Memoirs of ILP at Trivandrum : The Panorama Part 1

There is a certain phase of life when one does so many things that when one looks back, its almost like a movie, your mind speaks to you like a little talkative child, excited & gleaming with joy.When I joined TCS and got Trivandrum as my location for Initial Learning Period, little did I know that I would do things which I never thought I would.

Here are the events which are memorable during my time at Trivandrum,something I will cherish forever.

1) Hill, Waterfall & Sea: I have climbed a hill, been to waterfall through a forest with slippery rocks, surrounded by leeches all of this wearing lady like slippers.Yes, slippers ! The all girls trip to Ponmudi with the beautiful drizzles & greenery of Kerala, dancing in the van, walking through clouds, drinking mountain water,eating hot biriyani in a restaurant surrounded by clouds, slipping through the rocks to go to the waterfall, helping each other, almost crying with the dread of leeches yet emerging out victorious and playing in the stream water.Towards the end our driver surprising us by taking us to the beautiful Shankhamugam beach. Hill , Waterfall, Beach   all in one day.Mother nature couldnt be more kind ! :)

 

2) Saving Bruno - One day , coming back from the lab in the evening, me and  my friend Soumya found a little puppy helplessly running here and there amidst speeding vehicles.Being avid pet lovers , we both have a very special corner in our hearts for dogs. We can go to the extent of saying that dogs are better than most humans.Seeing the little one moving around scared, we couldnt help but go and hold him in our hands.We started talking to him, mostly the pet lovers can relate to.We asked him where his mommy was, when the guards told us that his mommy was no where to be found.

 That moment Soumya said that if we leave him here, he might die.We decided to take him with us, take him where? TCS Executive hostel strictly forbids animals in the premises.Yet we decided to take him with us.We named him Bruno, I still remember me & Soumya holding Bruno and running.We got muffins for him from a nearby Maggi shop, which he happily ate.Beneath our happy smiles was the fear of where we would keep him. On reaching hostel, the guard told us we couldnt take Bruno in, our hearts sank.We started pleading  before the guards. Nothing worked. Lastly I went to the Mess staff to get some milk for our Little Bruno. 

There are times when you feel God is present, just next to you.It is a moment of miracle,the Head Chef of TCS Executive Hostel heard about Bruno while I was getting food for him.Seeing my tear filled eyes , he decided to meet Bruno, and after meeting him, he decided to take Bruno with him to his home.Yes, those hands which prepared food for us everyday decided to be the guardian of Bruno.Me and Soumya were overjoyed.We thanked him through our happiest smiles.Bruno was sneaked in to the TCS Executive Hostel where he was the center of attention of the entire staff.From the roads to the home of Head Chef , Bruno had made quite a journey !

Tears rolled down our cheeks.I realised for the first time I had tears of joy :) Life truly is beautiful !

Snapshots from Hell : A Review

Ever since I came to know that TCS Bangalore library doesnt have fiction books, my heart sunk.I am an avid reader and fiction books have been my favorite.I mean I have nothing against books titled "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" & "How to Instantly Influence People" etc etc but I believe human mind is so intriguing that it cannot change itself by books that step wise tell it to look at things or develop a perspective.

The most powerful books that truly leave an impression are the ones in which we live the life of the author in the book.These books make us ponder on a lot of things that we would miss out otherwise.

One day wandering through the book shelves of TCS library , I came across a book titled "Snapshots from Hell" by Peter Robinson.Delighted to see a title that differed from topics like SAP FICO, JAVA Complete Reference, Performance Appraisals, I reached out and opened the book. The introductory note said this book was about the experience of a poet in Standford Business School.I went ahead and issued it.

The author was the former speech writer in Ronald Reagan's office when he took a sabbatical and went ahead for MBA at Standford hoping for a life with money and happiness ever after.Set in early 1990's, this book talks about the MBA phenomenon where the smartest people go to a business school, from diverse backgrounds ranging from Banking to Civil Services to Army, all with common idea that they would win the world after MBA. Almost 2 decades later I feel nothing really has changed.

While students like the author who were "poets" or students with minimal mathematical background had a tough time managing the calculations for subjects like Macroeconomics, Computer modelling etc, the "Non poets"  like the bankers, consultants and engineers happily & competitively sailed through them.The book is filled with interesting insights from the Standford classroom where sometimes Professors taught something that went totally above heads of even the brightest of the class, where students protested against mediocre teaching, studying hard for mid terms & end terms, competing , falling in depression, making study groups and slogging over case studies.In other words, It felt like just any other college.

The author states the biggest impact of Standford MBA was that it helped him develop a quantitative & analytical way of looking at things. Right from Organisational Behavior to Finance, each course made sure the students develop a perspective that is supported by numbers.Standford MBA students having numerous accomplishments were also normal humans  having strong egos,relationship hassles, worries about future, yet at the end coming together as a single group just like any other graduating batch.

The biggest lessons from the book were when the author describes two incidents. One, where the transition of students from rosy life assumption after MBA  to the extreme hard work during Business school to some landing a dream job at The Investment Banks while others struggling for jobs.It says that "While we all chase some things beyond our reach, crying helplessly, running restlessly , without catching a breath , it dawns upon at the end that there was no destination after all, it was the journey that was all that mattered."

