A bitter sweet symphony - Part 3
I had entered the finest time of my life. The third year of MSIT, is something I will never forget in my life. I had just completed summer training which made me a confident chap. The subjects this time were very well clubbed together. Each subject complemented the other and I got to know how a computer really works. One fine day Alok called and asked me if I was willing to work on a freelance project. I said yes and didn’t ask about the monetary benefits. I Guess money did not matter to me. It was a Parking Manager software that we had to develop for the parking lots in Connaught Place. It was quite a task to understand what our client wanted. Eventually we never understood what he wanted. Anyway, I worked days and weeks to get that thing working perfectly. All that integration with a web cam, the low power PC it had to run on and with the dot matrix printer was a big ask. We did it; we got only Rs.2000 per head for it. We tried to sell the software to local mall as well, but the mall management did not have the belief in Information Technology. Anyway, I was satisfied that I was able to fine tune our skills. Maybe if we had the knowledge of software models early on, we could have done better. These were only early days.
MSIT used to organize a fabulous event called Exuberance. It was our beloved cultural festival. I wanted to be a part of it. Shipra and Saumya of my class offered me a position in their dance troupe. I gladly accepted. I got Vivek in as well. We were outstanding. You could make out easily that it was our dance troupe – Six Senz, which was practicing. We were uniquely horrible. ‘Dhoom Machale’ was to be our dance track, I was in protest. But I was not the boss, so I silently became Govinda. I did manage to sneak a peppy track in the sequence. All the members of my dance troupe were busy in some other events in Exuberance. So they did not feel it necessary to practice. I kept pushing them and we did squeeze in some practice. On the evening of our performance, we were enjoying it in the backstage until our call came. My dance partner, Shipra, got nervous. That was infectious. All those GTBIT people were really kicking it. Then it came, and we were so welcomed by our home crowd. We went off the stage with the “MSIT balle balle” chants all over. I was feeling like a superstar! Like Mithun Chakraborty! And then we went dancing in the jam session.
By December the technical festival’s preparation had started. We pondered over names for the events, the new events that we could introduce and the usual head banging. I was primarily entrusted with the task of designing the software for the prelims and the registration. Besides I was responsible for the first ever overnight website design contest – Tech Spider, along with Shubh from CSE department. I remember being awake 3 days and 2 nights at stretch, a first for me at least, to get the things right. We did get it right fortunately. Everyone in the management was happy about the event. We managed to create a brand called Virus. We had been infected. I had never loved tea, until those sleepless nights. I had to take it. Please forgive me God. Simultaneously, IT had won the silver in the football tournament. We had played better than the BCA team in the final. We were done in only by a golden goal. I pledged to get them next time.
There were just 15 days left for our first placement process. The Cormens had given way to the R.S.Agarwals. Everyone in the 2006 Batch was now a placement guru. The junior batch would come to know of this fact in a year’s time. HCL Technologies meant the world to everyone. It was the best company in the country in March 2005. That was what we felt then. Of course, it was to be outcaste by many as just being another ‘Pappu Software Wale ki dukaan’ in some months to come. 18th March 2005, was to be a long day. The seniors were there, to help us out. They had put a lot of effort in this. I had failed to use those opportunities. The presentation was delayed by the “teething problems” as the HCL Guy said. That man was visibly tensed by us. We were hooligans in formal wear. Like the Italian Mafia minus the cigars. Somehow, the presenter kept selling HCL Technologies only to me. He was talking only to me. Did I shave only half of my face? I checked my tie. I made sure that I was not wearing one. I couldn’t understand why I was being compelled to pay attention to him. He showed us a slide about the potential growth at their excellent workplace. It showed a tilted sword, above which was a depiction of the career ladder at HCL. I got the hint. The sword will always hang over you! After the presentation the usual Q&A. Obviously we were too eager for the test to ask questions of our own. The guy on my right got up and made us even more anxious. He had a question. He congratulated the owner of HCL, Mr.Shiv Nadar, through those people for getting some award. Then he narrated the whole HCL Tech website back to the people from HCL. Argggh…! Get over with it!
I sat on the first desk. Mrityunjaya behind me. People say ‘All the best’ or ‘Best of Luck’, usually. He was different, “Ayush, you are the only one who can get through”, he said. It was a bit less than flattery. Obviously, I can’t be the only one. Results came, I cleared the written stage. Everyone was shocked, only 15 had cleared. I was confident about the group discussion. It was my domain. I cleared that too. Down to 9, now. To the interview, in a pair of faded jeans and 3 pages of resume, I went. I met the same guy in the interview who was invigilating in my room. We had chatted earlier. He had got to know that I loved data structures and TOC. I had marinated myself. He would be heating up the oven, to grill me! Tactical mistake. My first interview and I was greeted by a bouncer. “What if I say I don’t select you?” the HR hotshot, Amit, said. “There’s a big world out there. I would try again at other places, including HCL.” I said. “Somebody’s loss is someone else’s gain”, take that!! What was I doing? I don’t remember how I had gathered the courage to say this. Anyway the interview went fine otherwise. When outside, to calm down everyone, I tried(please note – tried to) by singing out of pitch songs like “Hum honge kamyab”. Then came the results. “Congratulations Abhijeet Singh Lekhi , Saumya Bhardwaj, Pratul Kr. Singh and Sachin Grover”, announced Mr.C.M. Sharma. I said to myself , it’s alright. “There’s one more, Ayush Paul!” I would have dropped dead if was 5 years more old. The offer letter in hand the HCL merchandized cap on my head, I was thrown up in the air, by a jubilant lot. Vivek was there to make me more excited about what I had just achieved. He had also changed a flat tire of my car that day. I never thanked him for that. I was amongst the lucky 5 to get the job that day. I never looked backward then on. Although the woods were dark and deep , there were miles to go before I would sleep………miles to go before I would sleep……………………….
