Three Years…Three LONG Years!!!

Three Years in this MAD MAD Corporate IT World!!! so much has changed in these last 3 years…exactly three years ago, this day I entered this Finance team of Corporate world…can’t believe that it’s been three long years…it seems only yesterday when my CA Final result was declared and was thrilled to know that now even I was a CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT…after some initial hiccups, which I later realized were normal, I joined Satyam, Hyderabad on 11th April 2005.

Me, Shaonli and Deepak joined on the same date…Collar oopar thee…afterall we were joining one of the leading IT companies of the country! …well I have really sweet, sour and interesting memories of these three years...some sweet and some tangy…

• The initial one month in Satyam, when we didn’t have anything to do….just sit…that too in the reception area for one full week!... and wait for 6.45…!!!!…OMG…that was reallllly a torture!
• Those housewife gossips (as per my Boss) which me and Jaina used to have every now and then at Harsha Towers. Bitching about everything and anything from cafeteria to work to you know who…people kept on wondering what was it all about…but…
• Those coffee breaks at Harsha Towers which were the beginning of the HIL and LIP and LIB and ATP and BTP acronyms
• Those coffee breaks when I never used to even take a single sip of coffee but still went…and had a cup of water instead!! …just to have a break…those coffee breaks when the bosses used to wonder what we discussed and even told us not to go there in one lot…
• Those days when I knew just the basics of excel and was wonder-stuck by just seeing what a wide range of activities you could do in an excel
• When Dakshin used to say “quick quick quick” (imagine Chitti Uncle saying “quick, quick, quick!!!) and used to irritate me to the core
• Those interactions with Susan on the phone and the way she used to call my name…arpeeeeeeta...oops!!!
• Those arguments which I used to have with the sales people…I was famous for that in CHB Finance…since I was clear…what is wrong is wrong…what is right is right…period…after all it takes courage to make what is right…right!!! …The terrible fight (fight is actually an understatement) which I had with one of the account managers and I almost broke down…and to cool my temper…Rahul pinged me on my MS communicator and said “Fighting with an AM is like fighting with a pig in mud; after sometime you realize that it’s you who is getting dirty while the pig is actually enjoying” Oh my God what a relief it was…and then the escalation which followed…mind-blowing…I was actually bowled by the support which my seniors had for me…thanks a ton for supporting me when it mattered the most!
• The slamming of the receiver every time I spoke to that AM and uttering (well, in fact, shouting) “Bhad Mein Jaa” after that….
• The project wise projection which we had to do…that was I guess my first complicated task…after that, my parameters of difficult tasks changed totally…the bar was raised…infact, there weren’t any parameters now.
• The billing which we used to do during month ends…struggling to meet the deadlines…but still it was fun…we used to be in office for around 18 hours a day…worked like “kolhu ke bail” but still enjoyed at the same time!
• The month-end of July 05 which I don’t think I can ever forget…Oh my God…the whole team …struggling…struggling to meet the deadline of 7th August!! The printing of invoices, the stamping of the same…Rahul cribbing about my circle…and me cribbing about Dakshin’s…but still…saathi haath badhaana was out moto!!! Oof!! it was horrible…left at 3.30 am that day…when it was raining like hell…me and Rahul…and then the reimbursement of cab expenses which took 4 months !
• The correction, of you know what, which Rahul did for me….initially he didn’t realize what he is getting into…but when he realized…it was too late…cunning Arpita J
• Those midnight session of songs….specially “agar tum mil jaao” played by Rahul, “Jo haal dil ka idhar ho raha hai” played by Dakshin and some Telugu song played by Sridhar…each song signifies the state of mind of each finance guy…the bachelor waiting for his girl, the married one longing to get back to his wife….n since I don’t understand Telugu, I desist from commenting on the state of mind of the third person….yet would like to add that I wont forgive any of these guys for playing such songs in office that too in the middle of the night and amidst the month end pressure….
• Those days when we used to work on weekends…and the telephone operator used to say….arey ma’am you are working even today! Hope they did not derive some secret pleasure thinking that here’s another scapegoat apart from me who needs to work on weekends….
• That farewell dinner of Arvind…and Jaina’s face when you know what happened!
• That statement “keep clicking on send/receive button till the time you get a read receipt”…READ RECEIPT….for a mail which is being sent at 10 in the night on a Friday evening!!
• The team lunch we used to have…Kalyan, Sridhar, Dakshin, Rahul and me….awesome… especially my arguments with Kalyan regarding the rights and duties and freedom of women…should they work or not… their responsibility towards their family etc etc…
• The message which was supposed to be sent to Jaina thru MS communicator which actually went to my boss about him and Hero....oops...Thank God...he didnt do my appraisal!!!
• Lunch at Tripti (much better than canteen)…and later on at the aunty’s place near harsha Towers, which was yum!
• The Satyam Finance Chennai Meet in November 2005 for which I missed my CAT exam.
• The midnight session of cribbing (me and Jaina) about you know who and you know what!
• The walking back to home from office at 12.30 in the night when there weren’t any autos…just because I had to catch a flight at 6 in the morning…needless to say…I hadn’t done my packing!
• The monthly getaways to home…the watching of sadiyal Govinda movies in the bus
• The meetings at STC; the session on AS at LST (which was a bahaana of missing office for atleast half-a-day)…the presentation skills session when Shaonli was pissed off…the other session at LST where me and Shaonli were caught playing tic-tac-toe in Siva’s session!
