Online Shopping

All I could remember is, it was a digital camera that i bought online was the first through ebay. Slowly got the feel of online shopping more with Amazon. With Amazon, its the best you can ask for, you would be tempted to buy as much as you can afford. All my amazon experience was all when i was in Chicago. Did try other sites to buy too and especially I remember using them max before my every vacation to india. Was very much impressed with the ease of it. Especially when it is electronics, it is best and easy to shop online. You can easily compare the price and specifications of anything you buy with Google and other comparison sites. But when you need them in hand immediately, you have to got to store, just like my Canon DSLR and Nexus S.
I personally feel that the technology is at its peak now at US, online shopping now includes shopping on mobile as well. A shopping site is not complete without its IOS and android app.
But its all in the budding stages in India and thats what is more exciting to me. I was surprised when a colleague of mine told me that he is comfortable buying with only the 'cash on delivery' option, he doesnt want to pay online before receiving the product in hand. How can a software guy distrust online payment while shopping, this eludes to get digested by my brain. To add I also know of people who dont even prefer to use a debit card and instead go to bank in person for transactions!
How is it possible for anyone to keep getting stuck to ground, when u can actually afford to fly? Worried about the crashes in mid air? come on you can get hit on ground as well when time isnt yours!
I happened to experience indian online shopping sites when i had to buy something for home that will reach quickly and i wouldnt be needed from chicago to carry it. Some electronics, gifts..were all possible, but i had to search a lot initially and i remember 'infibeam' , the first one i tried and tested and kind of got comfortable to continue ordering for more. Flipkart, i rarely noticed as it had only been selling books that i never cared, then i noticed them adding mobiles and i did browse to look for a mobile for my mom as well once. Then it was only infibeam to my knowledge had great inventory in lots of categories. It still looks good but i switched to flipkart these days :D.
I also get my air/bus/rail tickets onlline addition to pizzas and movie tickets, in fact on my mobile!
In the recent year or two, its like too many sites budding here in India and some are doing gud too. I did try jabong very recently and it was a pleasant experience too. Am eagerly looking for a very positive and beautiful growth in the online shopping experience in india as well. I keep hearing it as well from other sources. I would love to get there where we will just buy anything sitting at home with all the comfort, ease and trust !

Jumping jobs in IT

Its time now for me to comment about how anyone would want to switch to a new job. what really inspires or motivates or pushes one to do that?
Now in my 3rd company in the software field. I spent 7 yrs serving my first company, but only 6 months with the next. With the current company, its so far so good'.
My first job, Infosys, I never imagined would ever get a reason to quit. My dad served the state govt for more than 30 yrs until his retirement. And, to get into Infosys was ofcourse my wildest of dreams, especially because of Mr N. Murthy then. It was after so many flop shows in the campus interviews that i got this thru off campus at blore. Was on cloud 9. It all added when i got into the training center at mysore where i confronted every reason to sign my bond with the company for ever. And after 4 months of training, got into the real IT life, into the projects that pays the company and myself.  It was the first year appraisal cycle that came in as an eye opener to me. Did hurt me very badly.
When your colleagues or friends whom you find as you work along of having just similar skills and ability but getting better appraised for the only reason that you were innocent and ignorant of the real software career, it is that moment which was my enlightening moment. I agree i did get the simpler job almost equivalent to documentation but i thot i just did the job that was given to me, dint know i shud have gone for more. Expectation i thot was to perform the job given. I lost the race. It did strike me for gud. Either managers if self centered exploit the ignorant for their sole benefits or they just couldnt have done better with their level of managerial skills. But why did I worry so much about the appraisal, because that tells you how much your salary is hiked and how well you are recognized and your position amongst others. More than recognition, it was the salary difference that hit me bad personally. After 2 yrs, i got to projects of Java in retail domain and thats when i started my real career. With Java, i neednt depend on others to know better, its all there when you google. I had witnessed my friends/colleagues who I believed in my view were not fair and were too much show offs, actually flourished as the days passed.
I realized that its not gonna be practical even in the dream companies to have an ideal work environment, for it is all finally the same humans who are mostly programmed to live even at the cost of others' lives. In other words its not just about doing just your job sincerely but a dirty white collar job. The harm to you, some do it intentionally and some do it unintentionally. Though you would never want to play the games, you still have to be smart and if required even play politics to get  through all the games unhurt.
So, any company is just same with its own plus and minus and you have to wake up at the least after hitting the wall, if not before. In the sense, you will sure know when you cant grow anymore in the company after you are exhausted with everything you could. If with your skills and ability, you know you can get a better work and pay by getting outside and the binding reasons dont stand valid anymore, then thats what i mean by hitting the wall. In my case, i just waited for an onsite opportunity to earn dollars, and after return i took 1 yr because of my laziness but still got out.
If you still want to stick to the company for the only reason that you just dont want to go out or not prepared for a change, you are either cheating yourself or the ones who are dependant on you. This is exactly what pushed me get out of Infosys. Ofcourse, i am not against the valid reasons for getting bound, for example if you have settled your home with family near the company and cant afford a move or something like that. You should really have a long term vision as well on any change on how it would have the impact. To get out of TCS, i had actually no reason to stay except the brand name. Somehow was never comfortable in the 6 months, the work culture, environment, the project, daily 40kms drive to and fro to office.....nothing convinced me and everything pushed me...And when i got the option, i just went ahead!

