first anniversary today. On my way back I saw this board on my company building lift 'Blood donation camp at Flowserve office 3rd floor' . Like a noble soul I entered the office and got my self declared fit to go ahead. I created a raucous as usual on seeing the size of the needle. Looked like a veterinary needle. I felt the blood drain out of my body and slowly started getting weak. After the show was over I was served some apple juice and bananas. Before I could figure out if it was banana or something else the world was spinning around me I fell flat on the floor. I don't remember what happened after that. When I woke up I saw myself lying on a vague bed on the floor amidst Flowserve employees glued to their desktops oblivious to the poor soul which ought to have been slogging in the 8TH floor inside the Irevna office. I saw some lady doctors asking if I was fine and I proudly replied that I was perfect. It was the sheer embarrassment and I so badly wanted to transform myself into a bee and fly to my floor. No sooner was I up on my feet than the blood refused to reach my brain and I was thrown into the unconscious mode again. My BP was 80/60 and my pulse wouldn't improve. I was so full after the chocolate truffle and paneer tikkas in the treat but the doctors refused to believe it. I was forced to gulp a couple of bananas and 'maa' apple juice. It was quite a day for the hapless Flowserve employees. Thank god I was in a salwar today. Else I would've had many more helper boys around. After yet another unconscious phase I woke up with a halo of enlightment light. This time I thought I would just leave the place without attracting attention. I walked towards the door and I tried hard to place my hands on the handle bar, but I felt so stoned. It was all there but i couldn't grab it. I again woke up , but this time there were no stares. Probably the employees were immune to my momentary hibernation modes. I had the lady doctors sitting around me trying to motivate my blood pressure to rise. And slowly my pulse improved and my BP rose. It was the best motivational speech ever. I could feel the blood gushing into my head. This time I was brewing with confidence and energy. I had to, for I was the first to lie on the bed and last to leave the venue. The camp beds and equipments were removed and the office was back to work. I had to flee from that floor and couldn't wait for the lift to come to the third floor.The donation certificate was the last thing I wanted. I climbed to the fourth floor and took the lift from there to the 8th floor. I felt so relieved. I was seeing my colleagues after ages. Nobody seemed to have even noticed my absence. Nevertheless, I was alive and strong.
After a long weekend, I decided to work sincerely. Man can only propose.

I am advised to eat properly and rest. Good night.

:P

Why does it always rain on me

Am at my ebb. Dunno what has led me to this trough. I have never felt less confident ever before. Whatever I do turns out to be wrong. What seems insignificant to me catches the wrong eye. Winning constantly makes a person so alien to disappointment and defeat. I am finding a source of motivation to start a new day and the search seems to last for eternity. This probably is God's way of conveying that vantage is ephemeral. But do I really have to prove myself to anyone? It is yet to dawn and I shall wait. At the end of the day 'The winner takes it all'.

Vietnamese?.... merci bien

I have to share my experience over the phone with a Vietnamese guy. I called the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam regarding the information that I required for a world bank report. I was surprised they actually responded and gave me the cell number of the person in charge for Finance. The first call was to the receptionist (invariably a lady) who seemed to understand my accent. She couldn’t understand the word mutual and asked me to explain the meaning. Imagine – explaining the word mutual to a Vietnamese in Indian English. Thankfully she realized she was the wrong person and directed me to another guy. This time she had to spell out numbers and hence the job wasn’t very difficult. But took her ten minutes to make me understand how to dial this number and what codes to use. Nevertheless was not a bad encounter.

Now comes the most hilarious phone call in my lifetime. This guy called Kiem (khhhhaaayyyiieem .. they pronounce it. Initially I felt he was sneezing at me) picks up the phone. He was pleased to be talking to an Indian (which took me 5 mins to convey). I never tried to make him understand my name. He somehow conveyed to me that he was out of office and wanted me to send him a mail with the required data points. He said “hwaaangteeeekhyaaam@ mooov. Gooof.vveeyen” ..@#!$@$%#$%#$ Wished outlook had sound recognition system to type in mail IDs. Then I resorted to the Hari Saadhu style.

H for hongkong

O for ok

Aaai for iiishiahds (thought he said “I”)

M for member (it was actually N for number)

G for juuuuddd (he was happy with G for God finally)

T for Tea (t for t.. I kept asking t for.. t for… not realizing t for tea)

I for India

E for egg

T for T

K for kong in the hongkong

I for India

E for egg

M for money @mof.gov.vn

Now that was his name. 30 mins exactly on my watch. And 10 pairs of eyes staring at me in the floor.

After all this I had to call him once again as this was a wrong ID. Huh. He was damn kind and laughed out loud in the end. The third letter AAAI was actually A.

Huh, our cross cultural mgt classes should’ve had such sessions. Then I broke my head whether to write Dear Mr.Kiem / Hi Mr.Kiem/ Mr.Kiem/ Mr Haongtietkiem..

Now if I don’t get a reply from him… God save me.