It has been six years - six long years. I did not expect myself to play such a long innings. I was not made for this industry I thought. With my interests meandering from cricket to creative writing, and debate to dramatics, software programming always came last. But destiny had chosen 'communication software' for me. The job placements at our college were all a matter of chance. It happened in 1997. I could have easily landed up fiddling with silicon gates for Cadence. Or optimising databases at Oracle. I loved table tennis and Oracle had a TT table. So I loved Oracle's job. It was that simple. But Oracle did not love me and I took what was offered next -Hughes Software Systems (HSS) job. I did not know what the company did. 'Embedded programming' seemed an alien concept to me. But it was not important. What mattered was that they liked me and I liked them (and when I joined the company, I came to know that they too had a TT table). I took their job. Democracy demanded that only one job be allowed per person. So the placement matter ended there. Everything was set for me to be an HSSian.
By April 1998, I had finished my graduation. Our joining was two months hence. But one-upmanship demanded that I take a lead in this mad race. To be first when the race had not even begun. I approached the company for an early joining. But a two-month induction plan demanded that I join with others. So I had to wait till 22nd June, 1998 when 65 odd freshers like me boarded the HSS bandwagon.
The company had bus service but none of them till my place. The nearest bus stop was 15 km away. The commute in public transport on the first day, that too in the scorching summer, was too much to ask. That also happened to be my last day in the public transport. After that day, I took the company bus (which in those good old days were free) and somehow managed the distance till my house.
The first few days went in ice breaking and company induction. The company's infrastructure was great. Central AC. An air-conditioned gym. TT. Free seven course meal. Flexible working hours. And an open culture.
My first manager happened to be an Ex-IIT professor who did a world of good for my career. Soon I found myself to be a part of a team of 10 that shared a great relation. The relation even extended in a joint outing to Jaipur in a jam-packed Sumo. We still share a healthy relation despite the fact that many have left for greener pastures. Some (including yours truly) have returned from such pastures after the realization dawning upon them that grass is not necessarily green on the other side.
The decent male-female ratio provide ample opportunity for my heart to miss a beat. However, all attempts to develop a liaison proved futile. The first one got married before I could think what to do to win her heart. The second did not bother to turn up in a presentation that was solely given to impress here (this being a different issue that in the process I became a technical trainer and am still a popular trainer in the company). Every new batch brought with itself new avatars of Goddess Venus. And the chosen one always created a flutter or two in my heart. But the flutter subsided with time and I had to wait till the next batch to see my hearting beating again in full glory. And when all attempts went in vain, I proposed a matrimonial newsgroup in our company where employees could post their inclination for marriage and the opposite sex could then respond appropriately. But it was a prototypal case of 'Diya tale andhera' and men had go to far of lands when many an eligible women could be found in the company. Thus, I too had to settle for an arrange marriage (which all men like me have to opt for when they have no other option).
Professionally, the first project was good one. It gave me exposure to networking technologies. From the early days, I made up my mind to write a book. What transpired further is nicely captured in the article penned by me 'The Dead Dream' /web resource 1/. Suffice it to say that after a bumpy ride spanning two and a half years, I did manage to publish my first book on ATM networking. No more of it here.
In mid 1999, I was moved to a multi-billion dollar project that was to be completed in early 2002. However, as far as I know, the project is still away from its completion.
In early 2000, my friend and I realized that we had spent 1.5 years in the industry and it was time we were promoted. We promptly demanded a promotion from our boss's boss. In those days, good software engineers were scarce resources and no one dared to mess around with them, least of all our boss's boss. He most obligingly gave us a backdated promotion and a hike. (Till now, my friend and I have got the same promotion and the same hike in all these years).
Towards the end of the second year, the lack of challenging work made me short sighted, frustrated, haughty, arrogant, greedy and what not. I went to various interviews and demanded obscene amounts of money. Everyone thought I was good but no one heeded to my demands. Slowly and steadily by liking for HSS reached its nadir. And when my first boss offered a job in his new company, I most happily hopped.
The new assignment was an unmitigated disaster. The company was run by a stingy Indian who neither provided any infrastructure nor any work. We were responsible to groom a set of tyro who could then be body shopped towards foreign lands. At that time (in 2000), body shopping had assumed tremendous popularity and everyone wanted to leave their jobs and open either a body shopping or a dotcom. The dotcom fad too was phenomenal. Everyone wanted to become a CEO of dotcom, even if there was no business case for the dotcom. After one year of wasted effort, with no productive work to show, and an impending closure of our company, we decided it was time we changed sides and go back to where it all started. However, there was a small problem. After leaving HSS, I had insulted our Engineering head saying that 'Jis gali ko ek baar chod diya, usme vapas nahin jana hai'. But 'job offers' like politics demanded that such statements of arrogance be forgotten. Both sides happily accepted my homecoming. By that time, I had got my second promotion and my salary had nearly quadrupled in three years.
It was when everything seemed hunky dory that the great telecom meltdown happened. The rapid increase in salary reversed its gear and there was a prompt 10% cut. Many a fresh recruits were chucked out of the company without even getting a change to prove their capabilities. 'Rightsizing' became the buzzword. The dotcoms too fell like ninepins. And the body shopping companies closed shutters faster than an addict smoke cigarettes. Our previous companies too bit the dust. However, it was not before the Italian furniture for the cubicles had arrived after a one-year wait. And most interestingly, while we waited for in the previous company for proper infrastructure to be built, a 21-storey building came up in a jiffy right in front of our eyes and we reported in that very building after our homecoming.
The meltdown came along with many a loss. The free luxury buses were made 'paid' and people brought their calculators out to know the cost of petrol vis-à-vis the monthly bus charges. The seven-course meal was replaced by paid a-la-carte menu. People started bring food from their houses. The rasgollas that I used eat by dozens in a bowl meant for soup was now priced at Rs 5/- apiece. I left eating rasgollas. In the process, the caterer too bit the dust; he too left the company after poor collections. The free quarterly t-shirts were done away with. There was a freeze in recruitment. And there was an abrupt halt in the frequent flier points collected in needless travels. Suddenly there was great focus on cost cutting. We were lucky to come back as not all those who wanted to return were welcome back.
After a couple of years of struggle, in 2003, things started improving. Telecom industry started showing growth. The freeze on recruitment was removed. And salaries were revised after what seemed an eternity. I had by then become wiser after my first experience and did not participate in the crib sessions.
By mid-2003 I had nearly completed two years in the role and pestered my manager for a promotion. She too obliged and I had crossed the third hurdle. Regarding promotions, it was not important what you got or what you were worthy of. What was really important was how much your batch mates were drawing. What was their current designation? As some wise men suggested - People were ready to take exclusive 10% hike as against an across the board 20% hike.
Slowly, time has crossed the six-year barrier. People have started developing back problems. Some others have dry eyes. Different people have different sets of problems. But people have overall become saner. The great meltdown has been a great teacher. I too have waited patiently for my opportunities and in the process released my second book (/web resource 2/). A new project awaits for me and I may travel for high level discussions. God has been generous and I hope the benevolence continues.
Happy Reading. And happy programming. Comments/Experiences Welcome!
Chachu 09/7/2004
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Web Resources
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[1] http://skasera.tripod.com/deaddream.html
[2] http://3gbook.tripod.com
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