Its not a sin anymore to jump a job,

Signing off with the famous quote
"Love your job, but never fall in-love with your company because you'll never know when the company stops loving you"

Choosing a Software Career - For a fresher

Recent news that Infosys has deferred the joining dates for its on-campus new hires prompted me to revive  a deep thought that i have been having about the choice of a software career for a fresher. Whether to stick to an offer from a big brand or to go for a small but promising brand? Here, am not talking about international brands like FB, Google, Microsoft..etc. my view is limited to my knowledge and experience, Indian companies. Based on my experience, I personally think that the best option is to go for a promising career than a big brand.
With big brands, the good thing is that it is easy to enter, i mean the interviews/recruitment process and also the initial training especially with Infy, but after getting in, it is difficult to grow, by grow i mean the career/technology, it can happen only if you push your self against all odds or have the guy Mr. Luck by ur side. In simple logic, the big company with a lakh (lets say)employees, has to someway restrict the growth of its employees to limited numbers only then can it show a better financial result for its self. But ofcourse, that limited numbers (employees) will be the most benefited as they work for the best organization with best facilities and a great growth, the question is, how long they themselves could sustain their growth? There is always this politics that could pull you down, even the best techy if he isnt smart politically. I dont mean that a career with big company shouldnt be considered at all, infact such an experience with a big company is a must for a software guy, but he better have it for a shorter period only and not necessarily as a fresher

For those like me, to get through an interview as a fresher was a nightmare and these big companies are a blessing. Adding to my personal fear with interviews becoz of my grt communication skills, with electrical engg, i just couldnt have dreamt of a software career if not for Infy. I couldnt then even afford for a software course and i was already struggling to get to daily internet browsing. And into the big company, it also gives you the opportunity to travel, yeah travel Onsite. I believe, this is one of the most important things which drives the success of the big brands in retaining its employees, where the company lets the employee earn in dollars/pounds. But this is usually influenced by the visa restrictions and the usual internal politics.. When it comes to the technology in work, as most know, its only a small percentage of projects that run on cutting edge and also big companies are proud on their dummy maintenance/support projects rather than intelligent developments as their most revenue is from them, you can even call it their backbone. An american/western company would never want to take such maintenance ever. Remember we cant deny though that it is these maintenance revenue which had paid so many software engineers, but we are restricted to discuss about an individual's career. Last but not the least, you have these appraisal frameworks with incapable, short sighted and self centered managers, which fights well to demotivate even a good employee.
When it comes to small companies, i dont deny that they do have politics and low pay.But some promising,  would pay you good, even if not, most of them get you prepared for a future as you would be taking more responsibilities with more interesting and challenging work. They might not give you the onsite opportunity, but the growth has to be certain to atleast retain you. Over a period of time, you would become more capable in a small company and the reverse could happen in the big company.The question is, how many good and promising small companies do we have? and how could we find the right one?Only way i cud think of is to get in touch with ppl who are in this career for sometime!
A single company in the whole career for a software guy, is practically impossible, but since am now talking for a fresher, i would still ask him to go for a small promising company to start with if he could get through their usual tough recruitment process and is ready to take big challenges in his initial career, all for a better future. If you are only looking for a comfortable initial start and a probable onsite after a 2/3 years, then ofcourse big companies are there, and at the least be smart enough to handle politics.
To comment on the source of this post again, deferred join dates for freshers, i would suggest the joinees to not waste 3 months (deferred period) of their career. In a software career, even a week might cost you bad, for eg: the promotions and yearly compensation reviews, are actually based on the joining date of the employee. And the company without even giving an option has asked the hires to take online training. is the company ready to pay them during the deferred period? oh yeah, you are lowering 2 months of training period, but is it possible for every hire to afford the online training which is supposedly 10 weeks, wouldnt it lead to inequality in getting access to the training? isnt it also not fair if not illegal to get them to your training without paying and also not counting it on their resume when the training is in fact gonna benefit the company directly?

Be aware of the scope!

This is my 50th post in the 5 yr blogging! :-)

Update:
Note: In the above post, I only encourage people to be smart enough to handle politics but not be the reason for one. I only wish and hope for politics free work life for everyone anywhere!

Snakes

From my childhood i have been taught to chase and kill whenever u confront a snake. Am sure had done it atleast a couple of times myself at my home (Vellore). The perception was built so strongly that a snake will always harm a human being though it was also shown to be worshiped in movies and hindu rituals. It wasnt pleasant or comfortable either while we confront a snake, not sure if its becoz of its physical features just like a lizard/frog or the perception itself. To kill a snake is also a 'Bravo' thing to do. But, in the recent days, on reading and watching related contents from Isha (Sadguru's), i start to realize that my perceptions might be wrong. I cannot deny the contributions by the Discovery or NGC channels either. A snake, just like any other animal wouldnt want to harm you simply for no reason. Its the unnecessary panic by us humans, harms both the snake and ourselves.I wonder why did anyone start a campaign against these reptiles? or is it just their curse?

