Pichle episode main aapne dekha, ki kis prakar IITR se graduate hone ke baad, S ki job CTS main lagi. Is news se woh bahut khush tha. Company join karne ke ek din pehle, woh Gurgaon ke company guest house pahunch gaye tha, aur apne pehle din ka besabri se intezaar kar raha tha. Ab dekhye aage...
Sharp at 9 AM, we showed up at the office expecting a warm welcome. But all we got was disappointment. The only person there to greet us was an office receptionist. While waiting for some one to take charge of us, we saw several current employees moving about their jobs. We looked at them with awe and respect, aspiring to be one of them in a couple of years. A few others joined the Three Stooges (NIT Jam, NIT shed and NIT pur, in case you forgot) and S. They introduced themselves as Barood, Ramesh , Ankur (all three from DCE and natives of Delhi) and so on. S was least bothered about the pleasantries, only wondering if there weren't any gals joining with them. A few minutes later they came in one by one (ofcourse...girls have to be late!!!). Finally, S lost interest in all the new comers, and decided to wait for his friend Bodho.
Bodho was S’s class mate from college days and was a good friend. He was one of the most intelligent people S had met (do keep in mind S's own intelligence level with which he compares others IQ) and was amongst the most laid back and care-free people that lived on this planet. There was a lot more to Bodho, but that was a whole chapter or rather a book in itself.
As time passed, we waited for someone to come forward to greet us, while S also waited anxiously for Bodho, who hadn't turned up yet. Finally, an hour later, Shefali, a HR personnel, came in and took a role count, as if we were still in 1st grade. Then she led us downstairs into the basement conference room. There she first handed out a bouquet of flowers and a huge book about the company, the benefits they provide you with and the policies, to each and every one of us. Then she asked each one of us to introduce ourselves and say a few lines about our background and college. Finally, our induction had begun and we felt welcome and part of this "GREAT" Organization.
About 45 minutes through this procedure, a peon opens the door and asks another new comer to enter the room – there he was...Bodho. S should have expected this from him right from the beginning. S though to himself about a class way back in 2nd year when Bodho tried entering one of the classes 15 minutes before it was about to end (a lil too late even by Bodho's standards). To his misfortune, he got caught by the professor and he had to repeat that course because of that. (Ofcourse, this was nothing compared to the time when Bodho got caught by a professor not while entering a class late, but leaving a class early from the back door. He managed to step out while the professor was turned towards the black board. But unfortunately for him, another professor was passing by in the corridor, who caught him in the act.) But that never changed Bodho. Even today, when he was about to start a new life, he had the same old attitude.
After the introductions, Shefali called for a short tea break. During the break, about half the people, mostly guys, walked outside for a smoke. Not that we are trying to promote or support smoking, but smoking is said to be a very good way of socializing. S was no way going to stay out of this group. They discussed different things like where in Delhi did they come from, how they planned to commute daily and so on. Fifteen minutes later they walked back into the building basement to find the rest of the group playing Ping Pong in the basement. S finally got a chance to speak to his pal Bodho. Bodho was as usual full of words which made no sense, but had humor in them.
A few moments later, one of the new comers came running in and said, “What are you guys doing here? Shefali is pissed off with all of us! On the first day itself, we all are missing from our seats. She gave us 10 minutes and already half an hour has passed. Come fast.” We rushed through the cafeteria and the Ping Pong room and finally reached the conference room only to see a frustrated Shefali barely smiling at us. Apologetically, we entered the room (Shefali: a bell should have been ringing in you head right about now!!!). The rest of the day passed by with senior managers visiting us and sharing their "Beautiful Experience" at CTS and trying to make the new kids on the block more comfortable. They told us that the kind of work coming in the near future is going to change our lives for ever (the only problem being whether the change was going to be for the better or not!!!).
Later that evening, a person from a bank came in and got us all to open new salary accounts. For most of us guys it was our first job, and having a new salary account was real thrilling. Each of us were also given lunch coupons worth Rs 15/- each. Not that it was a lot, but the gesture was what really impressed us people. We were having a blast. Good food, a 2 week stay in the guest house, great work environment, everything a new comer could ask for. We went back that evening feeling we had accomplished a lot in life. S and his three new hommies (at the guest house) headed back together while the others moved on their own way.
