The year began with home renovations tapering down, but our party streak continued, beginning with the X-Mas celebration and lasting into February. The north sees zero-visibility winters at this time of year, and Lovish, Harshil, Karan, and I were keeping warm with our favorite single malt.
However, nature soon helped me understand why I was at home. It was not a time for celebration but rather for COVID-19 prevention, which severely affected Karanvinder’s family. He is the rock of my life and I saw him melting.
As mummy lived at home full-time now, her dust allergy had made her more prone to colds and coughs. We initially assumed that because she was asymptomatic, we didn’t have COVID-19 and it was just a small flu caused by the materials used in home renovations. However, after she was unable to recover while taking steroids, we realized that she had bronchitis, which was as near to having COVID-19 as possible.
Lovish’s father was admitted to the hospital in the middle of this year after the virus entered their home. Patients are segregated and can only interact with visitors from quite a distance. I couldn’t do much more than sit but sit and have dinner with him for this period while sitting outside the facility. After dinner, we would both return to our own homes.
As mummy was able to restore all of the furniture to its original location after renovation, she doubled the pace with which she looked for a suitable bride for me. For a long time, she and my sister advertised in the newspaper every other week, but it was now published every week in matrimony.
The girl’s parents traveled from Hoshiarpur, which is about 180 kilometers distant, to meet me, and we quickly found a likely match. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but I was moved by their modesty and the absence of questions about my eating habits and package.
Since my mother was healing and unable to travel, I asked my guests to let me meet their daughter at their home the following weekend. As promised, I was there to do so. I was given lunch after two rounds of behavioral interviews and one management interview, which I freely consumed in enormous portions.
After the tea, I left on good footing, having assured them that my parents would get in touch with them.
I have appeared in behavioral and management interviews 100s of times, but honestly this was different. I was nervous!
After I got home, I was more or less certain, but I still had some doubts that I discussed with my sister and eventually resolved. My potential in-laws were given positive updates, and the next week we held a small ceremony to mark the occasion.
It all transpired in a week. She started coming to Chandigarh on weekends, and to my surprise, there weren’t many places to go in Hoshiarpur (I was confused, how do people even meet? I understand!).
We began with small talk, and then it was back to life as usual. We had to buy a ring for ourselves during one of our meetings, and I anticipated that it would take a long time, so we drank two beers first and then went shopping. She was paranoid because she thought she might get intoxicated with just one beer. She didn’t drink much, so I finished them. 😂 As a result, we left the jewelers in 15 minutes after purchasing two rings.
Rather than actively seeking or generating opportunities, I find that I am most successful when they present themselves to me unexpectedly.
It was FK’s annual midyear review, and I was mentally ready to go all out if I didn’t get a promotion. However, there was a twist: right before the end-of-July reviews were to begin, my manager unexpectedly offered a retention bonus. Although it was sizable, I preferred the promotion and did not want the retention bonus at all.
Back then, I was doubtful that this extra was granted to postpone the promotion. Everything else was on the table when the reviews were announced, except for what I wanted - the promotion to SD3. The rationale behind considering this matter in the future was my need to enhance my proficiency in documentation, a point with which I concur. However, I find myself confused by the emphasis on documentation. I felt mistreated, and silently started preparing for the next move!
I just accessed employment portals and career pages and began applying to job advertisements. Immediately, some recruiters contacted me, and the game began. I enjoy doing interviews; I enjoy the entire process. I am not concerned about the best time to apply for a job or the outcome. For the first time dealing with a company’s procedure, I simply think about going as far as I can so that if things do not go as planned, I have adequate experience to go over it again.
The courtship and interview preparation do not go hand in hand
I had devised a schedule and stuck to it until the big event, which was Facebook’s interview. My goal was to give as many interviews as possible before the D-day, so that I could analyze my preparation, and happily, I was able to appear and go until the offer for a few.
For a month, FriYays and outings with DPT were not on the to-do list. I was trying to make the most of my free time after work and on weekends. While I was here, wedding preparations were in full swing, and DPT would come to Chandigarh for shopping, visit my parents, and return. She had this impression of me as someone who puts in a lot of effort - LOL.
On the big day, I was scheduled for five interviews and was prepared for every topic. However, I was caught off guard in one of the interviews by the interviewers’ interruptions as I tried to steer the session in the direction I had envisioned. It was obvious that I had failed, but at least I had tried. I appreciated the process, the atmosphere, and the interviewers’ competence.
In the meantime, I was able to secure employment with another top firm, Atlassian, therefore I decided to leave FK.
When my FK manager offered me everything I’d ever desired, I gently declined since I no longer felt like I needed it.
I got a car before the interviews began, but I hardly used it at first since I was so preoccupied with other things, it saw a lot of use once we began looking for a wedding site and began making daily visits to hand out invitations.
In my opinion, committing to get married is like walking through a one-way door; once you’ve entered, there’s no turning back. Fear gripped me. The anxiety and work required to manage the events leading up to and during the wedding cause the emotions to run a little crazy.
I tied the knot on the first day of December in the presence of a few close friends and family in Hoshiarpur and had a reception dinner for my Family and Friends.
My friends from college were there, Anuj came from Bengaluru, Harshil Surprised me(wow!). Everything went off without any difficulty, and it was wonderful to see everyone again after such a long time apart.
Since I was yet to start with Atlassian in the middle of the month, we did not go on the traditional honeymoon trip outside of India.
I have a +1 from here on, 👻