My Story

There are many things I could be doing right now, but I chose to write. Not out of any particular interest in writing (not that I don't like writing), but more out of boredom and an urge to do something creative and the most creative thing I can do right now sitting in my 3*3m cubicle is to write. This would invite the least amount of gazes from people around and also would not be glaringly noticeable by my PM.

One would wonder, how long a person can go on writing without knowing what he/she is writing about. Probably this is what is going on in your mind too. Let me be clear. I'm sailing in the same boat as yours. I have no idea. This is just going to be an outlet for the ideas going on in my mind, which could be interesting for some and could not be for others. But for others who are in my position, this would be yet another way of passing away precious time in office.

Welcome to the IT industry!

Just a small introduction for people new to this phenomenon- Young girls and boys fresh out of engineering colleges are recruited by IT companies during the end of their third year of college. Though the selection process is fair enough to judge the best candidates, one need not usually worry much about getting a job, because in city colleges like mine, fifty odd companies come for recruitment. It makes sure that almost all the students get "placed" in some company or the other. Nevertheless, there would be a good few who would be vying for the top five companies. I wasn't one among them.
Not that I wasn't sincere enough to try, but just that I didn't know how to. Getting top grades in college is one thing and getting a job is another. One thing is sure; these two are not dependent or even independent. I guess it depends on knowledge, attitude, smartness and a great deal on mother luck. But, I'm still guessing.
I was one of the toppers in college, but wasn't really interested in studying. How could that be? You might wonder. I studied more out of a desire to keep my parents happy than to get top grades and little out of a sincere interest in acquiring knowledge. Not many people belong to the last category though. Quite a few study for getting top grades, others for the heck of it, but a majority in order to get a good job. Back to square one.

Coming back to it, being one of the toppers, friends expected me to get placed in the first company that recruited from our college. But it didn't quite happen that way. I didn't know why and also didn't bother much because none of my friends got placed too. No, it wasn't sadistic pleasure, just a happy good feeling that I have a chance of getting a job in the same company where my friends would join. Okay, at least where some of them would.
It never turned out to be like that. My college was increasing the number of classes for training students like me who are yet to be "placed". It made little difference to me. By the time I got a job, most of my friends were made future employees of companies which didn't find a very capable employee in me.
Every dog has its day. Mine was on 8th July 2006. Finally I got a job. Not a very famous company though, but I was relieved that I needn't go through those arduous rounds of written test, group discussion and interview any more. Those were days of celebration with the feeling of elation occupying most of my mind and heart until time drew by to dilute those feelings.

Final year:
Every college student will have fond memories of that last year in college which is a threshold point in one's life. I too have mine. Finally we were the so called "seniors" of the college, though nothing much changed to indicate that. Business went about as usual. The only difference was lesser subjects, lesser working days and a project to be submitted.
We were (still are) a gang of 8 girls, each of a different possible shape and size. But, we form a wholesome bunch of friends. As it always happens, we started preparing for the final semester exams only on the D day, a few days before that, to be precise. It wasn't going to be easy, but we thought we can make it worthwhile at least. We camped on each person's house before each examination and studied together. We were "group studying". We had just two subjects, but that's quite enough to trouble an engineering student. We had ample amount of time and little prior knowledge of the subject. So, a plan was meticulously formulated for each day of the study holidays by one of the more responsible girls of the lot, not me. It turned out that the day before each of the exams were to be spent at my home. What a sight it was! Almost resembled a ladies hostel! Mom and my elder sister spent most of their time in the kitchen. Though my friends were a cooperative lot, as we were left undisturbed to study, cooking was taken over. Though those days were really hectic, we learnt a lot; a lot more than the subjects. It was my first hand experience of team work.

First Day at work:
Exams got over and we celebrated; before the results were out and after that also. Then came the toughest part. Exams got over by May 2006. I spent most of my time enjoying the free time I got after four long years of college. But after some time it started to wear out. I was eagerly waiting to start my career, but had to wait for a "call" from the company; but not too eager enough to gain some knowledge in my field of work, which some of my friends did. I learnt yoga, pranic healing; things which I would never have attempted otherwise, except to kill time. I also did some things which I enjoyed; I learnt to drive a car. This was probably the most useful thing I learnt during those days; useful enough to get a four wheeler license.
During an unexpected hour of the day, I got a call from my company. I had to report for a medical check up. Fine, just another routine. Dad and I went to the diagnostic center. I was supposed to go for the check up on empty stomach. By the time half the tests were done, my stomach started growling. Even after all the tests were done, I had to wait for a green signal from the lab technicians to ascertain that all tests have been done. I waited in the lounge. Till then I hadn't noticed some people chatting in the lounge, quite a loud chat. A group of college guys and girls. Probably for some other company. Throughout the checkup I managed not to talk to even one of them, except for an instance of "where should I go for this test?" to a girl who was waiting next to me for a test. That isn't strange for me. I didn't find any need to talk to them. After I got the green signal, I left the place with Dad to some nearby hotel to have some much needed food. It later turned out that all those guys and girls I saw in the diagnostic center were employed in the same company as mine and we ended up in the same batch of training. Some of them are my friends now.