The next three days passed by in similar fashion and we were all really enjoying ourselves. The fifth day was the start of training. We had a full fledged six week schedule of training on the new cutting edge technology we were going to work on. The Delhi boys had formed a small group amongst themselves. As usual, they thought of themselves superior to the others. There were about 4-5 people with work experience who formed their own small group. S was very fortunate in all this. Every day there was one or the other girl sitting next to him. Not that he tried to make this happen, but the situation was such and it ended up that way (as you will see..things usually "happen" around S). Some of the people thought otherwise. They felt S was such an ass, intentionally sitting next to a girl each day and hitting on her. It was only S and the girls who knew that this was not the case. The training went on and Bodho and S turned out to be among the brightest people in the batch (do I even need to say any thing about the batch now).
Later, realizing that S is an intelligent guy, the boys from Delhi (Barood, Ramesh and Ankur) decided to get friendly with him (now we know where every one stood in the IQ chain). S also had a house in Delhi, where his grandparents stayed with his uncle and two cousins. And fortunately for him, this place turned out to be close to that of Barood. He decided to take a lift from Barood over the weekend when he went to meet his family. During this ride, they got friendly, smoking and drinking beer on their way back (yeh kingfisher ki dosti hai..tutegi nahi....). This was the beginning of a new friendship that was going to go a long way.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
the home coming...or going rather...
:-) :-) :-)
Why am I all smiles you ask?? And I shall definitely tell you. Am going home.
What's so great about home, you ask. Aaha. You see, I am going to my home in India.
For those of us...who carry two homes in their hearts...the non-residents...the non-reliables...the F-1's...the H-1's...the ones that are constantly berated for having left their their motherlands...but whose achievements are synonymous with the achievements of India...for those people...the greatest journeys are the ones...that lead us to home...
So what if I am flying China airlines..and not spending the dollars on Air India. Dollars messed up now days any ways. BTW, when I told my dad, that I was flying China Airlines, I had to repeat it three times. My mom was sure that I wouldn't even reach home. The hijacking in China did not help matters either. I hope the Tibetians haven't been taking lessons from LeT or some one!!!!!
Anyways, I will surely let you know about my experience in China Airlines. I am certainly looking forward to it.
I always imagined going back to India as a rather special occasion. For me it happens once in 1 or 2 years. For others, it is as rare as a solar eclipse. Going back to Delhi from Roorkee (a 4 hour ride in Shatabdi) every weekend didn't really have the same effect. For my current trip, my thoughts are well captured by this song...specially since it's saawan ka mahina in India right now..!!!!
Now, I don't literally want some thing like that. Like what happened to my uncle while coming to US. He came here in the 70s, the first person from his family to do so. He says he counted 86 people, who had come to see him off at the airport. Complete with the dhols and nagadas...LOL!!! But ya, it feels nice to imagine.
Do I really miss India?? I always wonder if we ever really miss a place. For example, people asked me if I would miss college after graduation. Frankly speaking, I don't think I do. Because for me...a place is associated with the people I met there and spent time with. If my parents were here..if my friends were here...then the same memories..the same magic gets re-created here. May be for me...not for every one I am sure.
As I sit here...planning for my current trip...I am going through some of the memories from my previous trip....
I think Javed Akhtar (if I am not mistaken) sums it up pretty nicely...
yeh jo des hai tera...swades hai tera...tujhe hai pukara...
yeh woh bandhan hai..jo kabhi toot nahi sakta...
P.S. ~ as nostalgic as I am...I will be back in 3 weeks...I am not doing a Mohan Bhargav here...though meeting a Gayatri Joshi wouldn't be all that bad..!!! he he..!!!
Why am I all smiles you ask?? And I shall definitely tell you. Am going home.
What's so great about home, you ask. Aaha. You see, I am going to my home in India.
For those of us...who carry two homes in their hearts...the non-residents...the non-reliables...the F-1's...the H-1's...the ones that are constantly berated for having left their their motherlands...but whose achievements are synonymous with the achievements of India...for those people...the greatest journeys are the ones...that lead us to home...
So what if I am flying China airlines..and not spending the dollars on Air India. Dollars messed up now days any ways. BTW, when I told my dad, that I was flying China Airlines, I had to repeat it three times. My mom was sure that I wouldn't even reach home. The hijacking in China did not help matters either. I hope the Tibetians haven't been taking lessons from LeT or some one!!!!!
Anyways, I will surely let you know about my experience in China Airlines. I am certainly looking forward to it.
