Deadline

Not a new word for most of you...right? "An urgent issue.. to be resolved in next two hours", " This has to be finished today EOD", "Deadline to release this patch is 1 week"... These are the most common statements that you must have heard your supervisor or manager say most of the time. At times I feel that they are like some code themselves in which a function of "Show Alert" is called whenever the client calls them up and asks to finish something :) and the "Show Alert" block comprises methods like "Leaves canceled" "No coffee breaks" "Weekend Working"...so on and so forth....Wow!! so well I know the managerial class of people by now.. 3.2 years of IT experience huh!!
Well, this time my managers gave me a very different kind of deadline...It was actually not a deadline.. it was a "line" which if I crossed, i would be "dead"..simple enough ha? 22nd October 2010... friday..appraisal discussion..my supervisor and my delivery manager called me to the delivery manager's cabin..

Act I Scene 1:
Delivery manager: Lady, you are not performing..
Me: Why sir, what made you think so? I mean, whatever task I have been given till date, I have finished all on or even before time.
Supervisor: I have hardly given you any task.
Me: And may I know the reason please?
Supervisor: Because, i did not have that confidence in you that you will be able to give the desired output.
Me: Can you give it a try?
Delivery Manager(In a rude and insulting tone): Ok, lets give her 2 weeks..if we find her up to the mark, then ok..else I think you should try for big companies...that's where you have come from..and I think that kind of environment suits you..you are not fit for this organization.
Me: ?????????? Totally puzzled....
I mean what?? I am not good at work and I am suitable for big companies?? What was that??I was confused..whether to take is as a compliment or comment..
Well...I took it as a DEADLINE....dear...2 weeks...then you are gone...at such times there are a few people whom i prefer to contact immediately...my best friend Ajay,my Supervisor at my previous "big company" Vivek and my 24*7 help desk Arham...

Act I Scene 2:
I rush home.. Vivek told me about walkin at one of the "big" companies the very next day...that night I studied like a student who forgot his examination date and somehow came to know just a day before the exam... One full book to finish..CV to be edited..print outs needed...tensed, perplexed and determined..I studied.. I told dad about the hell I was in and told him not to tell mom....could not eat..could not sleep..so huge was the fear of being jobless in 2 weeks..

Act II Scene 1: Saturday, 23rd Oct 2010
Well,I am the only player in this scene... Ajay,Vivek,Dad,Bittu Da,Shipra and other morale boosters are working at the back end..Interview at one "big" company.No food no water since morning..I was so damn tensed..I would have puked if i took in anything ..1st round...2nd round...hunger...still waiting...hunger..tension..sleepy..then finally the HR declares that the 3rd and the final round would be telephonic...Relaxed...not because I had cleared 2 rounds..but because I could rush to bhaia's place now and have food!!!!

Act II Scene 2
Monday..Tuesday...days were passing like hell.. I used to sit right next to my supervisor..and he had given me a "Maha faltu" kind of a task to check my ability...I don't know what ability...coding ability or patience ability..All the time I used to wait for the HR's phone call for the last and final round.. Well, it was scheduled on Wednesday..27th Oct 2010..I cleared it!!!yesssssssss!!!!! and within the next two hours i got the job confirmation in that "big" company..It was a verbal confirmation though...I was still waiting for the offer letter.Wednesday went well..Thursday...day by day that guy's attitude towards me was becoming awful..I ran away from office..could not take the insults any more...

Act II Scene 3: 29th Oct 2010
Friday...I messaged him.."I wont be able to come to office..not well enough..please allow me to work from home.." He replied "I am sorry..i am not sure of your productivity..can't allow you to work from home..please apply for leave"... Another good time to have measured the boiling point of blood...Back again to serious studies..there was another walk in the next day at another "big" company..and to be very specific..the fifth largest company of the world...And yeah...I also received the offer letter from the company at which I was given a verbal confirmation two days back..Confidence level increased..

Act III Scene 1: 30th Oct 2010
Immense confidence...interview.. first round..second round..no hunger this time coz I had had a packet of maggi as breakfast..third round.."Congratulations..you are through..will soon give you a call for salary negotiation.." Party time!!!!! I had already drafted my resignation while my blood was boiling the previous day and it showed very well in the mail... Came home..opened my mailbox/drafts and clicked the "send" button with pride...

