I'm Humbled

One of the best things about working at onsite is the exposure that you get in terms of all the wonderful people you get to work with. Not that you dont get to work with people at offshore..Its just that it is an entirely different crowd.


To understand the impact of it, you should know how an Indian IT outsourcing company works. Much of the IT workforce in India, is the handpicked, fresh out of college novice engineers and graduates, eager to proove themselves to the world.

Since the recruitment is an yearly excercise, each year, the workforce would see an addition of new faces, and the previous year's recruits would climb one step ahead in the ladder of seniority within the organisation.

By the time we are 3 -4 years expereinced, we become ( or at least feel that we become) somebody in the organisation. We dont attend friend's marriages saying that we have a critical delivery to make, and we are in control..We think twice about applying for a leave even when our grandparents are on their deathbed, thinking that the system would crash without our esteemed presence.

Atleast I was one among the above crowd...a certified workaholic who used to burn hours in
office, and feel as if i am an all important part of my project...

All these changed the day I landed at onsite and started working with people who had been working with the bank for 25-30 years..people more or as old as my dad .... people who set up the system from scratch..designed these huge parody of events which now is our bread n butter..

Each day is a new experience for me..There was this day when, while going through some files on my shelf, I came across hand written notes about our banking system carefully filed up..It was dated 03 -Jun-83 ..when I was jus 4 months old. The person who wrote the note is still around and working.He is such a sweetheart and after I told him this incident, makes sure to get me chocolates daily :)

Occasionaly we do have those informal round the table talks when people sit around and share their stories of the initial dyas at the bank and the starting days of the system.

There were many interesting stories shared. Among them the most memorable ones were about those days when mainframe developers ( at least in our Croydon unit) used red and green flags positioned around the offcice to comminicate that IMS was Up or Down.


And there existed a time, when there used to be only a single compiler, and people had to wait for turns with their code to get it complied.

Whew I am really thankfull at this point for the technical advancements..else i would have had to have many endless days waiting in queue :)

Yesterday as we were having our TCS christmas lunch, I was chatting with one of my old friends here.He is a gem of a man, and it was a great experience to work with him for one or two assignments. I particularly like him, because, he treats me like one little girl, and always gives me a namaste, every time I cross his path. Well in between our conversation, i popped him a question.. Mr C, How long have you been with the bank?and he says, I'm afraid I've not been here for long..just 27 -28 years.

It amazed me.It humbled me..His experience was more than my age.We who complain that we cannot continue in the same project for more than 2 years becuase we feel that our learning curve is not climbing up..should look at this man and learn our lessons. 27 years in the same bank- same system, and even now, when we Oooh and aah over his experience, he very humbly says GBS ( Global Banking System of Bank of America, for which I am currently working ) is a vast system. I dont know even 10 % of it.

Now that is called humility.

In presence of these great colleagues, I am humbled..

Being in Love

Once someone very dear to me told me that love is a mutual feeling..something that lights a spark in both minds.For me it is a singular emotion.Something that I alone feel ( or felt as it would be more appropriate.)

To love and to be loved are two different things..as I read somewhere long back. In every relationship there are two..the one who loves, and one who is loved.

For my part , I have never known what it is to be loved...offcourse I have my dear parents who literally love me to pieces, my very dear friends, and the multitude of relatives who at the very sight of me pounce on me and smother me with their affections.. But there has never been that someone special, who as theory goes, add rainbow colours to your days and dreams.

But still I have been in love..

Being in love is when you know it is not possible but you keep hoping for miracles.

Being in love is when the very thought of them brings a lump to your throat

Being in love is when you visit and revisit your memory to bring out those precious moments of togetherness, and the wonderful conversations you shared.

Being in love is when you wish you had the Alladin's lamp which would grant you just one wish...oh just that one wonderful wish..

Being in love is feeling a bit sad even at the happiest of days just beause they aren't there
to share it.

Being in love is when you strike up conversations, just for a bit of information about that someone.

Being in love is when you wake up each day, wishing that things were different and cry yourself to sleep.

Being in love is when you wish there were painkillers to sooth aching hearts.

Being in love is when chaotic thoughts fly around your mind, and you cannot harness your thoughts.

Being in love is when the pain still remains, even after what seems like eternity.

Like what Linbaba said:

Where the the end has a lot of hurt still you never can get out of it ... you exist a day more ... fight till the next morning ... maybe somewhere hate the person ...but still remain in love - Shantaram

You bet..It hurts like hell ...

