I have taken long to write about my ‘sabbatical’ experience. I was unsure about sharing it with the wider world earlier but now I am ready. Let me begin. & I must caution – this three-part series contain my personal experiences & emotions.

Part 1 – The Background

Flashback to August 2016: I had moved to the VIL Delhi circle in a Learning & Talent Lead role. It was a step up from my existing role. I was getting to become a people manager too. I’d all the reasons to be excited.

But, within three months of starting this role, the entire VIL HR underwent restructuring in preparation of the I – V merger. I moved to a Rewards, Operations & Analytics (ROA) role, which was certainly a step down. I had to accept it as the alternative was redundancy.

Forward to December 2016: I started the ROA role & disliked it from Day 1. It was transactional. I felt like a customer care representative answering employees’ queries day in & day out. I felt like a data entry operator who had to clean up the employee data & provide to Corporate whenever they asked.

I’d no leeway to apply my brain. I was just supposed to execute whatever frameworks & policies were rolled out by Corporate. I dragged myself to work every day. I was burnt out in less than two months.

Forward to February 2017: I walked up to my boss & told him I was resigning. He just said OK. He did not even ask why because my frustration had become evident to everyone.

Initially, I looked for a job as soon as my notice period began. But the nature of my role was such that I’d no time to even look for jobs online. Plus, I didn’t want to jump into another job where I would become miserable again.

I discussed with N who was extremely supportive. He told me to ‘do what makes you happy’. I made up my mind then to take a year-long sabbatical to pursue my interest areas to read, travel & write. I also wanted to focus on my personal life – do up my house etc.

To be continued…