Check the below links if u wanna understand them better:
Isha blog 
IshaVideo

Maatraan and Thaandavam Reviews:

Maatraan : Very interesting and thrilling. Enjoyed everything except Surya's climax emotions. He had no clue to wat he was doing. Scenes as conjoined twins were too gud especially their fight pumps you to worry wat wud happen to that physical joint. Importance given more to emotion btw twins than the love pair, which one way is gud ....Logical flaws....oh yeah that's there....especially when a Tamil hero goes for saving the world, I naturally want to question more which I might not with Brad Pitt or Clooney :-)
Its a great entertainer just like his 'Ko'

Thaandavam: Another great entertainer. Its about just another revenge. But other than the revenge thing it doesn't resemble any other movie and that's the beauty. A different romance and a different revenge in a different location.The beauty and the pleasantness is consistent. Its not a great movie but a good movie. Not great because it dint have any bold screen play or climax. Incidentally 'Thaandavam' was the first movie to watch with my wife. 

5 Months - Flash Back!

In the last 5 months, so many things have happened . I cudnt believe it myself when i look back. Had quit TCS and now with  SHI, at Pune . Lost my beloved 'Nexus S' , almost cried a whole night! and most of all am not Single! oh yeah the Family Man!

A little relaxed in the last two weeks i would say, otherwise it was hectic for all the 5 months. It all started with shifting back to Vellore from Maraimalai nagar in July as i had put my papers with TCS, marriage preparations, new company joining, new city to move to, new status in the society and for myself with the new member along with me, all this amidst so many questions that i had put myself on the decisions that were taken on the Go.

Easily, most interesting thing was the status change, I was made to realise it very early. When I visited a near by temple at her home town, Thiruvarur, the way others(you can call it society here) look at you or treat you, just becoz you are with ur partner, they actually did show respect in their body lang. Probably becoz they cud easily realise that we were new couples. I might have done it myself sure had i been in their position, but i realised it only now when i had become the receiving end. So its a society thing! i dunno how these are grown in a society, but is there. And, nowadays, i have been more cautious  (do i have an option?) in almost everything i do, its a family man thing!

Jump in job, was with very many questions on that myself. It was a big company that i was dumping that too in just 6 months. Have to move to Pune, out of Chennai! And i just was abt to create a new family....Gave the job to my logical brain to decide, had some hope somehow and anyways i wasnt personally in love either with the big brand or the Chennai city.  Even if i hadnt quit that early, would have anyways done it in the near future.Had to convince my then fiancee meanwhile as well . The one lucky thing was, the Marriage was taken care by the Bride's  family. Am not sure if i saved any money becoz of that but i sure did save a lot of my physical exhaustion, for I know how much it would need you to organize and conduct a marriage, we did do it for my 2 elder sisters and my elder brother.  If we would have had to do it, the marriage, it would have been at Vellore while I was working in chennai and staying in mm nagar. Would have preferred to stay single rather! ;-) So all thanks to my fate or in other words, the bride's family, oh i should say my wife's parents.

Just a week before marriage, i had to be busy in setting up my future home, oh yes, i just joined the new company in a city very new to me and all i had was 7/8 days to set them up all. though i did get help, it was a lil different from what i had expected. But still was able get all the necessary things except a gas connection. Infact the gas connection is one which had nt got yet!!! :-( We are, sorry, she is managing with just the induction stove and an electric rice cooker.

Married and back to pune with my wife. Until now, she had been greatly adjusting/adapting to what ever she is going thru. One can easily say, its not an easy thing for a girl from Thiruvarur, south tamil nadu, though worked with state govt at cuddalore, to jump with her husband in a new job to a new city for a new life!!!

Ice Cream Sandwich

Today (5th Apr 2012), got my Nexus S phone updated freely with Android's latest OS version 4.0.4 which is also called as the 'Ice Cream Sandwich'. It was 2.3 (Ginger Bread) until yesterday. I was wondering with wait if this ever happen from the moment I heard abt 4.0. It has lot many features and made me feel like i got a new phone. I was hardly working in office today ;). In-built Data Management, Panorama mode in camera, Android Bean, enhanced language input, Folder changes, Movie editor......list goes on!Am so happy and excited that i have got this all for free. One thing that surprised me today was when couple of my friends were blank when i told them abt Ice Cream Sandwich. May be i am being too much on my end on this. I realized it when another friend asked me hows it different from 'Froyo', though have heard abt froyo, i forgot that it is Android 2.2.

Nutrients as Food Supplements

As everyone, have been hearing about nutrients like vitamins and minerals from school. Read their needs and benefits and also have been watching ads almost everyday for health drinks boasting with most combination of nutrients. But I realised it only very recently through my mom. She is having Arthritis for some years now. Any doctor visited had suggested her to reduce weight by walking. But isnt it contradictory? how would it be possible to effectively walk daily with Arthritis ?

