I hate March. I prayed, year after year, the impossible! To get rid of March.
Can we have a calendar without March next year? But it cannot happen. The international community continued to be faithful to Julian and Gregorian. I heard that many hotels do not have a room with number 13. Even many airlines do not have seats with number 13. Why not then have calendars without March?
I hate March not because it brings bad omen. I hate it because it gives me miseries and pains, unlike the other eleven months.
I hate March because it is a month full of targets. I wake up each day of March with a lot of unpleasantness. Why all deadlines are fixed for March? Which deadline I need to meet that day? How unpleasant for me to make others unhappy in my pursuit for hitting the targets? Then who is happy in this game? Even the target setters have their own targets to achieve. What is the ultimate result? Smiles or tears?
I hate March because it is a month of pay-offs. How much ever I try to clear my dues during the other months, still my table gets piled up with demands. March is really a taxing month. I need to pay my vehicle tax, property tax, income tax self assessment dues, profession tax and many such taxes. I need to pay my vehicle Insurance premium, life insurance premium and medical insurance premium. The March heat triggers electricity meters to supersonic pace.
I hate March, because of examinations. It is testing time for kids of all age groups. One would get confused seeing the syllabus of these kids. One would seriously think. Why the hell are these topics part of their curriculum?. What did we gain by studying this stuff in our school days? What did we lose by not studying some of this stuff in our school days? The March-suffering is not limited to the examinations of one’s owns kids, but of many others! Because there will be a spate of leave applications from your subordinates who are also worried parents. Files will stay motionless in many desks
I hate March because it is the time to queue up before the schools. It is also a time for admissions and long waits outside the rooms of the Principals. (See my article ‘The ordeal called school admissions’)
I hate March because of the continuous receipt of marketing calls by many executives. I feel really sad after giving an impolite response to those nice youngsters who call at odd hours due to the pressure for targets!
I hate March because my banker gives me a call in March to say that I am no longer a priority customer. He says I failed to maintain a ‘privileged minimum balance’
I hate March because I am forced to plan the summer vacation. It is always very difficult to arrive at a consensus! And where is the time to think! By the time we decide, tickets are all over!!
I hate March from my school days! It was in March that our dear creator took away my dad from me! And that was Good Friday Eve.
March thus reminds me of Crucifixion. But I wait optimistically with the hope of resurrection in April!
(Read comments of readers below)
Read also my subsequent views about March.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTill next March be happy that this March is past. For next March, learn some marching so that you can march through March with courage. I wonder now, if the origin of the word march is this villian March???
ReplyDeleteBut I also believe that pressure of March is necessary to bring forth the blooms of April. I love April. It's just a pure miracle. God knows from where all things come to life!!! Sindhu
It is also the month when maximum cricket matches take place!
ReplyDeleteComment received by mail from Pushpa Thottan
ReplyDeleteHa, ha.
You could try the opposite emotion to experience a change in outlook.
March is when the plant and animal kingdoms begin to renew themselves.
Open your eyes to see the wonders of God, even with all your deadlines and targets.
The glorious new buds, the two-toned greens, the frisky squirrels, the chirpy sparrows, the beautiful parrots, the ever-bathing mynas, the bulbuls,the friendly pigeons...
Can't you see the joy of living which they embody and share with all who nottice them?
Ooooh. how wonderful is March, for it renew my spirits, deadened by winter blues, which culminates in the Resurrection, when I become wholly new in body, in mind, in spirit.
Pushpa Thottan
Comment received from Anil via e-mail
ReplyDeleteYes, March is also an accountant's nightmare. Closing the F.Y accounts, planning taxable income, expect an uninforomed auditor's visit, prepare for board meetings, work out bonuses payable etc. etc, etc. In fact with so many things to do in March, we better start liking it (do we have a choice??!!!)
Regards,
Anil Kulkarni
Comment from Prof Shyamal Roy via e-mail
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading the blogs. One on "what I should eat" was closer to heart. Keep blogging. You write very well.
Best.
Prof Shyamal Roy (IIM)
Comment from Mini via e-mail
ReplyDeleteHi Sibichen
Great article. I was bit emotional and tearful when I read the last but one para.
Mini Jose
Comment from V L Joseph (by email)
ReplyDeleteMarch starts with an inspiration to move forward..go ahead....MARCH FORTH....
March is also a symbol of liberation of Women .. International Year of Women.
I enjoyed summer holidays because of March...experiencing relaxation after hectic schedule....
The efforts in March gives me much pleasure and relaxation in April ...
March reminds us to keep our goals in life...
March reminds me tof setting goals in my work. It helps me to assess my strengths and capacity to manage multitasks.
By making all the payments and dues March helps me relax for the rest 11 months. Pain in March helps children to go to the next level in the school..a sense of achievement.....
