This part is really close to my heart, perhaps thats why it is so candid.
Blue Tag:
Change is inevitable, I don’t know who said that but for sure it was depicting in my life. My routine was settling, I used to get up at 7.15 for catching up my 7.55 bus to reach at 8.15. 15 minutes for breakfast with my gang [gang…we will come to that later]
4 training sessions, 2 coffee and 1 lunch break; one blue tag (My company ID tag) was bringing all this changes in my life. Tag of employee no 11***1, afterall I wasn’t just Abhijit anymore, now, I was a human resource for my company.
Life away from home was an experience on every single day, the first lesson I learned “There are no free lunches in this world”, not free but we had perhaps the cheapest house anyone could have imagined in Pune, but our house owner cleverly forgot to put * and skipped to mention the “Conditions Apply”.
“Aasa kay? asel thoda panyacha problem” he shamelessly replied when we complained about our NO WATER situation from last couple of days. “Motor bighadali asnar khalun aana ki pani” he has got answer for everything, suggesting us to bring water from ground floor water tank, we were on 4th floor and there was no lift. 30 more minutes were added in my daily schedule just to bring 2 buckets of water from ground floor.
It was mid monsoon and Pune is the place to be in this season, lush green lawns, stylish brown colored towers, cafeteria full of vibrant engineers, in the evening bit of drizzles were making PDC even more likable, I must mention about all the beautiful Wipro BPO girls who were adding special colors to its rainbow. I was having a blast with best of the people around.
Staying late for extra study, chomping chicken samosa and veggie puff at tuck shop, chatting with training mates while enjoying chaat at cafeteria. It was amazing to see 75 dazzling minds with all the dreams in their eyes trying hard to make their first professional step really impressive.
Mumbai to Pune:
Pune to Mumbai by train: Rs. 54
Pune to Mumbai by Non A\C bus: Rs: 90
Pune to Mumbai by Private Volvo: Rs. 160
Pune to Mumbai by Govt. Volvo: Rs. 240
I can still recall this fare table. 40 days,6 weekends and 6 trips to back home Mumbai. Pune’s Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park is located at Mumbai-Pune highway. The two and half hour journey is full of scenic places such as Lonawala and Khandala, in Volvo its been even better with movies. Waiting for bus at Wakad junction, occasionally asking for lift (though I never got any), bargaining with bus conductor for cutting down the bus fare and munching double roti at Expressway food court. I was doing everything that every software professional from Pune does. After all, now, I was one of them.
Pune Gang: Ekade Tikade
Shabnam mausi, Salma pe dil aa gaya, Patal Bhairavi all these movies, actresses named Sheeba, Kahekasha and heroes like Ravi Behl and Ronit Roy entered in my life with game named BOLLYWOOD. It was the first thing I learned in PDC. A film based game taught by my gang in Pune, which I learned and then conquered in no time. I discovered a bunch of great people as my Pune group, we were popularly (??) known as “Ekade Tikade” (Here n’ There). A cluster of 5 beautiful girls with all the brain in the world and two of us, me and Nil. PDC introduced me many fascinating characters. Nil, an avid civil engineer, seasoned flirt, my first buddy and partner in crime. “Looks can be deceiving” and he proves it to the core, spent half of his training period staring at monitor screen and rest at girls, Ankita, a 24 hour query shooter and still if you got any doubt, well she is first person you would like to be with, my questions about EXCEPTION HANDLING, she handled exceptionally well, Madhavi, a fine artiste; what with her great artistic skills on MS Paint and equally good in applying company resources to chat with her boyfriend, A blissful English poet Opoorva who can stump you on any given day with her mono line replies , Tamed and tiny Pranjali with loads of brain and patience to abide my silly doubts, Totally outspoken and compulsive Harry Potter fan Sharmila, sharing many of my areas of interests, Amit(chacha) and his mobile Phone both were totally dedicated to his girlfriend, Tushar, Jonny, Vinay and Mukul my co-traveler in company bus. Surprisingly, but I started enjoying my training days with all those heated discussions during lunch time, birthday bashes in Cafeteria, Ethnic day celebration at Deewali, playing dumb charades and Antakshari in company bus while en route’ back home.
Our Platinum was haunted with such and many other interesting groups. From the soundless 3 Deviyan to vociferous BWB, from recursive laughter of Monal to husky voiced Ashlesha’s “Mala mumbaila jaychey!!” we had it all. All of us were slogging for one thing. The climax was getting closer and now there was only one aim, Assessment Test.
Assessment: Ultimate nightmare
Any KT in 4 years of engineering? “No”………Good
Overall engineering grade? ” 1st class”………better
“In fact last year Distinction” ………..Oh Great, but all this is not enough to crack Wipro training assessment in first go!