So she had been taking tablets. Tablets my father had bought her from pharmacy. Not sure where he actually got them prescribed. She needs to take them daily. When she needed me to buy them again, i did save those two tablet names on my mobile with their composition. One of them a pain killer and other a B-complex. I dint understand wat the B-complex was for. i bought the pain killer, this isnt a normal pain killer, its some what special and not all pharmacies had it easily. But after a couple of days, my mom asked for the other tablet as well, though she dint have any idea of wat it was. I was surprised as i dint understand why the pain killer alone dint work. She insisted that i get her the B-complex as well. I got a different brand but of a similar composition. Though she got better, since the brand wasnt same, she had to take more of the same tablets daily. Then i again changed the brand as i couldnt get the original, it became better. Now i realised that B-complex plays its role very significantly. Infact I recollected that around 4 of 6/7 tablets prescribed by Apollo general physician recently after her health check up were all vitamins and minerals, and she did find herself better when taking them.

When a friend visited me, after hearing my mom's arthritis, suggested me to take specialised tablets of Nutrient Supplements. Told me that his grand ma had benefited greatly taking them. i suddenly recalled about a conversation i had long back when another friend insisted me to take these supplements of the same brand. But then i neither was sure if he was just marketing nor was in need at all. And now its all making sense. I ordered protein ( Cell formations), calcium - Magnesium (Bones), Glucosamine HCL (Joints). Started with once a day and since no side effects for 3/4 days, she takes them twice a day. Its been two weeks and my mom had felt the difference already. Also, she by herself started taking just one instead of the 2 B-complex tablets from pharmacy daily.
Have ordered for Omega-3 (For Heart), Fibre (to control cholesterol) and B-Complex (Metabolism and Immunity) tablet supplements as well. These supplement tablets am sure are far better than the ones available at pharmacy and oh yeah costlier as well.

Basically, our lifestyle had influenced in the deficiency of the nutrients needed by the body. And so these now as supplements have become mandatory unfortunately. heard from another friend of mine that for many in US, multi-vitamin tablets are part of their daily diet.

Please note again that these are not medicines but nutrient supplements.

To add:
Iron : Blood, Vitamin - C : Immunity

Brands I know that sell Nutrient supplements:
1. Nutrilite
2. Whole Foods.

7 Years with Infy - Part 3

Joining Date : 18-Oct-2004,
Relieved Date : 28-Dec-2011

4th year was very special career wise. I luckily got a chance to lead a maintenance team. The current lead then was leaving the team (i guess to onsite) and did speak to me to know if i would. i agreed and started leading the team. it was a real gud experience, tried all my imaginations and knowledge. did update myself technically. Continued some of the gud ones from the earlier lead. And it also helped me that i directly reported to senior PM doing the PM role myself. team was about 10 members with one of them more experienced than myself. Not sure what the team mates thought of me, i believe it was positive as well. At the end of 4th year, got my H1 visa finally initiated. Its though very late, for me and for the vertical i was in, it wasnt bad. Personally i think it was the right time for myself. I dint get any traveling opportunity though in the same proj mainly becoz of the attitude i had shown to the managers of the team. Got out and looked out for onsite in other projects. Meanwhile completed the SCJP 6, it was then i felt that every java developer must take this certification in his first year, yeah i know I did it in my 4th :(.

Then came this lovely chicago opportunity. Had done 40k purchases on Hari's credit card. i was told that it was not a guaranteed long term and it only depends on my potential to get it extended. After some drama for a day or two on my tickets, finally i did take my flight to chicago. Tough retail client and great technology with scope. Again with very less awareness about anything needed and only with confidence i traveled by Feb 2009. First release went smooth with the help of a senior guy there, later my friend and i escaped, but it was one of the worst moments again in the first 6 months. With all possible stress, pressure, politics...etc. Again back to square 1, took my time to assess the situation, project, technology and ppl. With final help coming from the clients themselves, i slowly started gaining my hold, both on technology and environment. Sundar, this guy showed me, not taught me, but showed me what should be ones' attitude at onsite, infact no one had time to teach anything to anyone, everyone has to look for his own front, back and sides himself. Expectation on anyone on first day at onsite would be nothing less than 100% productivity and thats onsite for you.

On the other side i did get my first dollar salary and it was the first time ever i had money in my account even at the end of the month :D. Had the borewell dug as my first job for our home @ vellore. It was because of the pain we had during my college days when there was water scarcity at our locality, hand pumped liters and liters of water everyday, ofcourse everyone from family did their part, had always had this in my hit list to get the borewell done when i cud.

As work life came to my control in chicago, started enjoying in my own way, traveling around with friends, movies and indian restaurants almost all weekends, great friendships, first 4 wheeler the VW Passat, canon DSLR, Abercrombie, Netflix, Amazon, Snow ....etc. Have written many separate blog posts on my Chicago experiences already. At the end of 2 yrs, i had to make a decision first time to move out, out of Infy, for i dint see my path clearly with Infy. Tried my luck with a gud international company without success. i also decided not to extend my Visa. Commitments back home invited me along with the dryness that engulfed me. And so i returned by March 2011.

