Big Decision: Working from Home in truest sense, finally !

 There are lot of breaking news on my side. The big ones are below:

a) I and Nina purchased NH road side land of 1 Bigha near Dudhnoi.

b) I and Nina are expecting our first child.

c) I and Nina are relocating to Agia, Assam.

d) I have started writing the most expected 'thing' of this blog - an autobiography.

These are some of the biggest decisions of any human life. I am glad I have been able to take all the decisions. The first two are easy (& obvious), last one is logical, though hard; but the third decision was bit complicated.

Regarding NH roadside land purchase , I have mentioned the desire multiple times in past posts. This opportunity came after I engaged Deuta (in law). He then sprang into action by engaging with multiple people, including Sanjib Da who came out to be crucial in closing the deal. There is almost NIL brokerage and bribe paid in the whole process of purchase until naam-jari, which completed just a fortnight ago. As on today, there is no payment pending to be paid. The financials , photos, my investigations are kept in separate folders. Deuta has been on the forefront on this endeavor.

Regarding the second decision, the effort started from 26 January after Nina returned home post the Republic Day participation. I never put pressure on her; it was her decision only to undertake this activity. I am sure she must have done her calculation. I was ready since I resigned from NSDC. We had a disturbed first 3 months as our efforts were not yielding any output. During April home visit, even families came to know about our failed efforts and we were sent to Jaikant Rabha for consultation (14 April). When her period of May got delayed we first took this very casually. Then the pregnancy test (10 May), rush to doctor's clinic etc. While the blood report and endometrial thickness confirmed presence of baby, the ultrasound did not. Ruble's marriage was to be attended in between, where we made sure the whole of Kerala know about it. The day we returned from Kerala (31 May), we went to doctor with second ultrasound. Everything is clear and visible now. We broke the news to families on the very next day. There is joy, only joy !

In this post, I am focusing on the third decision. The fourth decision is too aspirational and a separate post is needed.

On the very first day i.e. 10 May when we had to search presence of gynecologists and refer to Practo, when I had to take her to Rampal Chawk via scooty, when I entered the tiny clinic of Dr. Kalpana Agarwal, when the clinic provided a Alto to take Nina for Ultrasound, when I was coming back alone in the scooty in the scorching heat of Delhi, when I was not able to decide what to cook and what to make her eat, I started thinking seriously against staying in Delhi. 

But I had two big obstacles to overcome - agreement from Nina and permission from Office.

Nina's health deteriorated with time. Vomiting, nausea, no mood to eat, travel issues started coming strongly. We even appointed a cook (first time in my life), but, that was of no help. The Delhi heat became the most killer factor. With temperature touching 44 degree on everyday basis, AC became her only option. Me managing the office work side by side the increasing attention of Nina became super difficult. She herself realized staying in Delhi is not going to be sustainable. 

I started pushing the idea of complete relocation vocally from Ruble's marriage onwards. It was a big decision for me also. It has both sides for me, obviously the positives sides outweigh the negatives, I think.

1) I was sure I won't be able to handle Nina alone without a support system. I don't have a four wheeler, not a doctor friend in Delhi, no relative to come whenever there is a need etc even if I leave aside the weather and my office work. Even if I bring Maa or Maa-in-law, this won't help much because of reasons such as their age, the steps to the DDA third floor etc. There was in fact no support system I can rely being in Delhi.

2) I can't remain calm if there is pendency at office work. With the current stage of FutureSkills Prime and CSoD take-over, I foresee much engagement from my side. My health would have to take the burden.

3) I need to incur huge expenses on immediate basis if I decide to do the delivery in Delhi. Buying a car, appointing cook, connecting with a good private hospital with multiple tests, shifting (maybe) to a different society, buying new AC, paying for multiple air travels by various family members etc. I can avoid all of these if I simply shift my base. Hence, financially it makes much more sense to relocate.

4) Negative1: But working from Agia does not give me the confidence. I fear I will lose out. I keep telling Maa and Nina- my self confidence touched bottom in terms of office works whenever I am at Agia. I feel my career progression is halted. It might be psychological; staying in Agia and earning 3 Lakh salary per month is something unheard of. Maybe my inner self just can't accept that.

5) Negative2: People issues. Maa is not an easy person to handle. Bou too, but she is not in Agia and that's a relief. The overall Agian people - there is nothing much to learn and get inspired. But I am committed to change this attitude towards people. I will engage with positive people and find means to get inspired. Handling Maa will be my priority because she is my mother and I have responsibilities towards her.

6) Negative3: Household responsibilities. This is one item for which Delhi is the best. At Agia, no day will be passed without any household responsibilities. Now that third floor construction has started, there will be construction related responsibilities as well. Ailing and frustrated relatives, friends and neighbors- another big responsibility. 

7) Along with Nina's condition, the other factor that pushed me for relocation is my new endeavour of writing a memoir. I am 80% completed in the first section of the memoir. At different instances, I need input from Maa and other relatives. I believe this would be expedited. Also, I need to find a solution for typing the handwritten stuff my myself. In fact, I have made the shifting base is a target for me to deliver this item before Nina delivers Newton.

After convincing Nina and myself, the other obstacle remained - getting a buy-in from EdCast.

I was waiting for the CSoD HR policy to come out after the acquisition of EdCast. As expected (by me at least) CSoD announced a flexible working policy by which employees are allowed to work from anywhere they feel comfortable. The next challenge was to convince Mukesh since he already made me visit 3 times to Noida NASSCOM office for the increasing ask by Upmith/Pramod for an on-campus resource from EdCast side. I wrote to Vaishali (HR) first to get ger buy-in. Then in the most expected call with Mukesh on 2 June, I explained how I had been waiting to decide on a place to work since I joined EdCast. The lack of clarity for acquisition forced me to continue from Delhi, which is not my choice. Now that CSoD policy is out and I am entering 'father' stage, this is the right time to take the big decision. Mukesh could not say NO. Then I communicated the same in conversation with Atul. In the same evening, I wrote an email to HR keeping the relevant stakeholders in CC. My backup plan was to reach out to Nishchae and CSoD HR if this attempt would not have got materialized. Maybe, God was with me this time.

We celebrated the official approval by inviting Mamu, Rinku, CR and Lovely to Nina's birthday on 4 June and breaking the news, making a Instagram reel etc.

Reg notice to Dwarka house landlord, we were thinking of vacating by end of July as Maa (in law) was planning a trip to Delhi. However, NEZCC invited Nina for an interview of the documentation project she submitted at Dimpaur. This interview invite jeopardized our whole plan. Nina's ticket was booked for 17 June. Information to lanlord was given on the same day of official approval. To our surprise, she happily accepted. I took both the above events as positive signals of our relocation decision. 

Other decisions followed- should I keep some stuffs on rent basis at Delhi? Finally I made two lists- one for household items for sale, and other for shifting to Agia. I enjoyed the activities of listing down things for sale, attendingf arewell dinners, breaking the news to people etc. Finalizing a good mover and packer took time. Finally decided to get one with base location in Guwahati, finalized the deal at 17,000/- for door to door delivery and sent out all items on 15 June. 

Today I am writing this post sitting alone in the 'almost empty' house at Dwarka. Will you believe- one of the reasons for me going late ( upcoming train ticket on 26 June) is to write this particular blogpost. 

Bless me God ! I am at the cross road many crucial decisions and phases of human life. I don't want to make a mistake. Amen!