There are times in your life when you can’t figure out what is going wrong and in my case I was totally screwed. I completed my lessons in time, done with the hands on sessions and was able to understand mini project [honestly that was crap] but still
Have I totally lost it? Yes, it was my company assessment test and I was screwing it Bigtime.
15th November 2005
Time: 11.00 p.m.
10 hours away from my last encounter, this is it. Do or Bye. Bye bye to Wipro, perhaps they will kick me out, before starting my first project.
No No No Way!!!! Me, Vijaykumar and Amit were dead silent in that 8/8 study room, Vijaykumar was topper of his class and at this point equally bewildered. This was first time I was studying 5 hours in stretch. I decided to spend some more time in studying and skipping my snooze tonight. But Amit insisted to drop by at his hostel and having 2-3 hours nap. We agreed.
16th November “D” day
Time 9 a.m.
I was thinking so much, I was reading so much. C++, PERL, TCL, TK all these things will decide my career now.
I hit the “Start Test” button. It was more or less the same questions I answered in my previous test, I knew the answers, I checked the answers and submitted the answer.
And I clicked………………………….. “Finish Test”
Coming up ahead:
Journey so faar
Journey ahead
Friday, 21 September 2007
Monday, 17 September 2007
Cut Copy and Paste
“You never care for the things that comes to you so easily”
Is that true? 1st July 2004, I got placed in one of the largest IT firm in India. The aptitude test was piece of cake and the interviews were cake walk, quite easy rather unbelievable that I was employed before even starting my last year of engineering.
Jay Ho Campus recruitment! Jay Ho SPCE (My College)! Jay Ho Mumbai University!
It was so easy and I so was happy, what followed after that was not exactly comes into a category of happy or easy. It says that we s\w professionals use Copy, Cut , Paste operations very often. I learned that even before joining the office, when I was Cltr X-ed(cut) from my home town and Ctrl V-ed (pasted) on various locations. My first attempt to write a blog, just to speak out the places I happened to visit on my professional journey.
Attention:
All the characters in this blogs are real. Any resemblance between you and the character is not coincidental. I may have met you sometime and I generally don’t forget that person. My 24 months journey started from Pune, then to Hyderabad and all the way to Seattle In this ride I met so many people some made their appearance here and some are still in my heart. We will start with Pune first
Day: 8th August 2005
Location: Mumbai Amit’s (My schoolmate) house
Aseem [My collegemate and Pune roommate] and I decided to meet at Dadar station at 5.30 a.m. to catch Pragati Express for Pune. Surprisingly train arrived at time and not very surprisingly Aseem didn’t turn up in time. It was awful watching your train passing in front of you. Then I called Aseem, guess what? That was wake up call for him. He arrived at 7.15 a.m. at Dadar station. Soon we caught Neeta Volvo, quite comfortable and 4 times more expensive than the railway fare. The only advantage they show movies in Volvo and movie was “Mumbai Express”, my Mumbai , Aamchi Mumbai….there are thousands and thousands of people coming to this city daily, to make their dreams come true, and here I am, one, born and brought up in Mumbai is going away from it. What’s wrong with my qualification? my profession that wont allow me to stay in my city, with my folks? Why there isn’t a single IT campus in the economic capital of this country? My thinking express started but soon got derailed because of Aseem’s snoring. He is from Srinagar, from there he came to Jammu then to Mumbai and now in Pune. May be I was overreacting; this change may not be that bad. Anyhow Pune is just 150 KMs away from Mumbai and with the express way like this I can cut that distance within 3 hrs. Let’s give a try, after all there isn’t anything else I can do now. So Pune here I come.
Pankaj from Bihar, Aseem from Jammu, Samsher from Kerala and Me Maharashtrian. My Pune apartment was the perfect example of national integration. All three of my roommates joined Cognizant just a week before me, professionally they were senior to me and quite enjoying there time at workplace.
Day: 23sept 2005
“80 Rupaye lagtil “ I was supposed to report at 8.30 and here is stubborn puneri rickshaw driver asking for 80 bucks. I have been warned by my experienced roommate that I shouldn’t offer more than 35. But that fellow was as firm as a wall, finally agreed for Rs.75 [that’s the best I could manage]. So finally I entered into Wipro arena at 8.20 am. Registered my name at entrance and got the EMPLOYEE pass.
After all the slog of 22 years, all the torture and the agony called engineering finally reached to the stage where I can be called as an employee. Working for the richest Indian’s organisation and probably the third largest IT firm in India, I was one amongst the 40000 employees of Wipro Technologies.
Is that true? 1st July 2004, I got placed in one of the largest IT firm in India. The aptitude test was piece of cake and the interviews were cake walk, quite easy rather unbelievable that I was employed before even starting my last year of engineering.