Ok, i have kept one special story away until now, yeah, the Parrot story. I dunno why and how, but i thought i got the spark, very soon after i got posted to Mcity, for a reason and went behind her literally. Bugged her for 3 yrs. Including every friend of mine, i also made many others know this intentionally/unintentionally. Wrote poems on Infy BB, texted her, mailed her, called her...did all one could dream of. Friends also scared me at times that i might get into ASHI (sexual harassment policy). I dint care much. I first approached her and took her to lobby with coffee in hand. told her in my raw language that i am looking((sighting) at her for some time and asked her if she was also interested. She replied she wasnt aware of any such thing and left me. While leaving did see a smile on her in a corner. And later i did continue, thru messenger and there was no reply and so a mail on Aug 17th and she ofcourse refused. It went on and after an year, did even speak to her on phone with the help of a best friendy (;)). She then started telling me about 'a kind of committed relationship' she already was in. Was sure she was trying to evade me with this. Another big email, chains again with nothing +ve. Meanwhile had email and chat fights with her friends as well. Usually its the lunch i loved those days. infact many a days i went to office for just to enjoy the lunch time. I would some how find her with her gang and continue to stare at her until one of us left the Food court. Since my friends knew abt my seriousness, they wouldnt disturb me. Her friends would start teasing her as soon as they find me staring at her. this went on for ever. Never approached or contacted any of her friends in person.

After 2 yrs, suddenly she texted me, on mobile. initially, thot it was by mistake from her, but it wasnt. she continued messaging. that went on to calls. and i met her during bf/lunch/dinner/whenever possible forcefully. Most delicious moments where when she came out of the ODC to check emails in a separate machine opp to her wing. will catch her there most of the times and spent my most beautiful moments admiring and chatting her so close. With some hesitation tho, she did respond me all the time. She always enjoyed my compliments abt her. Our phone conversations went for hours at times, was about everything. But never once she agreed/accepted to love me. Infact i never ever myself formally used the word 'love' until one day. After 10 days of all romances and drama, she used a small fight to get away from me. Met her at lunch when she was alone and used her the formal word 'love'. she dint show any care. And back to square one, she started ignoring me completely again. After an year, on the 30th of Jan 2009, after a small email fight, she broke me completely by revealing her engagement that just had happened on 28th of the same month. I stopped. And as my travel tickets confirmed, i flew to chicago, oh yeah, at the right time. Never had a contact with her again, though i tried to reach her once on phone from chicago which she dint pick. It was just to talk as i missed her badly, suddenly after watching a movie.

Now, I kind of know where she is and how she is but nothing more than that :) Have realised that the spark wasnt that divine (Can i think otherwise? dont have a choice :D) as i thot it initially was, attractions/crushes did continue to be there at every point of time in my life and it never stopped, starting from my school days. It still continues. But atleast am matured enough now to stop myself at the right time. Had a crush at chicago as well, but i saved myself before crossing the limits. Though there were many other incidents, parrot story was the most special and most interesting and most impacted story of mine. :) i wish i speak to her in my life time once casually atleast.

Now, back to career, i came back to chennai, continued on the retail client but on a different project, as decided, started enjoying again. Did work very less and after 6 months of fun, i became serious in searching for a job. It was after pleasant experiences in the project. Luckily got thru TCS and submitted my e-separation(resignation) immediately. Until then my experience with the last team as a lead was fun as well from my point of view :). 3 months of notice period and am out now.

All through out, there were many friendships, had mentioned only a very few names. Most of them were real fun, many of them were good ones and atleast a few had sustained all the bad and good weather by now. What more can i ask for? Had fights with most of my managers through out my career, especially after my 2nd yr, guess there would be hardly any lead whom i had not fought. I carried my attitude against all odds. I believe, that was needed then and would be needed for ever as well. No regrets for anything. As long as i am convinced, i will go for it., watever.

Internal Certifications, when they introduced, i thot myself that it was a much needed one looking at many of the greatly qualified leaders above me. But the ways and processes that were defined for making it possible had lots of loopholes which i realised later on my own experience. Was one of the very important reasons for me to get out of Infy. And other future policies added fuel to my burning desire to get out. Its possible, that i might have accepted them had these been present when i initially joined Infy, unfortunately that wasnt the case :(:).

To conclude? no i dont have anything to conclude, its just the 7 years of experience, emotions, memories, dreams and thoughts that i am gonna carry forward i believe!

Am into Tata Consultancy Services when writing this post.

7 Years with Infy - Part 2

Joining Date : 18-Oct-2004,
Relieved Date : 28-Dec-2011

Package was 14844, and had to join on 18-Oct-2004 @ Mysore. My fresher package was almost same or better than my dad's package that time with his 30yrs of experience in TNHB. Came home quitting the motor servicing job. Went to Mysore, got into the campus, guy who came along, Rathish Kumar, became my room mate to share apartment. When i went in to the apartment, it was a like a 5-star hotel that i had never even seen in dreams. TV, Mattress, Room Service, Coffee supply, Kettle....wow....what a dream life...that too to come to such a place from the blore shared acco was a...OMG. Especially the most lovely was the bathroom with the amazing shower. The shower head on rotation will change the flow of water and that was fun. havent still seen such a good shower yet after these 7 yrs. i believe they deducted 1500 per month for acco from sal.

