Dec 11, 2025

The first letter that I typed today- after exactly 6 months of being underground, was met with hostility. The letter appeared in Arabic script. After fiddling around with several buttons, I see I have now managed to bring back the alphabet. But it is difficult, nevertheless, to start writing. I was chugging along, not that smoothly, when we last connected. But in early June- I think it was a Monday- on the fourth of June to be exact, I was called in to the standing CEO's office. He had the blinds in his office pulled in so no one could see what was going on inside. Whence I entered, I noticed our man from HR seated next to the CEO- a sight that immediately told me what this was going to be about. Funnily, I had to do something like this to a colleague with an HR manager seated next to me- this was way back in 2003 I think- in Fort Wayne. The lady I had to let go was in her late forties, very pleasant to work with, however she had to go because of cost cutting. It was really awkward for me as I had no intention of letting her go. But it was a strange environment at work- we had this Plant Manager who came in and was on a mission to clean house. Anyone who did not meet his fancy, just based on some casual conversation, was an easy target. Somehow, on that occasion, I managed to impress him somehow- he really liked me. It was just as well as I had just gotten married all of 6 months prior to this period. I had hauled my new wife all the way from Kolkata to Fort Wayne- it would be quite sad if I lost my income and had to leave the US and head back home. I only had authorisation to work for my company. This time, in the present, I had no such luck. My boss was sacked and now I was being made redundant along with handful of other executives. I had not felt anything like this before- and although I had planned in my mind for this to happen, somewhere deep inside I didnt think it would happen to me. It was a bias that was formed from the fact that I had never lost my job before. I did not really struggle to find a job, it may not have been the best job, but always had been a decent one. And once I had the job, I had tended to keep it. Until now. They go on ad nauseum about how a redundancy is no reflection on your performance, but if you have half a brain, you do work out quickly that if they really wanted you to stay, they'd find a way. They, or rather Charles, did not want me to stay. Here is a chap I completely misread- his duplicitousness , on reflection, had been nothing short of legendary. I always had a good relationship with him, and I somehow thought he liked and respected me. But in his head, he only wanted control. He kept all the people that he could control and fired the rest. The interesting point is that he must have thought that he could not control me. That is a relief, of sorts.

I came to Ducab prioritising the family over money or anything else. I was done living away from them. But it has only been a little over 2 years- so it was not to be. But now I am in a bit of a spot as I cannot go back to my previous employer who is also cutting people. Had I remained with my previous employer, I might still have found myself without a job just like today. But in that case, I would have had a very handsome payout- and would not need to work for a long time. So one could say, I missed out. One could now say in hindsight I should not have left my previous employer- it had been a decision made in caprice. I regret it- but there is no point in this regret ofcourse. I am generally a guy that follows signals and paths rather uncondiotionally- and so I did when I made my decision. Some time you get it right, some times you dont. There was considerable rage and damage to ego, but all of that is well behind me and I now look at this as a signal for yet another transition that the universe is coaxing me to make. In fact, it has now forced my had as fas I can see. For the last six months, I have applied to some jobs- not many. But have gotten hardly a response let alone an interview. Also during this time, I have frenetically worked out some of my investmetns such that I am able to dig in for a longish haul before I get desperate to have to generate income again. This, at the end, is the consolation of my predicament today rather than in 1997. It required some quick turnaround on my singapore property which I had to let following the premature exit of my current tenant. That took a really long time to close- and the August-September-October months were cause of real consternation for me as a result of this. I visited Singapore in October- almost in desperation and to tell my agent to lower the asking rent even more, which I did.  Upon my return, there were a number of offers made but mostly they were pulling back at the last minute for one reason or another.  Normally, I would have been disappointed but now it was a matter of survival given my current predicament. I was having a real experience of having to fight hard to put food on the table, so to speak. When you have a salaried job for so long, you never develop the muscles required to sweat towards the next penny you bring. To some extent, I experienced exactly that. And I am happy to report that by the end of October, I was able to find a new tenant- at a decent rental price as well. That was one very serious box ticked.