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โ–ผ

Thursday, March 20, 2025

"๐—ฌ๐—ฎ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ, ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐˜‚๐˜๐˜๐—ถ ๐—ธ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฒ!"

"๐—ฌ๐—ฎ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ, ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐˜‚๐˜๐˜๐—ถ ๐—ธ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฒ!"

"When will you take some leaves?"
"Donโ€™t you think you should take a break?"
"Will you really let your leaves lapse?"
"Don't check your emails or Teams when you're on leave! Koshish toh Karo!"

No, these questions and diktats did not come from my family. 

Iโ€™ve never been one to take leave unless itโ€™s for an event, vacation, or family commitmentโ€”even when my health was ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ช ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช. The pandemic only reinforced this habit. But then came my latest boss. From mid-2024, he started encouraging everyone to take regular breaks to recharge. When I told him I usually let around 20 leaves lapse each year, he was genuinely intrigued.

From then on, during our catch-ups, he made it a point to nudge me about taking time off. He knew Iโ€™d readily update him on my work plans, but it was my leave plan that interested him more.

Eventually, in Q4 of last year, I gave in. I started taking a day off about once a week - ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช - and even more often in December. What I experienced was pretty cool:

1. ๐—–๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€โ€”weekday offs meant no long queues.


2. ๐—™๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐˜„๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜†-๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ I had been meaning to cancel for ages. Just parked myself at the insurerโ€™s office for two hours until they gave in.


3. ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ, ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜. Got those done too. ๐˜“๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ช? ๐˜’๐˜ฐ๐˜ช ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ช, ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ฌ๐˜ต๐˜ข ๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ.


4. ๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜‚๐—ฝ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ธ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐˜€ used in technical analysis of stocks. The Hanging Man and Hammer are my favorites.


5. ๐—ฃ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐—ฝ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ... ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜บ๐˜ข and binge-watched Netflix shows instead.


Did plenty more on these ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช leave days, and now I try to take them more often.

Try taking a leave - ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช - if you haven't. ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น leaves kabhi leke dekho. It could be worth it.

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

"Your daughter is hurt. Do you want to come and pick her up?"

"Your daughter is hurt. Do you want to come and pick her up?" asked the teacher โ€”letโ€™s call her Daya.

Now, if any parent were to receive such a call, the only possible response would be a panicked "Yes!". Thankfully, I was working from home that day and rushed to the school.

"Sir, shorts are not allowed in school," I recalled the guard saying once when I had gone to pick her up wearing them. Already in my car, I hoped heโ€™d let me through today. As soon as I arrived, I asked, "Where is the nursing room?" The guard, probably realizing this wasnโ€™t the right moment to comment on my attire, simply pointed me in.

"She looked a bit worried, but I examined her thoroughly. The injury wasnโ€™t anything concerning, so I sent her back to class," said the nurse, Ms. Hathi.

I quickly made my way to her classroom. As soon as V (my daughter) saw me, tears started streaming down her face. My heart sank. Before I could say anything, she blurted out, "I am absolutely fine. I donโ€™t want to miss class!"

She wasnโ€™t crying because of pain but because she was being sent home. I checked in with her and then turned to Daya, requesting that she allow V to stay. Daya explained that she had already completed the paperwork to send V home, and as per protocol, she had to leave. I asked if she could approach a senior staff member to reconsider. The senior was in a meeting and likely dismissed her. Daya then gently counseled V and requested us to leave.

On the ground floor, I stopped V and asked, "Do you really want to attend school?" She nodded without hesitation. I knew she hates missing school. "Then let's go to the principal," I said. At that moment, she hesitated. "No, no, letโ€™s go home. Itโ€™s okay," she said quickly. That "Itโ€™s okay" got to me. As a dad, I wasnโ€™t okay with my daughter having an "Itโ€™s okay" experienceโ€”settling for something she clearly didnโ€™t want.

We went back up to where principal's office was located. Outside, we were greeted by an EAโ€”letโ€™s call her Babitaji. "Sir, why do you wish to meet the principal?" she asked politely. I explained the situation and shared my perspective: protocols should be followed in spirit, not just in letter. If Hathi and I were both okay with V staying, there was no reason she shouldnโ€™t be allowed back in class.

Now, the difference between good EAs and great EAs is that the great ones solve small problems before they reach their bosses. She quickly called Hathi to confirm the details, then called Daya. After listening to both, she instructed Daya to allow V to attend class. Daya soon arrived at the office, and a smiling V walked away with her. I thanked Babitaji for her timely help and left.

Rules and policies exist for a reason, but applying them with empathy makes all the difference. Sometimes, whatโ€™s โ€˜by the bookโ€™ isnโ€™t whatโ€™s best for the situation. Great leadershipโ€”at any levelโ€”is about knowing when to adapt and Babitaji did just that!

The image? Well, thatโ€™s me after going through a rollercoaster of emotions that day!