Blog no.4 and I am still writting (and can't believe that you are still reading it) it's been 60 days journey. All started when I got an email about my training and posting location. After an eventful training period in Pune, I finally reached to my posting location Hyderabad...Aur ab aage
Date: 21st Nov 2007
Time: 6.30 A.M.
Me: “विप्रो माधापुर चालोगे?” Actually, I wanted to ask him "मुम्बई चलोगे? " (not that he would have said "Yes") but I badly wanted to go back to Mumbai.
Autowala: “हा, चलो!”
Me: “कितना लोगे?” (This was Pune effect; in Mumbai you cant dare to ask this question to autowalas)
Autowala: ” मीटर पे जितना होगा उतना, और उसके उपर 10 दे देना” (This was New!)
Me: “उपर 10 क्यूं?” (Obviously, I was still on stipend)
Autowala: “अभी अभी आए हो ना हैदराबाद, हलू हलू पता चलेगा” (Wicked!)
What a start! I dumped my 2 bags at the back and sat just at the centre of auto. I was literally shivering with cold; my auto was racing through empty roads of Hyderabad. I saw a few ladies sweeping the roads (which was already pretty much clean), I have never seen that before in Mumbai( I mean both, clean roads and cleaning of roads).
He dropped me near one handsome building and just next to that Hyderabad’s famous Cyber tower [building as prominent as Charminar is]. Cyber Tower is landmark and an indication that I was in Hitech city. I was bit let down to see Madhapur office, especially after watching striking buildings of Oracle, Dell and Satyam. I tried to enter.
Security: ”Sir, $%&#*^&!@#@%?” (he spoke something in Telugu)
Me: “तेलुगू नही आती”
“Telugu radu” .my first sentence in Telugu; means ‘I don’t understand Telugu’.
I was supposed to report Mr. M; Madhapur office was no less than a 3 star hotel and there was water fountain at the centre of the buiding and just next to that was a food court. I had my coffee and went to the reception and there I saw Hanuman, my training mate and then after my project mate too. The super enthusiastic Hanuman had a great history behind him, just the way Hanumanji split his chest to show Ram and Seeta he once opened office lift’s inner door; causing lift for emergency stop in between 3rd and 2nd floor. We were scared to death(BhachaO!!); the only option left with us was hitting the alarm button and we did exzactly that. Security rushed in and they escorted us from the menace. So that's Hanuman and me standing in front of Mr. M and waiting to hear what he has decided for us. He handed over one small chit with phone no. of Mr. MM and asked us to meet him in Manikonda campus. Yes, you heard it right it’s Manikonda.
Our office shuttle took us to Manikonda(as Sujaku rightly describes it as the blessed land lay between Rwanda and Uganda). A 4 times bigger campus than PDC but majority of part still under construction; the surrounding giving us SAHARA like feel. A rocky(not rocking) place with full of under constructions sites all around. But the campus was accompanied by some of the biggies like Microsoft, Infy and ISB.
High on adrenaline Hanuman literally jumped over the security rod to enter Microsoft ODC. The security personnel almost shouted, stopped and asked us to wait till he call up Mr. MM. My First project, first Manager and first client; Microsoft (Well, that’s sounds cool). And then came MM; at first glance he seemed a pleasing personality. He briefed us about the project, expectations and opportunities (like he does for everyone else, good enough to impress us on day 1) and then he moved to some informal talking.
Mr. MM: “So everything is settled?” (As if?)
Hanuman: “Yes”(Great he is settled; already ??)
Mr. MM: "And, you?"
Me: “No, not yet”
I was confused, what does he mean by settled?... I dont have place to stay, I haven't made a call back home yet, I am extremely tired after 14 hrs journey and so damn hungry too.
Mr. MM: "A team of 20 will join you tomorrow , they are coming fromChennai."
He brough my attention to his talking.
It was 12.30 and he left us for lunch break. At last at lunch I spotted few familiar faces; there was Techie, Senti and Jhaadi (my Pune training mates... detailed intro later) but meanwhile Jhaadi told me that he spotted 3 beautiful girls in library [he called them 3 deviyan].
अपनी थाली:
I was fascinated with PDC cafeteria so was equally curious about this one, however it was quite disappointing; first setback No TV!!
But the menu list was interesting; there were two meals to be serve ‘North Indian Thali’ for Rs.28/- [with chapathi] and ‘South Indian Thali’ for Rs.26/- [of course without chapathi] which soon they merged and made it ‘Apni Thali’ [how homely and clever too ;-)]
Food was equally good or bad, you can get in any other companies food court.