Training was OK. I followed my own formula to prepare for exams and clear. it wasnt easy as anyone would say, Infy training is one of the worlds best. Guys would get a second chance to clear exams but would be thrown out if not cleared. It became more harsh for batches after us and did hear myself of ppl being thrown out. there were also night mare stories of ppl getting caught by all kinds of mischief. But, of all these, mysore stay was absolutely pleasant. With all the facilities and atmosphere and ambience.... Did have a glimpse of NRN once or twice for functions. For most of the functions, there would be free food and i regretted those days for being a pure veg(now am a pure non-veg :D, was veg for period of 5 years until chicago). Dint aim myself to top the classes but just to clear the training smoothly. But when they brought in this variable pay concept for trainees well, felt cheated as would have sure joined the race had i been told on time.

Chandramouli was one gud friendship i got who kind of met my wave length tho he talked always less. Rathish, my room mate was all fun. Basically a mallu, but a brought up Northiee, he is a real genius, but kept himself low always. Used to tell me a lot about north, hindi films, kerala....etc and we used to discuss abt a lot of topics. But sure was a little lazy guy. Even after we left training to our posted DCs, he used to frequently call me and kept in touch. Almost i believe even after 5 yrs he did have me in touch. i always told him that i would call him next time myself but i never did :(. Did meet many others but most of them dint match my wavelength and Nandini, tho i did admire her attitude, dint have time or circumstance to get along. There was all this romantic stories happening around and i had nothing along my way :(.

On my first salary, as i promised, went to blore and did treat my x-roomies in a local hotel. On my stay for months, did see around places in and arnd Mysore. The palace, i went with Rathish for Pankaj Udas Gazal, that chitti song....yeah i remember. Also been to Srirangapatna and Chamundi Hills. Traveled unreserved thro train to vellore. My training was for 4 months, long cycle, as i was from EE. On traingin completion, got the original posting to IVS, mysore. Without much idea about IVS, started trying for a swap to chennai posting. Alok, a very matured guy, who wanted a mysore posting, offered to swap and we together with his directions, pushed the HR to agree to the swap and did finally succeed. But then came a twist. one other chennai posted girl of my batch was asked to go on deputation to TVM, kerala for 4 months for a project along with abt 10+ others. after trying others she finally came to me. She did have tears, i couldnt do much, also i had this additional 4k allowance (:D) pushing me if i take this. So another swap happened.

Got into my first project in Infy in Trivandrum. A real god's own country. The first thing that comes to mind on hearing TVM is the green trees, was around there every where. First week was given accommodation by Infy at Arya Nivas. Train mates already praised the Hotel with me. Havent tasted such delicious dosas ever, not even at HSB. Made sure we get there every time we get a chance. Should be proud that it was by tamil ppl (i hope so). Hotel was very close to Railway station. Bus stand was also very close. There was also this India coffee House on a spiral building near the station which you should try. But the office was more than 10 kms away at Kazha kuttam. Usually took the prepaid auto in the morning. Got joined with other 8 guys of the team and together we got a duplex individual house. Guess the rent was 9k. It was 30 mins by walk from office, other wise auto/bus/shuttle. i preferred to walk which i usually did while returning late from office. Our team, most of them tamil, almost gave the others a rebel gang feel. we stayed late in the office while all the others left on time.

I personally was living my life. Felt settled for life and on cloud 9, was given a job which wasnt much technical. In other words, a dummy job. Was sure my PM would know whats right for me, for he knows my profile. it helped myself a lot as well for I spent most of my time reading fwds from all around the world and re-fwding the right ones to enlighten/entertain others. There was this virtual race of sending most fwds within freshers and being the first to send a best fwd....etc...not sure if its all there now amongst freshers....So when did i work? oh yeah, when everyone is left for the day, spent an hr or 2 and did my job. It was more than enough and we still got customer appreciation, tho it was an internal customer, a customer is a customer. we went around places(usually beaches) for treats and proj parties. Varkala was one of the most beautiful i have seen then. But there were lots of temples i wanted to explore around. Without right company, went around myself in the weekends. Been to Suseendhiram, Kanyakumari(3 hrs from TVM by bus), Aatukal Bagavathy and ofcourse Padbanabaswamy. Once in a while we went to tamil movies getting released, did watch chandramukhi there. we also went to a 'local' movie at a local Mahadeva theater with high expectations and it was horrible :D. There was this geetanjali hotel with tamil guys and daily food was manageable. One thing u would note is that most hotels serve only hot jeera(cumin) water instead of plain water.