• The amazing sense of work by my boss…the way he used to ensure that you don’t repeat your mistakes, the way he used to ensure you understood what you are doing was amazing… I donno there were many people who actually didn’t like him, the way he used to speak but I was always bowled out by his way of work. The best thing about him, which I haven’t seen in anyone else, is that as far as work was concerned, he never used to differentiate between two people on the basis of gender. If the work needs to be completed it has to be…no matter what…
• The meaning of the term “jokers”….can never forget the dialogue by my boss, “I need to send this mail to how many jokers? 2 or 3?”….the jokers referred to here were some high profile people of the company…. And questions like…where is this joker …and I replied instead … “which one?”
• Had great fun in Chennai…especially at the amusement park. Me Jaina, Shaonli and Rakhi…what a fun…the train journey …the “Piparia” song….oh God…it still brings smile….nah…a laugh whenever I think about the incident!
• Was termed as the “Rebel Queen” by some of my colleagues! No prizes for guessing why!
• The coffee breaks of Mayfair….wow! whatte fun….the pakoras at the canteen in the evening…it was yucks but can’t help it!! The kachoris near Mayfair…for which Rahul created such a fuss! And the kachoris were not even worth it….
• The lunch (if you can call it one) at Mayfair canteen.
• The Bhindi Fry at Naivedyam….was such a life saver as far as food was concerned….we could survive another week of bad food in the hope that weekends we would have lunch at Naivedyam….
• Ohh…. How can I forget…. The way these people… specially Rahul used to ghooro chandu’s…lagta thaa that there will definitely be one day jab yeh insaan pitega….pitega hee nahi but pitwayega!! Chandu number one who already had a boy friend, chandu number 2 who was aka cabin waali or laptop waali…chandu number 3 and 4…unke bare mein jyaada nahi pata…even I used to get confused!! And am sure….even he would be!
• The fighting and threatening of bosses to get chocolates for us whenever they go to US…else…hehehe…but I never dared to ask my boss…
• Mine and Shaonli’s gossip about Voldemort and Wormtail J…now don’t ask me who are they…it will be a catastrophe!
• The getting up every morning at 6 and catch the bus to office at 7:30 in Bangalore!!!!
• The initial cold welcome…by almost everyone…but now after one and a half year has blended well into it!
• Facing daily challenges…especially the boss’ expectations!
• The achievement of being able to sleep and read in the bus! And yes, the ability to spend 2 hrs for a distance of around 13 Kms in the bus stuck in a traffic jam and yet being able to maintain a Zen Buddha like calmness!!!!!
• The constant ringing of Anika’s alarm on weekends when everyone in the room would get up except her…
• The challenge of getting a rick to come to the place where we want to go…especially when we wanted to go to Mast Kalandar…
• Initially…there was this sudden change of culture…which I couldn’t really handle…people shouting…not only shouting but abusing…oof…but now…it’s become a daily dose…so can’t help but just turn a deaf ear.
• The cribbing still continues…be it about someone or something…I have friends who are my punching bags and sounding board (am sure Jaina must be smirking on reading this)…who cares whether they are in Blr or Ngp or Kol or UK or US!!! Distance doesn’t matter!
• Those trips to Pondy…the first one merely after one week of joining! Been there more than 5 times since but the best was the trip along with my gang! Especially having ice-cream on the beach after getting totally drenched...
• The sales meet at Pondy….the gyan session by anyone and everyone…the volcanic eruptions during the topic of incentives…the evening party…
• The trip to Mysore and Goa with friends…the trip to Dubai….wow…even though it wasn’t as good as I expected…but still it wasn’t as bad..if I think about it now…the Ski Dubai…Burj-Al-Arab…thanks to Wipro…I’ve now been to all these places!
• The trekking with friends….6 girls…and a lonely hill…rock actually…playing cards on the road side…wah what a thought! Yes…we have done this all!
• The beautiful landscape of office…if you want to chat on phone…you can just step out and a beautiful garden awaits you…
• The north Indian menu at SJP 1 canteen…the salad of SJP 2, Maggie, aalu paraantha, veg cheese grilled sandwich and juice of bakery…are just my source of survival… arey…how can I forget the chaats of bakery in the evening!
• The kannada songs being played at full volume at 7.30 in the morning in the office shuttle!
• The struggle during monthends, quarter ends and year-ends. The difficulty to explain non-finance people as to why my month-end struggles start after the end of the month!!!
• The once-in-a-month cards session at Archana’s place….please please please…before you jump into conclusions, this was purely a game…not gambling!
• Amazing boss who has an ultimate sense and understanding of finance…take the biggest problem to him and within 5 minutes be rest assured that it will be resolved.
• The chain mails which float with the friends…Dynamites!
• Much much better canteen as compared to the Satyam canteen…although now even this is unbearable!
• The cake cutting ceremonies…and the lunch which followed.
• SPARK…the event held wherein Sonu Nigam came but as usual…we couldn’t hear him…10.30 baje aaya woh…oof these celebrities….can’t even respect other people’s time. And then the you know who…oof…kya champu thaa…..a total chipku….me and Shaonli had a great laugh and even now it’s like….haha!!
• The weekly movies…who cares which one is it…be it as bad as Jhoom Barabar Jhoom or Khoya Khoya chaand or Saawariya!
• The exploring of new restaurants… one new one every week!
• Khaana of Tasty Bites…the lifeline
• The finding of bakra to sponsor evening chaats!!!(actually its generally a "bakri"...since the guys in our office are toooo kanjoos to sponsor even a bhel!!!)
• The fighting for chocolates…one good thing is that since the majority of the junta dont like dark chocolates…atleast I have a monopoly there!!
• The sting operations in office….target generally being Shashi
• The sending of emails from Prem’s and Shashi’s ID’s
• The trapping of Shashi while eating at one of the parties when she was just out of hospital!!!

These three years have changed me…changed me altogether…where Satyam got me friends and also taught me the way to live and survive here; Wipro taught me how to deal with people…from being a High "D" in Satyam to increasing the “I” in Wipro…managed to change myself to a certain extent in the last three years….what’s next???? Let’s see…