This time, its about yet another lady..Yeah, i know what you are wondering...All he has are ladies...But lemme ask you, what else must a guy have :)...Ok, jokes apart, this one is dedicated to one who has really shaped my career.

One and a half years back when my then manager left, Rachel came as replacement. I hated her from first day on. She was a stickler for time, she brought in a lot of processes (which translated into lots n lots of documents) and was also not the jovial kind. I came to the know the reason only a few days later; she had spent time with the Indian Army..Oophh..

One week later she called me.
"David said you wanted to leave the project ?"
"Ahh well yes, Its been a year since i've been with this project, and i think its time for me to learn something new"
"Does it have anything to do with David leaving and me coming in?" (I was taken aback by this question. Though that was the truth, I was surprised at how she guessed.)
"Of course not Rachel, that has nothing to do with my decision" (Be diplomatic)
"Ok...I have been observing all the team members for some time now, and you are one person I'd really like to have it in my team." (oh yeah, the usual manager jargon) She continued .."I agree its a big change, but good or bad only time can tell. Give me a chance to prove myself. If you are still dissatisfied 2-3 months down the lane, I'd release you. but promise me you'll stay until then"..
I thought, ohh what the heck, just two months...and my answer therefore was "Oh, sure Rachel, sounds fine to me.'

One and a half years after that meeting when one evening she convenes a meeting of the team and says "I am moving out of the team", you could hear a pin drop in the room. The silence was deafening. No one dared move or speak. The knowledge that Rachel would no longer be there was slowly sinking in.

I am gonna miss her terribly. She is the one person who always showed me positives and negatives...She is the one who showed me that there is no limit to what we can achieve if we believe in ourselves. She is the one who taught me what a good manager is. And she my dear friends is also the first manager to give me a "Star performer" appraisal.

The day when she announced her decision to leave the account, she cried. Innately, all of us did too. After the meeting, when we came back to our seats, all looking gloomy and sad, a long timer with the company said - "Ive never seen people sad over a manager leaving". I'd say that is true my dear friend, no one has touched us so.

This entry is a tribute to the person who made me realize who I am and what I can be....