README: Palaq 101

Hii hi! I'm Palaq, nice to meet ya 🤝

This is an intro to all things…well, me. My friend Sid made his version public a few days ago, and that inspired me to write my own.

Consider this to be your official Palaq guide: at work and outside of it.

😋 Getting up, close and personal

🌊 I'm from Thane: the city of lakes and vada pavs. Often termed 'not Mumbai', this city has seen me grow from a somewhat shy, supremely conscious teenager to a confident, sure of herself adult.

💻 I currently live in Bangalore. I moved here in January '23 for work and so far, I'm loving it! Except for the days I don't get autos/cabs for 30 minutes straight. It does help that half my social circle from home is here now.

🥦 I'm a pseudo vegetarian. I eat mostly vegetarian food, except for boneless chicken in starters. Like I said, pseudo.

🐕 I love love love dogs. Fun fact: I was extremely scared of them for the first 12 years of my existence, and only grew to love them when a friend fostered one.

🧠 I work in Marketing (Social Media & Brand), but hold a degree in Psychology. The two are related, sure, but I started my career in Writing. Yup, it's been some journey.

🧑‍🍳 I find peace in cooking, but I often cook the same things over and over again. Probably because I find comfort in the process of things I know well.

🏎 Oh, I'm an obsessed Formula 1 fan. My love for F1 and Daniel Ricciardo knows no bounds; and I will talk your ear off about both.

🎶 Music is my escape. Airpods in, thoughts out.

👊 I complete one year of therapy very soon. It's been a hell of journey to get to Palaq 7.0 (the version that's writing this), and I can't wait for what's next.

🤩 I LOVE emojis. Can't you tell? In fact, I'm the CEO at Headout.

💪 The workin' life

🤝 I've grown to LOVE working from office. While it's my first time working from one, I can understand what the hype is about. There's always room to pick up newer skills, observe what's happening and contribute where you feel is necessary.

😂 I'm slightly obsessed with Slack, and everybody at work will agree.

🥳 I love all things people, especially culture. It's not my mandate, but anything and everything I can do to help Headout remain the best workplace, I will.

🚀 I've taken up a new challenge to scale Headout's social media. It's not been the smoothest journey (or a journey at all yet), but I'm excited to see how it plays out this year. 'Tis the year of big bets!

🗓 I'm not the biggest fan of meetings/calls. If we can do something async, let's do it.

✍️ I LOVE taking notes about anything and everything. You'll always see me walking around with my diary and pen. Or typing away on Notion.

🙈 I can spend a fair amount of time procrastinating. But once I do get to working, it's impossible to get me out of it.

🚴‍♀️ I've recently made it to the world of managing, and phew! It's hard, but I'm trying to do my best.

🥰 I'm incredibly grateful to be working at a place where there's something new to do and learn every single day. There's a new challenge? Sign me up right away!

💜 Core values that I admire

Disclaimer: It takes a LOT to make me dislike someone, but very little to make me like 'em. Here's what the little comprises:

🌱 You're confident. Because I wasn't the most confident kid on the block growing up, anyone and everyone who's sure of themselves (come what may).

☀️ You're honest. Having been a people-pleaser for the most part, if you can tell me things straight up, nothing quite like it.

🧍‍♀️ You can spend time with yourself. If you're someone who can spend hours on end with yourself — doing nothing and everything under the sun.

👏 You're appreciative. Someone you know did something REALLY well/knocked it out of the park? You won't shy away from encouraging them with a compliment or two.

🦻 You're perceptive. You don't always need verbal messages from people to understand how they're feeling. Sometimes, a non-verbal cue or two is enough.

🧚‍♀️ You know how to value. People, time, energy, the time & energy people invest in you — you value it all and then some more.

😆 Humour. You love laughing and know how to make people laugh.

This list is ever-evolving, and has a lot more to it. But for today, this much is enough. :P

💅 What I'm excited for in 2023

🤓 Work. We've got some exciting projects lined up this quarter and next, and I can't wait to bring them to life.

😵‍💫 Upskilling. Always a good time to learn more and do better things, and there's no better time than the present. Cliché, I know.

🐬 Exploring. I've taken one trip this year, and explored different parts of Goa. Maybe I'll explore Bangalore next.

🌷 Evolving. As human beings, we're constantly evolving — but there's nothing better than evolving and doing better in every aspect: personal, professional, emotional and social. (If you have any feedback for how I can do better, please feel free to reach out to me on Slack, Twitter or Instagram. Any and all comments are appreciated.)

💫 Adding value. Nothing we do has any meaning if it doesn't add value; to your life or someone else's. This year's for enhancing the lives of people I surround myself with.

✍️ Writing more. I promise to write more this year. Not just for work, but for me as well.

And, that's that for now!

Until next time,

P.