I always imagined going back to India as a rather special occasion. For me it happens once in 1 or 2 years. For others, it is as rare as a solar eclipse. Going back to Delhi from Roorkee (a 4 hour ride in Shatabdi) every weekend didn't really have the same effect. For my current trip, my thoughts are well captured by this song...specially since it's saawan ka mahina in India right now..!!!!
Now, I don't literally want some thing like that. Like what happened to my uncle while coming to US. He came here in the 70s, the first person from his family to do so. He says he counted 86 people, who had come to see him off at the airport. Complete with the dhols and nagadas...LOL!!! But ya, it feels nice to imagine.
Do I really miss India?? I always wonder if we ever really miss a place. For example, people asked me if I would miss college after graduation. Frankly speaking, I don't think I do. Because for me...a place is associated with the people I met there and spent time with. If my parents were here..if my friends were here...then the same memories..the same magic gets re-created here. May be for me...not for every one I am sure.
As I sit here...planning for my current trip...I am going through some of the memories from my previous trip....
I think Javed Akhtar (if I am not mistaken) sums it up pretty nicely...
yeh jo des hai tera...swades hai tera...tujhe hai pukara...
yeh woh bandhan hai..jo kabhi toot nahi sakta...
P.S. ~ as nostalgic as I am...I will be back in 3 weeks...I am not doing a Mohan Bhargav here...though meeting a Gayatri Joshi wouldn't be all that bad..!!! he he..!!!
Life of S
My next few blogs are going to part of an informal autobiography written by my very dear friend S. He has had his share of excitement, adventures and mishaps in life, and his experiences are definitely worth sharing with the world. Most of what follows are his words, with few changes done by me and a few comments (usually in braces) along the way. So here goes.....
With the sunrise of the new millennium, India was looking forward to a new industry to take her to the next level. From a Developing to a Developed country. The service industry was an integral part of the new India. The BPOs, call centers and software industry were leading the way with the new generation of youngsters in India. S (the main protagonist of our story) was a part of this generation next.
Graduating from IITR in CSE, he had job offered to him in his final year. The company, CTS Pvt India Ltd, was the sister company of a major software services company based in the US. To him, it was the one of the best software companies in the world that existed (cause it was the only job he landed). Although the company had offered a job to 16 people on the campus, only 5 of them were willing to join (which tells you a lot about the company). They all had better offers as far as pay was concerned. But to S, this still seemed like a dream come true. After all, he was graduating out of college with a mere 6 point on a scale of 10 (hoping that he would be asked to write a sequel to five point someone: six point someone ~ a new hope).
S was asked to join ASAP. Apparently, the company had a newly signed contract with Moon Microsystems, a pioneer in the field of Software Development and the inventor of Coffee (one of the most "popular" "programming" languages in the world today). He was thrilled at the new offer and at the same time a bit nervous because of the short notice they had given him. He had so many questions in his mind: What kind of clothes can he wear? What kind of shoes to buy for the work place? How often will he get vacation? What are the other perks the company offers besides the pay? And so on…. The list was never ending (notice that he wasn't worried about the actual job part despite his six point programming skills). Each day and night, as these questions troubled him, he would call up a senior in the same company and bug him. The senior soon got pissed off and start avoiding S. However, S being the fighter that he was, would find a new senior everyday to bother. Although he had no other offer, he still would quiz the senior and pretend that if things don’t suit him, he would not join.
As the days passed by, he prepared himself mentally for the challenge ahead of him. Finally, as the penultimate day arrived he moved from his uncle’s house in Delhi to the Gurgaon guest house of the company. There, he saw this short nerdy guy (oily hair..big specs...the works...u get the picture...I heard they are launching a whole new fashion line aimed at this segment). He was wearing the CTS T-shirt. “One of those Ghissoo category guys” was the first thing that came to S's mind. Some one to maintain distance from. But throwing caution to the wind, S introduced himself. The nerdo guy replied, “Am Bhojpuri Pandey from NIT Jamshedpur.” Well, well, well, S was left with no words in his mouth (which must have been a sight to behold) as he tried to put together the two pieces of the puzzle: “Bhojpuri Pandey” and “chashmish geek.” Somehow, he just couldn't figure out how the two went together (S's mind == black hole...nothing comes out of it). While he was still thinking this (you can actually see the thought process...it's that slow), Bhojpuri took him to the adjacent room where his two other Bhojpuri friends were staying. “Hey, do u smoke?” the first one asked S and before S could respond, the second one offered him a sutta (talk about ways to start a conversation). S forgot about the mystery of “the geek and Bhojpuri” as he accepted the offer and picked up the match box on the side table (ladies and gentlemen...finally the secrest has been revealed...the way to S's heart...a sutta...)