This is how it happens my dear friends...you must have heard your managers saying.."Be proactive"...This was proactiveness...I was asked to look for 1 job in 2 weeks...and keeping in mind my manager's words "Probably you are meant to work in "big" companies"...I managed to get myself 2 jobs in 1 week...

Happy...content..and confident!!!!! Happy diwali..

Mixed Bag....

Writing after a long time..last 10 days were pathetic..Met with a serious accident in which my left leg was badly damaged..Well, I am recovering now..almost recovered...only the stiffness in the leg still remains..it was bandaged since the past ten days..so the doc says that blood circulation would take some time to get back to normal..My friends were a great support.
I and Shipra were going to a nearby mall for a movie when the auto rickshaw tuppled..tuppled at 90 degrees straight on the uneven road.I fell on the ground and the rick fell over me...Thanks to Ajay and Ankur for their timely help..Shipra would not have been able to manage all alone..but she also cared a lot at home...damn it I had vomited on her bedsheet...which she cleaned!!yukkkks!!!! Hey shipra...thanks yaar :( I needed full bedrest,so mumma had to come over...poor lady...coming all over from Kanpur to Mumbai to take care of me..Its rightly said "God can not be present eveverywhere,so he made mothers"... Love you mom..love you a lot..Wounds had started healing,when yester-evening I came to know about Ajay's accident..why does it always have to happen this way?? Any ill happening to me has to happen to him..that too with more severity..he got 5 stiches on the chin!!! My God!! His skin is sooo sensitive...blood oozes out even if he scratches hard..and 5 stiches!!!!!!!It must have been pathetic..No one to take care of him and he acts "Mr. Brave" as if nothing has happened..Am feeling so low since yesternight...
Well,came to office today...hoping that will be working for 5-6 hours a day and then leave for home..My leaves are all exhausted..and fit and fine I am..no other problem other that a bit swollen leg..It would have been so silly to sit at home uselessly...but.......nothing goes smooth... My delivery manager says..."either you stay at home and rest or you come and work for full 9 hours!!!" Phew!!!
So, I am carrying a mixed bag of emotions...
1) Proud of myself..for being a good and brave girl and recovering so soon
2) Obliged towards my family and friends(especially Ajay,Ankur and Shipra)
3) Happy coz no more yukkks medicines and turmeric wala milk
4) Damn damn sad for my best friend Ajay...hey...get well soon yaar :(
5) Angry....very very angry for the silly IT rules...even if you have no work...come and sit in office for 9 hours or stay at home for no reason and get your salary deducted..There is no midway out!!