But currently my biggest concern was accommodation. Finally I found Johny and Vinsa, my roomies for Hyderabad. I asked Johny “So, what’s the plan?”
New room New roommates
When I saw Johny firsttime, I thought he is our trainer in PDC [Just like Munnabhai], but his comments and remarks from backbench proved that he is nowhere near to be a prof. and the only interaction with Vinsa I remember was in PDC, where he allowed me to take the only chicken samosa left in the tuk shop.
Johny:” First you see the place and then we will decide.”
I cant believe this. Both of them were here from last 2 days, looking out for accommodation, calling agents and meeting house owners and now when they fetched one good place just 5 KM away from the campus and still they were waiting for my approval.
I was in no mood to say NO and there was’t any reason to do so. The place was good; quiet and quite isolated from the city but really near to campus [Just like my pune place]. There was one tam aunt downstairs who was taking care of rents, maintenance and all other jhamelas. Electricity, water supply everything was there, but earlier tenant took maximum precautions to leave nothing ( I mean absolutely nothing) behind. So we were left with the job of buying all the mandatory stuff for living(including tubelight and ceiling fan). So we had miles to go before we sleep. There was long list of tasks pending for us.
Task1: Collecting my bags from Wipro Madhapur and dropping it at my new place in Telecom Nagar
Task2: Buying all MUST things en route' to Telecom Nagar.
Task3: Even Pappa and Vinsa have to pick their baggage from Johny's relative's place in Secunderabad. And trust me it was quite a distance. Navigating roads in out and out new city was a daunting task and twist in the tale was Pappa mistakenly got down at place much before our destination. Catching another auto which will take us to Tarnaka and back home was real test. But finally we managed well.
After collecting bags from Tarnaka, coming all the way to Cyberabad again...it took us more than 3 hours. When auto rickshaw dropped us at Telecom Nagar it was already half past eleven; including all late night half return auto fare it was something Rs. 190. We offered him the exact.
Autowala: "साब और १० रुपये "
I knew it, We handed over 200 bucks and reached home. I was really really tired. Thankfully Hyderabad chill didn't make us realise the need of ceiling fan. We yet to buy all the bedding but as of now who cares? My all task were completed successfully.
Tommorrow there would be new place, new team and new work but tonight let me sleepzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Thursday 29 November 2007
Monday 19 November 2007
Cut Copy and Paste: END OF PART I
In spite of many reminders from my friends I was not getting the time (Oh really???)and tempo to write part 3. but yesterday saw Om Shanti Om and realised ke "kahani to abhi baki hain"
“Jindagi badi honi chahiye Dost, lambi nahi” One of the best dialogues on Indian celluloid, where Anand explains his philosophy to Babumoshay but here; my training period was getting stretched day by day. All this later part of training was giving me sense of good ol' engineering days. And why not? I was one amongst thousands of engineers who come straight out of Mumbai Uni. to test their skills (??) and luck in certified world who have no idea what in stored for them ahead.
16th November “D” day
Time 9 a.m.
I unflagged all the flagged questions and answered them with best of my knowledge (haa!!) and hit the FINISH TEST. There was pause on screen for couple of second. It felt like an hour to me and there flashed the SUCCESS window. First sign of success in my professional life. Arghh!!! But not the way I thought of. I screamed like every other human being in that panic room and rushed out. All my gang was outside, waiting; may be more anxious than me. That day I was wearing Sumit’s lucky shirt and his lucky locket in my pocket especially he gave me for this exam. I called back home and cracked the news. Ohh it was such a relief.
And now, it was celebration time, the whole batch of 75 got through to the assessment and all gathered at Tamanna executive, the only renowned food court in Rajiv Gandhi IT Park. For the last time we all were together because here after everyone will lead to there destination. We went for a movie that evening. Next day was my last day in PDC.
Date: 17 November
Time: 6.00 P.M.
I was boarding in shuttle no. 15 for the last time. I still wish I would have carry a pen and notepad that day; I had so many things to tell to PDC. How about writing one letter?
Dear PDC
We have been known each other for just 40 days, but let me tell you it’s been a great association. Being with you was a continuous learning process. Just to sum up what all I have learned, and then it includes C, C++, Scripting languages, Java, Software Development Life Cycle, Bug Life Cycle but no the list is far beyond that. The friendly environment here made things really cozy for me. Most importantly I received my first salary here, the cash I used to get before was either a scholarship or the friendly rewards from relatives. But this one was my own earned one. I bought my first cell phone here, got all new bunches of interesting people, your delicious pantry items still keep my mouth watering.