Jay Ho Campus recruitment! Jay Ho SPCE (My College)! Jay Ho Mumbai University!
It was so easy and I so was happy, what followed after that was not exactly comes into a category of happy or easy. It says that we s\w professionals use Copy, Cut , Paste operations very often. I learned that even before joining the office, when I was Cltr X-ed(cut) from my home town and Ctrl V-ed (pasted) on various locations. My first attempt to write a blog, just to speak out the places I happened to visit on my professional journey.
Attention:
All the characters in this blogs are real. Any resemblance between you and the character is not coincidental. I may have met you sometime and I generally don’t forget that person. My 24 months journey started from Pune, then to Hyderabad and all the way to Seattle In this ride I met so many people some made their appearance here and some are still in my heart. We will start with Pune first
Day: 8th August 2005
Location: Mumbai Amit’s (My schoolmate) house
And the journey begins…..
Some mails can change your life. Wipro campus manager dropped a mail in my inbox stating that my training will be in Pune for 40 days and then will get posted to Hyderabad.
Hyderabad???? I literally screamed. What’s wrong? What is there in Hyderabad apart from two Mirzas [Sania and Diya] .Why they want me to work there and that too after completing my training in Pune?
“No way!!!!” I reacted rather overreacted when I read that mail. Amit bursts into laughter imagining me in lungi and gobbling Biryani. [That was our first impression about Hyderabad]. Soon I cracked the news at home. Aai Baba reacted exactly the way I thought of. Aai came up with her takiya kalam “whatever happens, happens for the good”. but i was in no mood to accept this Geeta Saar. Baba was quite cool, he asked me “Is there is any way to get your posting in Pune?” I assured them: “I will certainly try”…. I had 40 days in my hand. That was ample time to make some jugaad. I mailed, I phoned even approached personally alas no luck. I have to go to Pune and then to Hyderabad.
Some mails can change your life. Wipro campus manager dropped a mail in my inbox stating that my training will be in Pune for 40 days and then will get posted to Hyderabad.
Hyderabad???? I literally screamed. What’s wrong? What is there in Hyderabad apart from two Mirzas [Sania and Diya] .Why they want me to work there and that too after completing my training in Pune?
“No way!!!!” I reacted rather overreacted when I read that mail. Amit bursts into laughter imagining me in lungi and gobbling Biryani. [That was our first impression about Hyderabad]. Soon I cracked the news at home. Aai Baba reacted exactly the way I thought of. Aai came up with her takiya kalam “whatever happens, happens for the good”. but i was in no mood to accept this Geeta Saar. Baba was quite cool, he asked me “Is there is any way to get your posting in Pune?” I assured them: “I will certainly try”…. I had 40 days in my hand. That was ample time to make some jugaad. I mailed, I phoned even approached personally alas no luck. I have to go to Pune and then to Hyderabad.
Day: 20th Sept 2005
Location; Dadar Station
Time : 5.30 a.m.
Aseem [My collegemate and Pune roommate] and I decided to meet at Dadar station at 5.30 a.m. to catch Pragati Express for Pune. Surprisingly train arrived at time and not very surprisingly Aseem didn’t turn up in time. It was awful watching your train passing in front of you. Then I called Aseem, guess what? That was wake up call for him. He arrived at 7.15 a.m. at Dadar station. Soon we caught Neeta Volvo, quite comfortable and 4 times more expensive than the railway fare. The only advantage they show movies in Volvo and movie was “Mumbai Express”, my Mumbai , Aamchi Mumbai….there are thousands and thousands of people coming to this city daily, to make their dreams come true, and here I am, one, born and brought up in Mumbai is going away from it. What’s wrong with my qualification? my profession that wont allow me to stay in my city, with my folks? Why there isn’t a single IT campus in the economic capital of this country? My thinking express started but soon got derailed because of Aseem’s snoring. He is from Srinagar, from there he came to Jammu then to Mumbai and now in Pune. May be I was overreacting; this change may not be that bad. Anyhow Pune is just 150 KMs away from Mumbai and with the express way like this I can cut that distance within 3 hrs. Let’s give a try, after all there isn’t anything else I can do now. So Pune here I come.
Pankaj from Bihar, Aseem from Jammu, Samsher from Kerala and Me Maharashtrian. My Pune apartment was the perfect example of national integration. All three of my roommates joined Cognizant just a week before me, professionally they were senior to me and quite enjoying there time at workplace.
Day: 23sept 2005
Location: Kaspate Vasti (Pune)
Time 8.00 a.m.