An interesting incident that whole of our gang would always remember was the stay at Kazha Kuttam police station for an hr or so. It was after a night show movie from the city, we returned late night by bus, all 9 of us together walking to our home and at the junction, the police jeep saw us and followed slowly, when it came near, he dint ask us anything but to get into the jeep. Everyone was shocked and when one of the friends tried to show ID card, he dragged him inside and others followed without any hesitation looking at it horrified. On getting down at station, i tried to show the movie tickets, but he wasnt ready for anything. He just dropped us all in the station and left. Without knowing wat to do, slowly after some time, we gathered courage to call ppl that we know. Infy HR/Security (Not sure who) did speak and gave some confidence. After an hour or so, our TVM Infy security head came by to the station at around 2/3 AM and relieved us. we all 8/9 of us got into that single Indica(hope so), just to avoid confronting the SI(not sure, could be Inspector), tho uncomfortably and dropped us all home. Luckily none of us were drunk, infact all of us were teetotalers then. We were lil afraid next day in office, on how ppl wud take us as we already had our reputation. But surprisingly, everyone supported us including the DC head and assured us of taking relevant action. After a week we heard that the police guy was transferred from that location but we were also warned to be careful as that location was already marked sensitive. Anyways, we were proud be being part of Infy :)

i used to transfer to Hari to give it to my mom and my Mom recently recalled it saying the first big money was that 15k from Hari and i remember i did it intentionally as a surprise. When i came home @ vellore for my second vacation, there were some changes happening in the team back at TVM. So, when my manager called me to ask if i would agree to change my base location to TVM which would give me 1 lakh or something as relocation expense, i said no as already informed by friends. Then my whole team took to train closing the deputation at TVM and got my luggage from them at katpadi on their way to Chennai :).

It wasnt exactly chennai, but sholinganallur. And now, it itself is a proper chennai, so much of traffic, chaos and real estate hike. Continued in the same project and worked in sholinganallur for a month or two before moving to Mcity. Met this guy Venkatesh for first time and also Nandini whom i have met in training. Slowly we got better interactions and we moved to Mcity to continue. It was the first appraisal that taught me whats a profession, what you should expect and wat it expects...almost everything slowly started to make sense after the lowest rating i got. It was also the 2 other mates who worked with me on the dummy project who got the lowest rating. Its not NRN who shapes your career, not even your manager, its finally you and if you are not sure to what you want and wat is given to you, ofcourse, you will be screwed like myself. The rating did impact me and hurt me until i left Infy. Ppl whom i thot didnt make any sense in the way they worked, actually made sense. It brought the 1st significant difference in salary between myself and my other batch mates. The first dummy project made me take a slow start in the later projects as well. But on the positive side, the first 2 yrs helped me the later years, helped me make the right decisions and raise right questions. I never ever regretted any of my professional decision after that.

All the while, stayed in S. P Koil, got friendship with uppili family, who actually helped with dinner for many infoscions lived around s. p. koil. Later, Uppili family slowly became family friends with me and my family. For the next one year, career wise, it was the same, i tried to just output the expected and started getting pissed off with the same project from the internal client. Had an interesting fight at the second yr appraisal and though the rating wasnt satisfactory appraisal discussion was for me. Finally got out of it and moved to a retail Java project, it was there i started learning a lot and delivering a lot. Though once dropped to a dummy proj again came back to dev work within 2 months and delivered and indeed got appreciation from the DM. Saravanan was my lead officially then and not sure if he played any part there :D. Got a role change after 3 yrs to Programmer Analyst. Did help my family on financial problems as much as possible meanwhile.

For the 4 yrs of my infy life, i always earned just about the expense for the month. ie, after transferring amt to family expense, paying all personal loans and rent, would have around 3/4 k for monthly expenses for my own which would be nill by the end of the month :D. i still managed to enjoy myself with a lot of trips to temples around with friends. Enjoyed chengalpet theaters with Saravanan in his unicorn, almost all possible movies and once in a while to sathyam cinemas as well. During my college days, had rarely gone to a movie, even after a lot of compulsion from friends, i kept avoiding them bcz of money. cant digest easily some one else paying me. And now this is wat i did compensate. i bought my first dream bike, blue pulsar 180, of my own money on my 4th year at Infy.

Ending Part-2, continued in Part-3.

7 Years with Infy - Part 1

Joining Date: 18-Oct-2004
Relieved Date : 28-Dec-2011

While doing my engineering, had always dreamt of getting an offer from Infosys especially for 2 reasons, 1. NRN, 2. Infy Recruitment Model. For freshers, originally Infy i heard only had the written test without any interview to clear. My final yr, I had reached about 10 interviews clearing the written tests but interviews were my villain. Was so nervous always for intws and was never sure of what to talk.
For EEE (Electrical and Electronics), it wasnt every IT company calling you for campus placement. Two core companies that i worried after loosing were LMW and Praxair. LMW was the more personal as it could have given me an offer at my birth place, Coimbatore. I trusted LMW so much after clearing the written test that i even dared to ignore an Infy campus interview conducted @ Chennai. Was so pissed off, that once i even shouted back at a concerned lecturer when she was angry at us for not getting thru interviews.