Second was during a Marketing class when an executive with Procter & Gamble visited the classroom and discussed about a product they launched which failed miserably at the market. It conveyed a simple message "Its ok to make mistakes in life". Even big boys like P&G who hired the best brains made mistakes, so it was absolutely fine for mere mortals like us to make mistakes.

An awesome read! This book exhibits the journey of a person who joined an institution where he considered himself as a misfit but at the end discovered a side of his he had never met before.Hope I experience something like this in life :) Cheers to life !

Memoirs of ILP @ Trivandrum : The First Steps

There are certain phases in life when one feels like living an entire lifetime..It is  those phases which make you do things you havent done ever, meet people you never imagined of meeting and finally help you evolve into a happier person who has so much to cherish.

My Initial Learning Period (ILP) at TCS Trivandrum has been such an experience..an experience of a lifetime.Kerala is truly god's own country, the beautiful weather, the omnipresent coconut trees, the golden beaches, the still backwaters and finally the hills and waterfalls.On the way to the Executive Hostel of TCS , I was looking outside the car window, the mild winds blowing, the markets, churches passing by , I had the same excitement in me that I used to have as a child. It is the typical feeling of heartbeats going for a break dance.

Finally we reached the TCS Executive hostel.You can mistake it to be a 3 star hotel.Unloading the baggage, we moved towards the building.Happily collecting the keys we moved to our rooms.The rooms were awesome.I felt special  The journey had begun.

After a lot of Aaram , the time came to enter Peepul Park , the citadel of excellence of learning in TCS. It is the oldest training center of TCS and has created so many great Professionals who started their journey from there.It has an inherent sacred air in it.There are many feelings which cross one's mind at the dawn of one's Professional career.Carrying all these with me, I moved forward with a smile.

The induction began and we were introduced to LIREL, the core values of TCS. Leading Change, Integrity, Respect for Individual, Excellence and Learning and Sharing.As brand ambassadors of TCS where ever we go,we were expected to make these values inherent to us. It was the first time of my when I felt proud of being what I was. The main agenda of our induction was to make us aware that we were not just a big brand and the reason why we were ahead of others was because we lived our values.

It was a new beginning for me. A journey to develop a new insight towards life.Where coming late meant one was disrespecting the other individual by wasting their time, where being a master in anything was not enough as long as one didnt share the knowledge with others, where integrity and values was more than just doing business, where the aim was to elevate a customer's experience from satisfaction to delight.

There were also a lot of firsts, including having the very salary account, I Card which was our identity, stream of technology in which we would be trained and finally our base branch where we would be deputed after training.

It was a long day, but at the end, I had a sense of fulfillment and joy.The crimson hued sky of Trivandrum was embracing the evening sun but I realised I had just started with my new beginnings.

Loving Detachment

Life and me
shared some incongruity
as in the tides of time
I lost a person who was more than mine..

That person was my heart
a person who was never apart
was snatched away from me
by the strange cycles of destiny..

True love for me now has a definition
It never has any condition

It should be free from attachment
And I never practiced loving detachment

So now I know the pain
Of loving , losing and getting drenched in a rain

In an unending rain
Of pain, pain and pain

So now I will try to love without any attachment
as true love is the universe's method of teaching detachment.

This poem is in the aftermath of Thani's sudden demise in 2008.Losing some you love is very very painful.Yet the love that is detached and unconditional becomes eternal. That is Thani's love for me :)

The dichotomy of life

Human mind & character are the most complex creations of the almighty.I know most of us behave differently depending on the surrounding and one's state of mind .Its like living as a different person with different people, giggling and being crazy with closest friends, being formal to colleagues,being open to parents,being mushy with sweetheart,being diplomatic while with intellectuals, being sarcastic with people we dont like and finally being brutal to people we hate.

And then there are moods, which sway us with them.These moods are like seasons which may stay for any duration but the times they stay , they change us.We are lost in them , oblivious to the world.Sometimes moods can reveal our blindside to us.

And then there are situations, our surroundings, which can leave a deep impact into our minds and conscience.Whether its a blind beggar on the street, or an enunch at the traffic signal or any little deed of kindness or humanity we see around can transform us.

I  lead two lives every Wednesday .From 10:30 am to 1 pm I am an English teacher to 6th graders at Gandhipura government school. From 1 pm to 7 pm I am an IT Fresher in a project helping my team  deliver better results to the clients.

Feels as if I belong to two different worlds. One world of well dressed sophisticated people in a tech park carrying smart phones and being a part of India's IT offering to the world.These people with ear phones plugged are so lost in themselves.And the other world of dusty classrooms having awesome minds, so eager to learn yet their lives are so driven by their surroundings, their livelihood.They cant plug in earphones and get away as they have to listen to the noises in the slums they live in.

I feel so elated to see their happy faces and loud  "Good Morning Miss " as I enter the classroom.The twinkle in their eyes when they learn a new English word to their eagerness to spell it first teaches me the lessons of enthusiasm in adversity.