“Punjak Singh!! From NIT Jamshedpur” the first guy said. The second guy followed by saying “Nobeljeet Yadav!! from NIT Jamshedpur!!” S so badly wanted to ask if their middle name as “NIT Jamshedpur” or some thing. However, he thought that this is the first test of corporate life….watch what you say…it can be used against you (elementary..my dear Watson..if it isn't ..then S couldn't have come up with it).
As they sat together smoking, they discussed their aspirations and expectations from CTS. They planned to wake up early in order to make it to the 9 AM reporting time. While the rest slept well, S kept tossing and turning due to anxiety. Finally the morning dawned, and they all got ready and had breakfast.
More to follow soon...
With the sunrise of the new millennium, India was looking forward to a new industry to take her to the next level. From a Developing to a Developed country. The service industry was an integral part of the new India. The BPOs, call centers and software industry were leading the way with the new generation of youngsters in India. S (the main protagonist of our story) was a part of this generation next.
Graduating from IITR in CSE, he had job offered to him in his final year. The company, CTS Pvt India Ltd, was the sister company of a major software services company based in the US. To him, it was the one of the best software companies in the world that existed (cause it was the only job he landed). Although the company had offered a job to 16 people on the campus, only 5 of them were willing to join (which tells you a lot about the company). They all had better offers as far as pay was concerned. But to S, this still seemed like a dream come true. After all, he was graduating out of college with a mere 6 point on a scale of 10 (hoping that he would be asked to write a sequel to five point someone: six point someone ~ a new hope).
S was asked to join ASAP. Apparently, the company had a newly signed contract with Moon Microsystems, a pioneer in the field of Software Development and the inventor of Coffee (one of the most "popular" "programming" languages in the world today). He was thrilled at the new offer and at the same time a bit nervous because of the short notice they had given him. He had so many questions in his mind: What kind of clothes can he wear? What kind of shoes to buy for the work place? How often will he get vacation? What are the other perks the company offers besides the pay? And so on…. The list was never ending (notice that he wasn't worried about the actual job part despite his six point programming skills). Each day and night, as these questions troubled him, he would call up a senior in the same company and bug him. The senior soon got pissed off and start avoiding S. However, S being the fighter that he was, would find a new senior everyday to bother. Although he had no other offer, he still would quiz the senior and pretend that if things don’t suit him, he would not join.
As the days passed by, he prepared himself mentally for the challenge ahead of him. Finally, as the penultimate day arrived he moved from his uncle’s house in Delhi to the Gurgaon guest house of the company. There, he saw this short nerdy guy (oily hair..big specs...the works...u get the picture...I heard they are launching a whole new fashion line aimed at this segment). He was wearing the CTS T-shirt. “One of those Ghissoo category guys” was the first thing that came to S's mind. Some one to maintain distance from. But throwing caution to the wind, S introduced himself. The nerdo guy replied, “Am Bhojpuri Pandey from NIT Jamshedpur.” Well, well, well, S was left with no words in his mouth (which must have been a sight to behold) as he tried to put together the two pieces of the puzzle: “Bhojpuri Pandey” and “chashmish geek.” Somehow, he just couldn't figure out how the two went together (S's mind == black hole...nothing comes out of it). While he was still thinking this (you can actually see the thought process...it's that slow), Bhojpuri took him to the adjacent room where his two other Bhojpuri friends were staying. “Hey, do u smoke?” the first one asked S and before S could respond, the second one offered him a sutta (talk about ways to start a conversation). S forgot about the mystery of “the geek and Bhojpuri” as he accepted the offer and picked up the match box on the side table (ladies and gentlemen...finally the secrest has been revealed...the way to S's heart...a sutta...)
“Punjak Singh!! From NIT Jamshedpur” the first guy said. The second guy followed by saying “Nobeljeet Yadav!! from NIT Jamshedpur!!” S so badly wanted to ask if their middle name as “NIT Jamshedpur” or some thing. However, he thought that this is the first test of corporate life….watch what you say…it can be used against you (elementary..my dear Watson..if it isn't ..then S couldn't have come up with it).