Staying away from home was a challenge specially when you have a nerd house owner and you need to convince him for placing syntex water tank without raising a penny in house rent or to ask for a lift if you miss your daily shuttle? What to do when your maid is on unnoticed leave for a whole week? What if, you forget your pair of keys at home? How to take care of yourself when you are not well? And what to do; when you are all alone at your place on Deewali night? I learned all this and many more things here. The list is endless and trust me it was fun.
Thanks for being there with me in all ups and down. Hoping to see you soon.
Yours Sincerely
Employee No. 11!&*#
Next day I was at my home, I had still 5 days to go before reporting at Hyderabad Development Center, it was perfect Saturday eve I was with my old (so now they are old friends) buddies, freaking out just the way we used to do some time back. We all started our professional life more or less at the same time, each one of us were sharing their unique experiences, some talking about there tight training schedules, some about facilities there company providing , some about their campus and almost everyone about the HR girls. We all were going through very interesting phase of our lives, spending most of the time away from home and learning how to deal with the situations by our own. Sometimes I was finding it difficult to cope up with these changes in early stage of my life. I wonder how difficult it was for my parents in there late 50’s. After all their only son was staying away from them.
When all this was happening at front end, somewhere back of my mind I was preparing myself for yet another Cut paste, yes my pasting I mean posting location Hyderabad.
Day: 20th November 2005
Time: 4.30 P.M.
Place: Dadar Bus Station; Mumbai
Baba:” Bus for Hyderabad?”
Booking wala:”5 vajata yeil”
It was Level 1, 30 more minutes and I am heading towards the next level. Pune was the place where I have been even before Wipro happened to me, it was just 3 hours away from Mumbai. But Hyderabad, its different thing, 700+ Kms from Mumbai, “Hyderabad is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad has an estimated metropolitan population of 6.1 million (61 lakh), making it India's sixth-largest metropolitan area.” (As per Wikipedia) and that’s all I knew about it.
At 5 bus came, it was Garuda from APSRTC, I got quite comfortable seat. I hugged Aai, Baba, promising them to return in a month. At least that was the initial plan; once in month trip to Mumbai.
I always fantasized myself in place of Saif from HumTum or Amir in Dil Chahta hain. But seems destiny has different plans for me. Till date, I have traveled 100 times alone with all kind of transportation modes. But No! No HumTum for me. I remember the ol' college annual days, where losers like me awaiting outside the ballroom dancing room, seeking for the partners, but no luck and jinx still continues. Sridhar from Hyderabad was next to me, it was his first trip to Mumbai and was amazed with the speed on which this city runs.
Sridhar:” You will find Hyderabad really slow man;”
First tip of city where I am going to be for god knows how many days. Chalo yeh bhi dekh lete hain. The movie in bus was Kachhe Dhage, I was in no mood to spoil my sleep, I told conductor to wake me up at Hitek City.
Now again I was at ground zero; the hunt for accommodation will begin all over again. Jonny and Vinay were already there and started looking for the place. I was supposed to report on Monday morning and then need to join them for the hunt.
Day: 21th November 2005
Time: 6.30 A.M.
Place: Miyapur Junction, Hyderabad
“Chalo Hitek, Madhapur, Gachibowli”….condutor shouted, loud enough to break my sleep. It was quite chill in the air. Bus dropped me near auto rickshaw stand. I spotted one and asked “Wipro Madhapur chaloge?”
“Jindagi badi honi chahiye Dost, lambi nahi” One of the best dialogues on Indian celluloid, where Anand explains his philosophy to Babumoshay but here; my training period was getting stretched day by day. All this later part of training was giving me sense of good ol' engineering days. And why not? I was one amongst thousands of engineers who come straight out of Mumbai Uni. to test their skills (??) and luck in certified world who have no idea what in stored for them ahead.
16th November “D” day
Time 9 a.m.
I unflagged all the flagged questions and answered them with best of my knowledge (haa!!) and hit the FINISH TEST. There was pause on screen for couple of second. It felt like an hour to me and there flashed the SUCCESS window. First sign of success in my professional life. Arghh!!! But not the way I thought of. I screamed like every other human being in that panic room and rushed out. All my gang was outside, waiting; may be more anxious than me. That day I was wearing Sumit’s lucky shirt and his lucky locket in my pocket especially he gave me for this exam. I called back home and cracked the news. Ohh it was such a relief.