MSIT used to organize a fabulous event called Exuberance. It was our beloved cultural festival. I wanted to be a part of it. Shipra and Saumya of my class offered me a position in their dance troupe. I gladly accepted. I got Vivek in as well. We were outstanding. You could make out easily that it was our dance troupe – Six Senz, which was practicing. We were uniquely horrible. ‘Dhoom Machale’ was to be our dance track, I was in protest. But I was not the boss, so I silently became Govinda. I did manage to sneak a peppy track in the sequence. All the members of my dance troupe were busy in some other events in Exuberance. So they did not feel it necessary to practice. I kept pushing them and we did squeeze in some practice. On the evening of our performance, we were enjoying it in the backstage until our call came. My dance partner, Shipra, got nervous. That was infectious. All those GTBIT people were really kicking it. Then it came, and we were so welcomed by our home crowd. We went off the stage with the “MSIT balle balle” chants all over. I was feeling like a superstar! Like Mithun Chakraborty! And then we went dancing in the jam session.
By December the technical festival’s preparation had started. We pondered over names for the events, the new events that we could introduce and the usual head banging. I was primarily entrusted with the task of designing the software for the prelims and the registration. Besides I was responsible for the first ever overnight website design contest – Tech Spider, along with Shubh from CSE department. I remember being awake 3 days and 2 nights at stretch, a first for me at least, to get the things right. We did get it right fortunately. Everyone in the management was happy about the event. We managed to create a brand called Virus. We had been infected. I had never loved tea, until those sleepless nights. I had to take it. Please forgive me God. Simultaneously, IT had won the silver in the football tournament. We had played better than the BCA team in the final. We were done in only by a golden goal. I pledged to get them next time.
There were just 15 days left for our first placement process. The Cormens had given way to the R.S.Agarwals. Everyone in the 2006 Batch was now a placement guru. The junior batch would come to know of this fact in a year’s time. HCL Technologies meant the world to everyone. It was the best company in the country in March 2005. That was what we felt then. Of course, it was to be outcaste by many as just being another ‘Pappu Software Wale ki dukaan’ in some months to come. 18th March 2005, was to be a long day. The seniors were there, to help us out. They had put a lot of effort in this. I had failed to use those opportunities. The presentation was delayed by the “teething problems” as the HCL Guy said. That man was visibly tensed by us. We were hooligans in formal wear. Like the Italian Mafia minus the cigars. Somehow, the presenter kept selling HCL Technologies only to me. He was talking only to me. Did I shave only half of my face? I checked my tie. I made sure that I was not wearing one. I couldn’t understand why I was being compelled to pay attention to him. He showed us a slide about the potential growth at their excellent workplace. It showed a tilted sword, above which was a depiction of the career ladder at HCL. I got the hint. The sword will always hang over you! After the presentation the usual Q&A. Obviously we were too eager for the test to ask questions of our own. The guy on my right got up and made us even more anxious. He had a question. He congratulated the owner of HCL, Mr.Shiv Nadar, through those people for getting some award. Then he narrated the whole HCL Tech website back to the people from HCL. Argggh…! Get over with it!
I sat on the first desk. Mrityunjaya behind me. People say ‘All the best’ or ‘Best of Luck’, usually. He was different, “Ayush, you are the only one who can get through”, he said. It was a bit less than flattery. Obviously, I can’t be the only one. Results came, I cleared the written stage. Everyone was shocked, only 15 had cleared. I was confident about the group discussion. It was my domain. I cleared that too. Down to 9, now. To the interview, in a pair of faded jeans and 3 pages of resume, I went. I met the same guy in the interview who was invigilating in my room. We had chatted earlier. He had got to know that I loved data structures and TOC. I had marinated myself. He would be heating up the oven, to grill me! Tactical mistake. My first interview and I was greeted by a bouncer. “What if I say I don’t select you?” the HR hotshot, Amit, said. “There’s a big world out there. I would try again at other places, including HCL.” I said. “Somebody’s loss is someone else’s gain”, take that!! What was I doing? I don’t remember how I had gathered the courage to say this. Anyway the interview went fine otherwise. When outside, to calm down everyone, I tried(please note – tried to) by singing out of pitch songs like “Hum honge kamyab”. Then came the results. “Congratulations Abhijeet Singh Lekhi , Saumya Bhardwaj, Pratul Kr. Singh and Sachin Grover”, announced Mr.C.M. Sharma. I said to myself , it’s alright. “There’s one more, Ayush Paul!” I would have dropped dead if was 5 years more old. The offer letter in hand the HCL merchandized cap on my head, I was thrown up in the air, by a jubilant lot. Vivek was there to make me more excited about what I had just achieved. He had also changed a flat tire of my car that day. I never thanked him for that. I was amongst the lucky 5 to get the job that day. I never looked backward then on. Although the woods were dark and deep , there were miles to go before I would sleep………miles to go before I would sleep……………………….
Comments
Post a Comment