As they sat together smoking, they discussed their aspirations and expectations from CTS. They planned to wake up early in order to make it to the 9 AM reporting time. While the rest slept well, S kept tossing and turning due to anxiety. Finally the morning dawned, and they all got ready and had breakfast.
More to follow soon...
Friday, March 14, 2008
An Open Letter From Mario To Nintendo
Reproduced from http://seamanticks.com/index.php/an-open-letter-from-mario-to-nintendo/99/#more-99 , by Greg Lockwood
This is sooo hilarious!!!!! Treat for Mario fans!!!!!
Dear Nintendo,
We’ve been in a business relationship for quite a while now, and to be honest, I never used to have any complaints about my job. I mean sure, my line of work has never really been considered “easy” by any means, but in the early days it just felt so much more… rewarding.
Do you get what I’m saying guys? I wasn’t too fond of chasing a huge ape up a series of ladders, but with that fine-ass Pauline waiting for me, I didn’t mind. Same thing with running around Mushroom Kingdom, I don’t mind taking out a few Koopas since I know Peach is going to be waiting for me. (”At another castle”…God that joke gets so old)
But recently, you have been forcing me to do shit that just isn’t in my job description. I remember the first time Shigeru called me up. “Yo Mario, wanna go to a party? How about 8 of them?” And of course I said yes. That’s because my idea of a party is knockin back a few cold ones with some buds, some drinking games with the ladies, and maybe Superbad. But no, you twisted fucks’ idea of a party is to have me and all the assh**** I hate run around in circles for twenty minutes. That’s not a party, that’s a track and field meet. Which brings me to my next point.
Have you seen my waistline in the last few years? I would assume not, because you’ve got me playing more sports than Michael Jordan. What on God’s green Earth gives you the slightest thought that I would make a good soccer player? Have you seen how long a fucking soccer field is? It’s ridiculous. While we’re talking about ridiculous things, whose bright idea was it for me to compete in Olympic events against Sonic of all people? He was about to retire anyways, but no Nintendo, you just had to bring him back and have him compete against me in track events. What were you thinking? He runs so fast you can’t see his fucking feet.
Finally, as I’m sure you’re all well aware, for most of my life, the enemies I have faced have all been relatively tame, being dispatched with a simple jump or three at the most. Now you want to take me and make me battle to the death against a man with a gun? I can punch him, he can shoot fucking bullets at me! You’re all assh****, I hate you.
Die in a Fire,
Mario
This is sooo hilarious!!!!! Treat for Mario fans!!!!!
Dear Nintendo,
We’ve been in a business relationship for quite a while now, and to be honest, I never used to have any complaints about my job. I mean sure, my line of work has never really been considered “easy” by any means, but in the early days it just felt so much more… rewarding.
Do you get what I’m saying guys? I wasn’t too fond of chasing a huge ape up a series of ladders, but with that fine-ass Pauline waiting for me, I didn’t mind. Same thing with running around Mushroom Kingdom, I don’t mind taking out a few Koopas since I know Peach is going to be waiting for me. (”At another castle”…God that joke gets so old)
But recently, you have been forcing me to do shit that just isn’t in my job description. I remember the first time Shigeru called me up. “Yo Mario, wanna go to a party? How about 8 of them?” And of course I said yes. That’s because my idea of a party is knockin back a few cold ones with some buds, some drinking games with the ladies, and maybe Superbad. But no, you twisted fucks’ idea of a party is to have me and all the assh**** I hate run around in circles for twenty minutes. That’s not a party, that’s a track and field meet. Which brings me to my next point.
Have you seen my waistline in the last few years? I would assume not, because you’ve got me playing more sports than Michael Jordan. What on God’s green Earth gives you the slightest thought that I would make a good soccer player? Have you seen how long a fucking soccer field is? It’s ridiculous. While we’re talking about ridiculous things, whose bright idea was it for me to compete in Olympic events against Sonic of all people? He was about to retire anyways, but no Nintendo, you just had to bring him back and have him compete against me in track events. What were you thinking? He runs so fast you can’t see his fucking feet.
Finally, as I’m sure you’re all well aware, for most of my life, the enemies I have faced have all been relatively tame, being dispatched with a simple jump or three at the most. Now you want to take me and make me battle to the death against a man with a gun? I can punch him, he can shoot fucking bullets at me! You’re all assh****, I hate you.
Die in a Fire,
Mario
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