“80 Rupaye lagtil “ I was supposed to report at 8.30 and here is stubborn puneri rickshaw driver asking for 80 bucks. I have been warned by my experienced roommate that I shouldn’t offer more than 35. But that fellow was as firm as a wall, finally agreed for Rs.75 [that’s the best I could manage]. So finally I entered into Wipro arena at 8.20 am. Registered my name at entrance and got the EMPLOYEE pass.
After all the slog of 22 years, all the torture and the agony called engineering finally reached to the stage where I can be called as an employee. Working for the richest Indian’s organisation and probably the third largest IT firm in India, I was one amongst the 40000 employees of Wipro Technologies.
Wipro Technologies Pune Development Centre… 40 days 40 nights and Nightmare
3 towers, one administration block, 1 cafeteria, Tennis & basketball court that was all about Wipro PDC (Pune development centre) but quite trendy campus compared with neighboring Infosys and Cognizant. Just like any other IT firm’s training program, Wipro started with soft skill training called IMPACT. A bunch of 75 engineers picked up from all over India have been introduced to Platinum training space. Ice breaking sessions, role plays, and small presentations all have been taken to make us comfortable and conducive to the professional environment.
Day: 29September 2005
3 towers, one administration block, 1 cafeteria, Tennis & basketball court that was all about Wipro PDC (Pune development centre) but quite trendy campus compared with neighboring Infosys and Cognizant. Just like any other IT firm’s training program, Wipro started with soft skill training called IMPACT. A bunch of 75 engineers picked up from all over India have been introduced to Platinum training space. Ice breaking sessions, role plays, and small presentations all have been taken to make us comfortable and conducive to the professional environment.
Day: 29September 2005
Location: PDC
Some days are special in your life, no matter where you are. 3rd day of my professional life was perhaps the most pleasantly surprising. My training instructor came that day with a vanilla cake. And yes that was for me, while introducing myself I mentioned about my birth date. She remembered that. My new colleagues were wishing me. It says in professional life there are only colleagues and rivals but no friends. Is that true?
In the evening I took my new roommates to Ice cream parlor. We gulped an entire family pack in less than 10 min. My place in Kaspate vasti was rocking, it was quite near to the campus, really cheap and had terrace with a water tank on that. I and Pankaj spent hours there talking, discussing or just sitting quietly. On my birthday night I was there …alone, thinking, life is changing, it’s moving, hope for betterment, I may not be with my people on this birthday, but even these people could be mine, could be……
And they cracked the news: We are Testers
U know, there are two types of people in the software world? One Developers and others called testers. I didn’t know this till the moment our training coordinator cracked the news in Platinum. our batch were put into testing domain and all the janta from IT and CS backgrounds were very apprehensive about that. They thought they have been betrayed. But I was more worried about the another news, to cope up with training deadlines they cut down our Saturday offs. That really hurt me. It was a masterstroke and all the anger burst on our training coordinator but he proved his metal, “All the strategic decisions are taking place at Bangalore” he has the stereotype answer for our every question. Bangalore people were in no mood to stretch our weekends. Anyhow the training sessions were as boring as I thought of. With the topics like C, C++, JAVA, PERL we cants expect anything else. For a mechanical engineer like me it was totally different field and I have already started feeling the heat. That’s it. So now, here I am at unwanted location with totally inferior profile and without any Saturday off. Not the way I wanted ”Jane kya hoga, Rama re?
In the evening I took my new roommates to Ice cream parlor. We gulped an entire family pack in less than 10 min. My place in Kaspate vasti was rocking, it was quite near to the campus, really cheap and had terrace with a water tank on that. I and Pankaj spent hours there talking, discussing or just sitting quietly. On my birthday night I was there …alone, thinking, life is changing, it’s moving, hope for betterment, I may not be with my people on this birthday, but even these people could be mine, could be……
And they cracked the news: We are Testers
U know, there are two types of people in the software world? One Developers and others called testers. I didn’t know this till the moment our training coordinator cracked the news in Platinum. our batch were put into testing domain and all the janta from IT and CS backgrounds were very apprehensive about that. They thought they have been betrayed. But I was more worried about the another news, to cope up with training deadlines they cut down our Saturday offs. That really hurt me. It was a masterstroke and all the anger burst on our training coordinator but he proved his metal, “All the strategic decisions are taking place at Bangalore” he has the stereotype answer for our every question. Bangalore people were in no mood to stretch our weekends. Anyhow the training sessions were as boring as I thought of. With the topics like C, C++, JAVA, PERL we cants expect anything else. For a mechanical engineer like me it was totally different field and I have already started feeling the heat. That’s it. So now, here I am at unwanted location with totally inferior profile and without any Saturday off. Not the way I wanted ”Jane kya hoga, Rama re?
Coming up ahead:
Pune Group: Ekade Tikade in short beauties with the beast
Assessment: Ultimate nightmare
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