Syncredibles turn 4 today

Its been four long and succesful years since i started off the stint as an IT professional... Yes it was 4 years ago this day, that the batch of 24 ( Later to be named as Syncredibles) joined the Initial Training Program of Syntel India Ltd.

In the infinitessimally cold basement training rooms, of Syntel, 21 Mount Road, Saidapet Chennai, a wonderful friendship was forged between 24 people and their 2 trainers..Great friendships..I'm proud to say, which have withstood all the Borsalino test of time and circumstances.. Great friendships, which makes all of us to reach out for one another, this particular day, to revive the memoreis of those 3 months well spent..beautiful memories, which adds colour to our yesterdays.

We had our own promo also..'Consider IT Fun'..which was a punch on the original one of the company -Consider IT Done.

Since then, I have revisited more than 1000 times,the entries made in my diary during those days. There are the first words and letters of Tamil that I learned, which Princy used to very patiently teach me.

There are the wonderful memories of womens hostel in Adayar, It's terrace and balcony, where i spent hours in the night glued to my mobile. The pizza hut in Adayar, were we used to burn our money and time...The countless trips to Besant Nagar beach..
CA realia, Quizes, last minute studies, copying, Softskills training,waiting for the project, the heartbreaks over going to Mumbai, the annual day,Final case study..Hotel Sangeetha in Adayar, where we used to have 'Blind love mixed with Honey' ( a popular icecream flavour)..
The final farewell party at the Dhabba, the big soft toy I got as my Birthday gift, our team winning the cricket match.......

When I start writing, the memories, still evergreen in my heart, come rushing in..

Over the years changes have come over everyone. Quite a few of us have quit Syntel and Joined other companies. Some are married, and some already with kids.

I was the first one to send out the group mail this year..Thought that most people would have forgotten about all that. was really surprised to hear from quite a few, that they wanted to be sending the first emails..Keep up the good spirit guys.. Let us hold those memories very dear to our heart..

Couldn't help thinking about my life as well..I feel like laughing now, when I think of the old me, who was scared of even my own shadow..I have come a long way, and Im really proud of being what I am, and what I could achieve in the past 4 years..There were lots more that could have been done, but staisfied with what I have gained.

This batch gave me some of the finest of friends, who played vital roles in shaping my destiny...
Gave me some of the best moments of my life..

However far we are, I'm thankful to God that this one day unites us together, gives us a chance to retrospect on our memories, and provides us the helping hand to plough on..
Long live Syncredibles.

Long live the Syncredible Spirit

Its a loong wait

Waiting for update from people is such a painfull thing.If there 's only a single task to be completed, its fine.Today, I have got too many of those little little totally unrelated ones to be completed and all of them pointing in every imaginable direction.

There is one report to be send out for L&D which I have been following up for ages, and just now it was send across to me sans the one column which is relevant for me.After the gentleman in
L & D UK comes up with sensible reports,I have to consolidate and send them across to my L & D counterpart in Chennai so that she can come up with learning plans devised to screw up our appraisals for the next quarter.

Then there is this weird project for which even the end users are not clear of the requirements. Almost every other call has ended in nothingness, without anyone getting even one penny worth of information.I quite belive that this one is Jinxed, like couple of other pixie projectsthat I handled.We 've had a flurry of development leads and TDM's running in and out.Now myself and S are more or less screwed to it.
We've grinded and filtered the requirements a zillion times and have packedthe dust and bits off to business for their final approval.Still waiting for someone to come up with the approvals.

Then there's this BJR for another one, that keeps creating funny unidentified reports.( For once, the JCL's are choosing to be proactive I guess).Need to follow up on that, and need to fall at the Test leads feet for the approval for Defect Tracking excel.I have already send 3-4 emails, and made couple of courtesy calls to his desk to prompt him into action, but nothing seems to be working.

Above all have commited myself to a 4 day trip to paris, for whichI should hunt and come up with documents, before the friday appoinment with the French consulate.

Over all this, I 'm having a 'Near the corridor' seat which exposes me ( and my PC) to everyone who is passing by..something not to be preferred when you dont have anything interesting to do.

I opened a mainframe screen and typed F7 F8 for almost an hour, spoke to my parents and scores of others whom I never really had a chance to speak tofor the past couple of months.There is another one hour meeting coming up and nearly 2 more hours to while away, before the day ends.

GRRRRRRRRRR..feeling angry and irritated, at having to depend on so many people to complete what I am supposed to do.