THE YEAR 2009: MEMOIRS

It’s been another eventful year, looking back I could see myself as an engineering graduate, passing out of college with two job offers, a healthy percentage,bunch of friends and memories to be cherished for a life time.The future seemed promising and like any normal person I had started savouring on the days to come.I had my planning done, I was all set to join “accenture” by sep 2008,which had been my dream company as an engineering student.I was young and I had plans of working for a big name,seeking status among friends and acting humble.It’s easy to befool your self at times (in fact it’s the easiest thing in the world).I thought i’d seen a lot in life and had become wise and somehow had lost respect for people around in my sub concious mind as I’d started judging them.These things are subtle.You might think yourself as a an idealist or “A good person” but human beings are so much into self obsession that they often land up overlooking the the devil in them,creating a self image which when breaks leaves them shattered for a while making them into newbie philatropists and bloggers :)
So I had my moment of truth some where around Sep’08 when “Lehmann Brothers” filed for bankaruptcy.This news assured everyone with a little common sense that there were troubled waters ahead.But I was somewhat happy that I had offer from a “big company” like accenture who pretended to be sailing smooth in these times as well.So I waited for my joining date confidently, which gradually changed into hope by dewali and to despair post dewali.2009 was approaching and we were almost told that we might not receive our joining till June 2009.
Meanwhile some unfortunate incidents happened with our batch. One of our friends “Neha Jain” passed away in a tragic Bus accident. She was walking on the correct side but still was run over by a lunatic driver of a local bus. Her elder sister was getting married in a week. She fought for her life for 15 days in the ICU, the photographs shook my soul.A shiver still runs down through my spine when I remember seeing those.I felt like a pigheaded, selfish asshole who was cribbing for something so base(joining date).After many years I hated myself.
I had earlier got a call from iGATE for a support job for the time being but I had told them to call me only for a s/w engg.The gods were kind with me and HRs from iGATE responded positively by calling me on 08-Jan-09 as a s/w engg.Ironically the next batch called @iGATE was in June’09.I realised I had been lucky but wasn’t grateful enough.I still wanted to be in accenture. It is human weakness to believe the grass to be greener in distant lands.
Igate has been my lucky charm since time in memory. It was my first company which I cracked as a student and life took a positive turn after that. In such peak recession time as well it was iGATE which came to my rescue. After three months of training which was an unforgettable experience in it’s own. On May 10th 2009 I, along with four other batch mates were selected for the GE-Commercial Finance project and a new journey began :)


Corp Apps:No it’s not coporate Apes, it’s the name of my team, though we prefer being called by the latter.
Corp Apps could best be defined as a bunch of intellectal lunatics,who are graded for not how good they are at work but how good they are at pulling each others leg (Of course thats the humorous side).
Work and fun blended beautifully at this place. I’d heard about s/w engineers being cool and happening. It was the first time I realised the same.People around were educated,humble,had exquisite manners and also had a tremendous sense of humour, which characterized them distinctly in the team. It was the first time I saw what exactly is being a part of a team is, helping the newbies, not getting irritated, sharing mistakes though it might sound like a “Eutopian state” but I did have my share of politics. But again all these faces were part of what Group dynamics says:”Forming,Storming,Norming”.
“Happiness is like humility,the moment you realize you are humble,you are not”
-Jedda Krishnamurthy
I was happy working at iGATE and I didn’t realise it until the day I got my joining for Accenture as 31st of Aug ‘09. It was a tough decision to make, as I’d got my joining for Gurgaon which was closer to home.I was in a fix, it was a catch22 situation. I consulted friends but it was me who had to make a decision.I had decided to join Accenture. On the way home that day I looked around and realized that I was happy here, and going to an unknown place among unknown people is not what I want.
I was not ambitious but I was a status seeker, being ambitious is healthy, being a status seeker, pathetic. I introspected and decided not to run after accenture which had ditched me at the time of need.I decided to stick to iGATE at the very last moment. A decision which brought about immense degree of satisfaction and pride with it. :)

So it’s been one year now at Igate,with every passing day I learn new things, there are good times which I cherish and bad times which help me realise the importance of the former.I make mistakes, curse my self make them again,and finally learn. Day after day I see my self grooming up for the future,which is uncertain.I feel nervous,feeling of doubt,hopelessness and fear at times broods over me. But I’m learning to walk through them as it is the best way out.