And now, it was celebration time, the whole batch of 75 got through to the assessment and all gathered at Tamanna executive, the only renowned food court in Rajiv Gandhi IT Park. For the last time we all were together because here after everyone will lead to there destination. We went for a movie that evening. Next day was my last day in PDC.
Date: 17 November
Time: 6.00 P.M.
I was boarding in shuttle no. 15 for the last time. I still wish I would have carry a pen and notepad that day; I had so many things to tell to PDC. How about writing one letter?
Dear PDC
We have been known each other for just 40 days, but let me tell you it’s been a great association. Being with you was a continuous learning process. Just to sum up what all I have learned, and then it includes C, C++, Scripting languages, Java, Software Development Life Cycle, Bug Life Cycle but no the list is far beyond that. The friendly environment here made things really cozy for me. Most importantly I received my first salary here, the cash I used to get before was either a scholarship or the friendly rewards from relatives. But this one was my own earned one. I bought my first cell phone here, got all new bunches of interesting people, your delicious pantry items still keep my mouth watering.
Staying away from home was a challenge specially when you have a nerd house owner and you need to convince him for placing syntex water tank without raising a penny in house rent or to ask for a lift if you miss your daily shuttle? What to do when your maid is on unnoticed leave for a whole week? What if, you forget your pair of keys at home? How to take care of yourself when you are not well? And what to do; when you are all alone at your place on Deewali night? I learned all this and many more things here. The list is endless and trust me it was fun.
Thanks for being there with me in all ups and down. Hoping to see you soon.
Yours Sincerely
Employee No. 11!&*#
Next day I was at my home, I had still 5 days to go before reporting at Hyderabad Development Center, it was perfect Saturday eve I was with my old (so now they are old friends) buddies, freaking out just the way we used to do some time back. We all started our professional life more or less at the same time, each one of us were sharing their unique experiences, some talking about there tight training schedules, some about facilities there company providing , some about their campus and almost everyone about the HR girls. We all were going through very interesting phase of our lives, spending most of the time away from home and learning how to deal with the situations by our own. Sometimes I was finding it difficult to cope up with these changes in early stage of my life. I wonder how difficult it was for my parents in there late 50’s. After all their only son was staying away from them.
When all this was happening at front end, somewhere back of my mind I was preparing myself for yet another Cut paste, yes my pasting I mean posting location Hyderabad.
Day: 20th November 2005
Time: 4.30 P.M.
Place: Dadar Bus Station; Mumbai
Baba:” Bus for Hyderabad?”
Booking wala:”5 vajata yeil”
It was Level 1, 30 more minutes and I am heading towards the next level. Pune was the place where I have been even before Wipro happened to me, it was just 3 hours away from Mumbai. But Hyderabad, its different thing, 700+ Kms from Mumbai, “Hyderabad is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad has an estimated metropolitan population of 6.1 million (61 lakh), making it India's sixth-largest metropolitan area.” (As per Wikipedia) and that’s all I knew about it.
At 5 bus came, it was Garuda from APSRTC, I got quite comfortable seat. I hugged Aai, Baba, promising them to return in a month. At least that was the initial plan; once in month trip to Mumbai.
I always fantasized myself in place of Saif from HumTum or Amir in Dil Chahta hain. But seems destiny has different plans for me. Till date, I have traveled 100 times alone with all kind of transportation modes. But No! No HumTum for me. I remember the ol' college annual days, where losers like me awaiting outside the ballroom dancing room, seeking for the partners, but no luck and jinx still continues. Sridhar from Hyderabad was next to me, it was his first trip to Mumbai and was amazed with the speed on which this city runs.
Sridhar:” You will find Hyderabad really slow man;”
First tip of city where I am going to be for god knows how many days. Chalo yeh bhi dekh lete hain. The movie in bus was Kachhe Dhage, I was in no mood to spoil my sleep, I told conductor to wake me up at Hitek City.
Now again I was at ground zero; the hunt for accommodation will begin all over again. Jonny and Vinay were already there and started looking for the place. I was supposed to report on Monday morning and then need to join them for the hunt.
Day: 21th November 2005
Time: 6.30 A.M.
Place: Miyapur Junction, Hyderabad
“Chalo Hitek, Madhapur, Gachibowli”….condutor shouted, loud enough to break my sleep. It was quite chill in the air. Bus dropped me near auto rickshaw stand. I spotted one and asked “Wipro Madhapur chaloge?”
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