Here I am

Hello....
Not much of work today..infact,frankly speaking no work today ;) Came to office at 12:40 pm...which is around 40 minutes late than usual...and as of now no work at all...I hate online studying...So, I am waiting for 2:30 pm...so that I can go out for lunch..and as far as work is concerned..I will be receiving a file at 11:20 am EST..which makes it around 8:45 pm IST..I have to work upon that..till then simply no work today...
How did I land here? Interesting story to be narrated..It's 2:07 pm and I have to wind up by 2:30 pm..I don't wanna make Shipra wait for lunch and I don't like to leave drafted blogs..once I begin to write..I end up by pressing the "publish post" button..So, here I begin...
It all began in March 2006....I was enjoying a nice evening nap in my hostel room...when someone came in "Hey...get up..Satyam is coming for a placement pool..we need to go to Allahabad tomorrow.." What rubbish!! never had any company come for our seniors,why would they come for us...rumour spreaders all around!! But,to be true...it left me with a thought "Sacchi aa rahi hai kya? ;)" All 4 of us..Garima,Shipra,Savita and myself got up reluctantly...somebody told.."Satyam's written comprises puzzles". And woooooo..you could see everyone in the hostel with a "Shakuntala Devi puzzle book" in their hands...I went,washed my face...by then Shipra and Savita had seriously started off...It was very boring...seriously very boring...I went to another friend's room and began to frame the Curriculum Vitaes for all four of us...Seriously..four of us had same CVs..we had same objectives,same skills and same hobbies!! :)
We went to Allahabad...all companies used to come to one of the colleges there "United College Of Engineering and Research"...Well,people appeared for the written..people passed..people failed...as for me and Garima...our luck failed..The hall tickets(kind of admit card)that we were given was fake!!Our entire IT Branch had got fake hall tickets..so we could not appear for the test..Wow!! thank God I didn't study those puzzles ;).When other students were waiting for their interview results to be declared, the unlucky(or may be lucky) bunch of IT students from Northern India Engineering College were enjoying the cool Ganges breezes at the Naini Bridge...beautiful it was...Ahh!! I am getting nostalgic!! Well...we came back...some of our batch mates were placed...to be true..yes..I felt bad when I saw some less deserving people with a job in their pockets...so the strive had begun now...
Next HCL Technologies came in...Uffffffff!! Such a tough written test they had set up...obviously I could not pass..no regrets whatsoever...
Then came in Syntel...I tell you,that was the best question paper I had ever seen...all full of silly mathematical questions and easy vocabulary...I did well..but.......Syntel had to select only 3 students among I don't know how many thousands...again a trip to the Naini bridge and then back to Lucknow...
The world was seeming to be a dark room filled with despair..Some more of our batchmates had been placed by now and comments like "Ho jaega...dont worry..kismat hai.."etc etc had started to pour in..It's actually pathetic when people come to you with basket full of sympathies...
Then came Birla Soft..another tough paper...I wont be able to solve it even if it's given to me now..what minute details of RDBMS and OS and what not!! Well,Siddhartha qualified the written..and as for me,Garima and Shipra..we concluded "Hamari job kabhi nai lag sakti.." Given up!! Savita did that long back :)
Soon came in the news...Infy is coming...I requested these two to try luck once..one last time..we went like brave soldiers.....bad experience again...Now,I gave up.."I will never go in for any company...finish!!!!!!" I am a good for nothing...
Then...7th July 2006..I-flex came in...I had decided not to go..I was resting at home..enjoying the semester break...even mom dad had given up..they are always like that..joyous in my happiness and doomed in my despair..love you mom dad!! A friend called up..."Chalo na ghoom ke aate hain Allahabad..please.." Reluctantly,I went..appeared for the test..had not studied a single word after the Syntel experience(no doubt the Birla Soft paper seemed tough ;))..well I qualified the written test...8th of July 2006 was supposed to be the day for the interviews..Morale had boosted up by now.."If I clear the technical...no ways will I fail in the HR". Yeah..my friends used to call me "Confidence ki tokri"..So,technical,HR all cleared..and I was holding the offer letter of I-flex Solutions Ltd. in my hands by 9:00 pm on 8th of July 2006...First time I came from Allahabad "non empty handed"......
Final year of college was better now...got a chance to enjoy more..lesser worries..had a job in hand...Joined I-flex on 13th August 2007...must say,I enjoyed and learned a lot...had a nice time,met some of the best people of my life there...but.....after 2.8 years..I began to get bored..with what? work? Nahh..with the salary!!!!!!
Then began another phase..naukri.com,monsterjob.com etc etc...TCS was my first experience..they needed testers..I was a developer...doomed!!
Then came a "growing company"...I went to their teenie-meenie office..and after looking at my profile they said "Sorry Ma'm we can not afford you."Oh wow!!!I deserved a pat on the back ;)
Then Syntel again....didn't make for it...then Cognizant..was not eligible for it...then one fine day.....when my blood had almost reached the boiling point..I had just reached home after a tiring day at office...my cell buzzed..."Hi,this is Immaculate from Indus Valley Partners". Frankly speaking,I was so tired that neither did I get the lady's name nor the company's :) Well..went through a couple of rounds of interview...and here I am.......Going for lunch..
Bbye...take care..

I begin writing.......

Hello...
Those of you knowing me,must be aware that I love to write... till yesterday I wrote on paper...today,having no work around...I thought of creating a blog....I googled about it "How to create a blog" and here I go.... Trust me friends... whenever you feel low or depressed or even joyous or overwhelmed, when you are feeling some bizzare kind of a feeling...when you don't have anyone to share with...just start writing... you might not be a very good writer or a poet....but,if you have feelings...just don't keep them botled in your heart....write them down...may be even jot them down in points....I don't say that write for the entire world to see what you wrote...write for your own self...whatever you feel like...just let your feelings flow.................