Infosys - the grooming grounds!

Today, when i am writing this post, i have already divorced a dream-fairy which picked up my imagination(along with my resume) and gave me a near-perfect world of dreams( that came along with the appointment letter!). It simply seems like a dream that is over after 3 years, 7 months and 13 days. It was like an arranged marriage(?)...it was turning sour after those many years :). The dowry was huge when i got married to this cute looking coding-job, as i was sent on a honeymoon to Bangalore Campus (Huge number of buildings, food courts,etc). The early days were great as i made new friends from different places and speaking different languages. I still remember the days, when i used to sing ghazals of jagjit singh in the bus and later they would label me as 'jagjit singh' (poor jaggi :(). But as in all arranged marriages...sweet days were soon over and i was sent to Bhubaneswar(city of temples)...probably as a penance for ruining jaggi's name!

Life started again with memories of big building of Bangalore...being replaced by ancient temples of 'Lingaraja' and 'Jagannath-puri'. But, i guess the place gave me perfect entry into my utopian world - where there was arts, poetry, opportunities for social contribution and visiting challenged-children(deaf & dumb, orphans) along with coding and testing in the black mainframe world. And i was more than happy to grow and learn from all such non-technical acts - be it 'The Orators Club', 'Akanksha - social forum' and 'Horizon - The literary newsletter'..and two years went away! Though i don't want to put down the nitty-gritties of pathetic appraisals, bandings, the following cribs, bad bosses...etc....i guess those are part and parcel of each and every job. I also interviewed M.D. PAi (CFO, Infosys), Basab Pradhan(then Marketing, sales head - Infosys) and the feelings were special each time....i mean when you are shaking hands and having tea with people which are the poster boys of business dailies and magazines...its really special. I guess, hanumanji(monkey god) had something else on his mind as i got the visa for a long visit to our client in USA.

Phew! That was my reaction when i boarded the first international flight of my life(no..its not that i have never been to any foreign country..have been to Nepal..would have been to Pakistan as well but probably they(Paki officials) detested(at that time) my date of birth...it falls on 15th August!). I was sitting in a plane with 80% junta being white...i remembered Charlie Chaplin movies where he used o land in difficult situations in foreign land...well landed safely to the 'Melting Pot of World'...and soon 'Starbucks', 'Dunkin-donnuts'..became usual part of life. Have been to various places which i only earlier saw on silver screen. The times were also a bit difficult here as being at client site can be anything between bad to worse...in initial days. 'Beeper Support' is something which i will never forget from this 1.25 years stint...throughout my life. I mean its really pathetic to be on call and work through nights and days....continuously. I still remember that beeper was the culprit behind my frenzied receding hairline(probably my wife-2-be will condone it..if from the IT world). But, i guess, i learnt a lot about work-place and specially in software...be it politics, client relationships, etc which i guess will come handy through-out my life.

As, i wrote earlier, because of some unavoidable circumstances and inner-calling, had to fight to come back to the motherland....Hey this post is turning into a travelogue...missing the point...time to get back on track. After coming back, i worked as a module leader and really enjoyed the work as its more towards people management, resources-management, etc which i really would say love to do. All in all, it wouldn't be excessive to say that Infosys has really helped me a lot in transforming me into a person who is more of a professional rather than a plain rustic from a small city. I still remember on the last day so many people replied to my adieu mail(don't know if it is just a custom to reply)...but it really gives a unique feeling to know how many people still remember you may be for different reasons...be it your poems, sketches, ghazals, writings...or may be plain mediocrity ;)

Here ends my arranged marriage with Infosys....i will miss you, my darling :)

~Nits