It’s been a while since I have written on the blog. Many reasons for this — a messed up thumb, COVID, busy work, and most importantly— motivation. May was a low month mentally. There was just so much that was happening on the home front that there was really no time to decompress and write things down. I had another surgery on my thumb which pretty much put my thumb back to square one. The thing that really took up most of the mind space was what is known as the “three-year itch.” Apparently, people like to move from their jobs right around the time they complete three years at a firm. I only heard about this in January from one of my seniors at my company and soon enough I could see it emanating throughout the firm. And five months after I heard about it, suddenly I was feeling it too.

I love my job. There is nothing I would change about it. It is constantly different, building new ideas is always fun and the best part about it all is that you can literally see the business grow every day. Being in a senior position also allows me a deep insight into the functioning of the business which has always been an invigorating experience. That being said, I have now started to feel tired. I also complete five years of work experience in August. This means that now, all of a sudden, I could start looking out for what the industry has in store for me. The challenge is that I dive into work so passionately that I forget everything else, including the need for actually networking and learning to be selfish. Selfish in a good way. Selfish in the way that I benefit for my personal gain. So, June has brought upon a new chapter. I now am on the lookout for my selfish growth while still wholeheartedly working on the growth of the company that gave me so much.

Looking for a job after not doing so for the last three years is very daunting. My aim is to land something at a large firm. Not an agency, and not a startup. I need to go back to something that is big enough for me to actually exercise my abilities to shine. I am done being the biggest fish in the tiniest pond. It was great but now, for me to excel, I need to be a small fish that gets bigger with every new challenge. What that looks like is still unknown to me, but the hope is that the unknown will shed some light as I navigate my path. Worst-case scenario, I stay here for some more time (it only increases the number of years of experience I can write and hopefully reduces my chances of getting rejected automatically by the algorithms of most HR software).

The world of the unknown is funny. Unless you don’t try something, it always seems ominous. A gazpacho is similar. It’s a tomato soup that comes from Spain that is made to be uncooked and extremely cold. Now that sounds like an oxymoron but it really celebrates the natural flavours of the tomato. The Gazpacho celebrates the tomato for its raw flavour. Think of it as a classic “salaad” with a Sunday lunch. Its only focus is to ensure that you remember those hot summers where the only respite from spicy dal was a cool bite of lemon drenched slices of cucumber and tomato. It’s the same concept but it fills the stomach and leaves you still ready for whatever is next on the menu. I hope you try the recipe and as always, happy cooking!

Glimpses from the week

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper

1/2 red onion

3 cloves of garlic

1/4 of a cucumber, skin on

6 tomatoes

1 slice of brown bread

1 glass (250 ml) of water

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar or regular vinegar

Pinch of cumin

Pinch of salt

Pinch of tabasco

Handful ice cubes

Method

Roughly chop all veggies. Add all the ingredients into the blender, and blitz until it’s a lumpy but uniform liquid. Serve chilled!