Regards,
Jose
Thankyou Sajjive for sending that wonderful cartoon for this article! I have uploaded!
ReplyDeleteNice one and interesting Sibi. Loved the way you mixed humor with the reality. In fact, we all hate March for reasons so obvious:)
ReplyDeleteJust like that
http://animeshkmishra.blogspot.com/
Comment via FACEBOOK
ReplyDeleteSibi,
There is no month more beautiful than March
-winter fading into spring and renewal all around
-tall trees covered in tender green shoots
- new admissions
-new beginnings
-its all a question of the lens u view life with.
Thanks for the above comment from Punam Sidhu. I will definitely look at MARCH with a 'new lens'!
ReplyDeleteNice article .. reasonable reasons...so MARCH AHEAD with all your friends & loved ones..........
ReplyDelete(Comment sent by Ammu Sony)
Sibi,
ReplyDeletevery interesting blog indeed. I wonder how you find time to do so many things simultaneously!! The write up on the confusion about food was hilarious and very perspicacious.
Keep up with this blog! My very best wishes,
Ronmoy
Good write-up. March is spring and new year for some.
ReplyDeleteSuch an entertaining post :) I hate March too :) In fact i hate Jan, Feb, March, April, May and July... (too many months to hate!)
ReplyDeleteJan - We need to run around for investment proof submission
Feb - Medical bills submission
March - same as above :)
April, May - Indian Summer :(
July - too many bdays hence lot of expenditure and IT returns filing.
Hi Sibi! I understand your dislike of March, but for me it means so much here in Michigan, (USA). It often is the first time we see a full blue sky that is a hint of spring yet yet to come.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by my site and commenting. For whatever reason Blogger has not let me put your comment on my site, "Writing and Beyond," I thank you for your encouraging thoughts.
:) :) is it not true for every month.. we have something or the other each month... and personally I love March.. its my birthday :) :) and yes thank you for visiting my blog and following me.. it means a lot from a writer like you ..thanks..
ReplyDeleteSunita.
Another March now. Thanks for all comments. Here is one mail from a friend on the subject. Very inspirational!
ReplyDelete"Friend,
Another March is at your door and before you hate March another time, I want to write this.
From what I remember of your last year's blog I think whatever you do in March doesn't create a good impression about March.
It must be very personal and I respect your feelings about March. (But Friend, never say that you hate something or somebody. You can’t hate!
I just want to remind you one thing. One has to die, to resurrect. Without a killing dry March, there is no blooming Resurrection in April. March is the best preparation for Easter and without a March, April is never so meaningful.
It is amazing to see how good a father you are, without really knowing a father's role in your life. What I feel is, you became the Father Figure who you lost early in your life. Ultimately it is not the presence of a parent in your life , but the love that you have and connects you to him/her which makes the difference.
Recently I read the interview with Oprah Winfrey, where she spoke about her father.
"But the truth is this; somewhere inside myself, my grandmother had raised me to be religious and going to church. And I had developed a personal relationship with God. And my personal relationship with that which is greater than myself, is the fundamental reason why I was able to hold on, because I could believe that there was a life bigger than my front yard. I could believe that there was something greater than what my grandmother saw for me. I actually did believe, the Bible says that we are God's children, and I would go to sermons and hear the minister preach that "You are God's child". So I thought that he was my daddy, because I didn't have a daddy, so I thought that, "Oh! God is my daddy" So, growing up believing that God is my father, and through God I can do all things, that is the fundamental reason why I think that, in the midst of everything that I was told to believe about myself."
"you can open a door for somebody, or you can use your kindness and your grace in a way so that the energy of yourself moves out into the world, in a way that when that comes back to you, it gives to you. That is the reason why I am so enriched and am so blessed. Because, every day for 25 years I spoke to millions of people around the world. And I spoke, I would get on the elevator, go downstairs in silence, every single day before every show, either have a short little prayer or just silence, with the intention that every single show would land in the heart and mind of whoever was watching, in such a way that they would feel that light, whatever it was that I was trying to do. That is how I live. I live with; just before coming on here today, I am not just speaking for myself, but I want the energy of God, the space of God.
My favourite quote is "In God I live and move and have my being"
Friend, it is not in having, it is in loving that we connect. And in that way, I am sure that you have done it so well and you as a father stands a proof for that.
God always compensates in a Much Better Way and His choices are always the Best.
Your smile is your weapon. Dash if you can or if there are walls that are hard to cross, cut through. The power of Love and Smile will make a way in any situation. I hope to hear at the end of March that you did a thousand things more than usual, but with a million times more energy than usual. I like to see my Friend as a cheerful winner always. God bless you in March and may He supply all your needs, as you ask Him."