It is really difficult to predict how I will deal with people. But as it would have been predicted by anyone who's close to me, I seldom spoke to my new batch mates at work. But it hasn't always been like that.

School:
School life was quite turbulent. I was changing my school every two years for want of admission in a particular school near home, which eventually happened when I was promoted to the seventh standard. Let me begin from Pre Kinder Garden. I completed my first two years of schooling in a small school at a walk able distance from home. I don't have any special memories of that school except that it was a small place and we used to sit on the corridors and have lunch. One can find the school still in the same place within a small compound that houses a residential block on the ground floor and the school in the first floor. After completing my L.K.G in the same school, I moved to yet another school near home. Legend has it that I was double promoted to the first standard in this school, the reason being "I was too intelligent for the U.K.G". This particular piece of information was never verified. During these first few years of schooling, I never made any long lasting friendship that I can remember now.
Then after two more years, time came to move to another school. This one was pretty far away from home, out of city limits. For the first time I went to school by bus. It was quite a long journey, about 1hr long. While travelling to school, I vomited; every day. These two years of school life are special to me for reasons more than one. Many incidents took place which moulded my attitude towards life, in general and people, in particular.
My parents form an important part of my life. There are many things they have undergone in order to keep me happy. Every parent does that. But anyway, my parents are special to me. It is during these two years that due to some problems I had to miss my third standard annual exam, with permission from the school. I realized the importance of this particular year of my life only years later.

It is during this year that my academic performance started to shine. I also had the opportunity of performing in my first stage appearance. During one of the exams I had got high marks in Hindi. So it was decided that I would play a Punjabi girl in the forthcoming play on national integration. The teacher in-charge asked me to get a salwar suit for the role. It was my first salwar, a blue and red salwar suit, which I proudly showed off to all my friends the next day. Though mere stage presence is a great achievement for a beginner, I expected at least some lines of Hindi dialogue, because this particular role was “awarded” to me for my “incredible” performance in the Hindi exam. It later turned out to be a damp squib. The guy who played the role of my husband, a Punjabi munda, had pages of lengthy emotional dialogues in between which, at a particular instance, I, the Punjabi kudi, had to utter “haan ji, haan ji”. That’s it.

I had started to make some friends and along with it came trouble. A rumor was doing rounds that a bungalow behind the school was haunted by ghosts and the bungalow was right behind the girls’ restroom. One day when I was inside the restroom, my friends locked me up inside. I noticed it only when I tried to come out. I knocked on the door and called out a few times. When I got no response I got tensed. Through a small ventilation in the restroom, I could see a part of the bungalow and that was enough to press the panic button in me. I screamed my lungs out, enough to wake up a polar bear from hibernation. To avoid getting into any further trouble, my friends unlocked the door and let me out. What followed is best left untold.

My Home:
I was, and am still, staying in an apartment where there was always constant noise of chatter and laughter. We were a bunch of kids of almost the same age. Those were the days when computers and cartoon channels had not yet invaded homes. Most of the time at home was spent playing games which were real ones, not the ones you play using simulation in computers.

Like in most parts of India, electricity supply was errant in my locality too. So whenever we were devoid of it, it was fun time. A bunch of 4-5 kids, including me, gathered in the 2nd floor verandah to rid the others of any peace and comfort that wasn’t already taken away along with the electricity. I was of the tom-boyish type and one of the louder ones at that. So we were, if it can be said, “the center of attraction” of the apartment during that time, if complaints can also be included as evidence. Four corners, Antakshari, Dumb charades and numerous other unnamed games were frequently played by us. When the electricity resumed, there would be a loud howl of disappointment as we had to return back to our homes for studying or as it was bed time. Even during other times when we had a supply of electricity, we indulged in indoor games like carrom, Risk, Battleship, Monopoly, Clue and many games with the evergreen pack of cards. Little did we realize that we wouldn’t even have time to play these games in future. Games really teach a lot. There was this usual accusation of cheating, a person disrupting the game by walking halfway out of it, only to return back for the next game. As we grew up, we had lot more to study and the only time we got to play was when the electricity supply was cut. But festivals always provided an opportunity for us to get together again.

To be continued...