Got the degree. Getting a degree and without a job especially when many of your college friends and college enemies were with a campus job is ....yeah like "Life is Shit". Some of my friends took to chennai and blore in search of jobs. They would get in with 3 or 4 of the same kind to share the rent and then do job search. Rigorous search for atleast 2 continuous weeks and get pissed off, go home town, enjoy for a week or two, get pissed off there and come back and continue the cycle. Was just a spectator to these, My job search was only through net thru fresher job portals, applied frequently to infy fresher email id as well to get a call. Not because i was lazy to go out but dint have money to pay rent.

Then i got this call from my EE mate Karthikeyan after some two months at home. He got a job for me and there wouldnt be any real interview and its for a core company (Motor Service) @ white field, Blore. Package he told me would be around Rs. 2500 - Rs. 3000. Ofcourse, I decided to take it, now i got the source of money to pay the rent and search for a better job if possible. As Karthi was already staying at his relative's, asked for a 2 week accommodation to Madhan, my school friend, who was also staying closer to white field, at ramamoorthi nagar. This guy with other 5/6 guys sharing an apartment with 2 great rooms and a bathroom, all in search of a job. Of the two rooms, one was used purely for foot wears and the other for all kinds of living activities in addition to the space for everyone's luggage. When we all with full occupancy of 7 guys sleep at night in that living room, you cant even turn urself at sleep. Yes it was tht jam packed.

Reached there, agreed for a salary of Rs.2750, i would get arnd 2500 in hand after PF and other deductions. Life was smooth with the great company of friends. Though except Madhan others were new to me everyone was very understandable and cooperative that i took advantage of continuing there for 2 months. It was not becoz i dint get another acco, but infact i dint try for one, i was already more comfortable staying with Mr. Madhan and his gang. Had never told him this :). And this was my first experience as a bachelor for my college days i was a day scholar. Wanna feel the job search, watch Cheran's "Thavamai Thavamirundhu". With my savings from my first salary, i bought a 3 wheel cycle for my nephew who was arnd 3 yrs old.

Most of us came back in the evening after everyone's job and job search, go for the 'bonda' break, spend about Rs. 5, each costed a rupee and that was delicious with the green chutney, chat, go for dinner and spend Rs. 10 to Rs. 15. Ceylon Parotta was a favorite for dinner. After dinner it was usually a cream bun or a cake. My Break Fast usually was a poori with masala (Rs.10/15) at a mess near my company. Reach there around 8.30, have break fast and report to work by 9. Its actually 2 buses to reach my company from home. You can also save Rs.2, by walking instead for about 2 kms and avoid the first bus. Ofcourse i used to do that. Room share was about Rs.330. Meanwhile Madhan got a BPO job and it helped him a lot that time. Some others took the 'credit card sales guy' job, they would return home and give their day stories, it was fun to hear on one side and pain on the other. This made me sign blindly to a cc sales guy when i was in Infy training, i hope to respect them always. My work was like a supervisor in addition to paper works. Also went to a nearby gas plant company to evaluate the condition of motors running there. Enjoyed my time there in company with Karthi. We used to get a special Lime Tea in the evening from an attendant there. It was the first time i had a lime tea and i used to wait for it daily :)

And i got the Infy call letter to attend the written test on 12th September 2004. So happy and i prepared with all the available material in the room, infact friends had got a pc as well shared. One/two weeks earlier Madhan had lost the Infy test, he was the most intelligent and efficient to my knowledge from our school when it comes to Maths. And he lost it only because of a wrong question on which he wasted a lot of time then.

With all inputs from every one and my preparations, i did go for the written test. It was the 10 aptitude questions and an added english test. i remember answering 6/7 aptitude correct, no idea abt english, was always bad in english. Test was in Christ college(have the emails still). With the heart pumping in my ears, saw the result after the noon with my name on the cleared list. Wow what a moment :). There is still my villain waiting, yes new Infy rules had included an HR interview, and i heard that ppl usually clear it easily as it is only a formality. Had another friend there telling it could fail as well. i think it was the next day to take the interview @ Infy Blore DC. First entry into Infy DC, interview was much better than my past ones, did answer a puzzle and dint answer one.

I did wait for some time for the result, meanwhile, Hari, school friend, called me to tell me that he got an Infy offer and willing to quit the TCS campus offer. He had also taken the Infy test on the same date as mine but it was just casually at Chennai. i believe he got the offer in a week after attending the intw and his training was in Blore, but i got nothing yet. Here in the room, friends already felt the burden of having accommodated me and asked me to leave politely. Yes i came in for a temp 2 week acco. Without the fainted infy offer, I was not interested in looking for another room and some how felt i should go back home quitting the job as well. Told them will leave by the end of the month.

On 29th of September, i vaguely remember that Ashraf, college friend, contacted me asking me to check my email, guess i had given him my login to check my emails as we dont freq check emails to save from paying browsing centers. He told me that i got the offer. Went to check, confirmed the offer and Oh yeah....the moment of my life....called my mom to shout loud that i got through....was the only most extra ordinary, joyful, personal happy moment i had, that i also expressed out as well. Moment of accomplishment! Moment of success! Ray of Hope! Brightness of the Future! It was so important because of the long experienced financial pain from the past. It came in as the pain reliever.

Part-1 ends here and continued in Part - 2