Some children of the class are gifted, they are simply outstanding in their ability to analyze and respond.Then there are the lesser brighter ones who need more time and effort, but what remains common is  their love for knowledge and desire to acquire it.The great joy that they get when they solve any question is beyond words.Their wide smile when I give them a five star on their notebooks is inexplicable.

Then after an eventful session when I return to my office in International Tech Park, I see hordes of people moving in.With I Cards,smartphones and earphones.They also must have been enthusiastic about studying as small kids I wonder.

So after reaching a position where they can reach out, why are they putting their earphones on and listening to just themselves.But I am sure one day these kids will definitely rise up in life.Things will be better for them.And their happy voices will be heard, doesnt matter whether you put or dont put your earphones on.

Lost & Found

Lonely resilient times surround me always.Have always been pointed out as the "person with the thinking hat" because of my absent mindedness. The truth is like other human beings, I too wish to escape into a world where there are no worries and only happiness.Maybe my lovely childhood has made me like this, the love from my grandparents has made me believe that only good things can happen to us.

Yet the best part about happy memories or experiences is that you can always escape into them and feel that same thrill of happiness you felt.Whenever I feel lonely , very lonely I go back to a time when I am entering my home and my Thani welcomes me with her ever beautiful smile and I go and give her a warm hug. Some moments in life are truly worth living.

Unlike other children who used to have best friends from school or neighborhood, my best friends were my grand parents.We used to giggle our hearts out sleeping, me between Thani & Dadu.Our little secrets, smiles , laughter, jokes and the valuable pearls of wisdom which they bestowed on me are priceless.They taught me the meaning of love, unconditional love, the kind of love in which you dont keep a track of giving and taking. The love which is free from inhibitions and where you melt yourself to illuminate the life of others.

With Thani's demise and Dadu suffering from Parkinson's disease, my life without my best friends is very empty. My Thani's last words written in my diary months before her demise were "I hope and pray that you become the cherished loved one for every kind soul". In her last words also she prayed for me to  get love because maybe she was also aware of the huge void which was to be created after her going away.

This is the Valentine's week and unlike the fancy way in which it is projected with candles,baloons, cakes , pendants , cards and cupids, my idea of it was to wish my grandparents and to enjoy the giggled conversation that followed.

Five years have passed. My perspective towards life has become more realistic and pragmatic where bad things can also happen along with the good things. Where saying good things to people may make you sound like a flatterer  and where people can change their opinions and feelings for you any moment.

Yet in these times I am fortunate to get love from the unlikeliest of the places.Whether its the old couple at the tea stall or any kind soul, I have received love for which I shall be eternally grateful.People and situations have made me believe that miracles do exist.  

And no matter what I do I know a bright star in the sky is always guiding me towards being good and doing good. That bright star is my guardian angel , my Thani.

Between Mom & Aunt :P

Migrating from Cuttack to Bangalore has been a huge metamorphosing experience for me.Its like moving from a place of gentle breezes to a place where you dont have time to breathe :P For most part of my life I have stayed in a place where time flows like a meandering river & a sea of humans is something one notices only at Bali jatra.It is where old friends or acquaintances still happily stop by for a chit chat if they meet each other on the road, where having pizza,pasta,taco,nacho,grilled chicken,crushers,coffee  at Dominoes or KFC or CCD  etc is not the "it" thing when compared to Raghu or Trinatha's heavenly dahibara aludum.

It is where one doesnt have to dress up to look like a million dollar property to just roam for shopping :P It is a  place where still there are people who recognize you with an honest smile even if they dont know you. It is a place where kids know amoeba as a microbe and not as a bowling hub. Cuttack I feel has a soul in it, I am among the countless others who feel so. It has a warmth which enraptures you, nurtures you and finally leaves you craving for it when you fly away to far off places in the quest of glory.

Bangalore is a beautiful place too.But if one thinks of Cuttack as the warm & loving mother, then Bangalore is the stylish & trendy aunt who makes sure that you become confident & nonchalant just like her. It is a city where "IT" has engulfed people in "ITself" :P.

I have travelled in buses quite extensively in the last few years during my graduation. Sitting in overcrowded buses & noticing people around me has become a hobby.In odisha I have seen an element of camaraderie in buses.Whether it be a collective abuse to driver/conductor or "mausi tike side hela" or countless such moments where one cant help but smile.

Due to all this noise, I remember tugging in my earphones to get away from it .I wondered why people couldnt do away with all that chit chat during bus travels.And now here I am in Bangalore. Going to my office in International Tech Park, I see many people like me travelling in AC Volvo buses.

Smart, well dressed IT professionals..raring to go! All of them have the typical corporate look.Suave,nonchalant and subtle expressions, not concerned about what's going on around,too engrossed in today's schedule and too busy to look at anyone leave alone starting a conversation.I think there is a notion  that if they smile or laugh, it'll create wrinkles on their face and moreover destroy the "Corporate" air surrounding them.

 I feel the difference..here the bus is quiet yet people have ear phones tugged in.And  I realize  that there is a moment in life when one does miss some happy noises in a crowded bus too !