The Beginning (12th November, 2007)
Groggy eyed, I wake up at the sweet chime of my mobile alarm. It was 6:30 in the Monday morning at Pune. I managed to pull myself out of the bed and drew the curtains. The town was shrouded in a blanket of white. Somewhere, in the corner of the sky, the sun was coming out of its bed, just like me.
I trudged back to the wardrobe to extract a clean, milky white towel and other toiletries. Time for a bath on a cold winter morning always sent shivers down my spine. Mechanically, I walked to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and was contemplating whether to let the icy water touch my body (the geyser was out of order) when I was jolted by a barrage of expletives from my roommate. “So raha hai kya??? 8 baje office pahuncha hai”. I washed my face and came running out.
Office, this new world was introduced in my life after school and college. The two previous worlds had proved to be a fun ride. I did not have the faintest idea of what office was except from word of mouth explanations which ranged from a high-ceiling-slow-fan-moving-with lots of paper-large hall to a chic-cabin-hot-secretary-fixed with the latest gizmo room. However, I was going to experience it today and form my own image of office.
After shoving down the dry piece of bread down my throat (it was my breakfast by the way), I ran down and out of the apartment to find my bus ready to leave without me. After running a few metres accompanied with shouts of “ROKO ROKO”, I finally managed to catch hold of the mechanical scoundrel. The first day of this new world had not started as smoothly as I would have wanted to.
At sharp 9:00 AM, the bus halted at the gates of a huge building which screamed the word “CAPGEMINI” in bold blue letters. I was sure this could seen miles away. I found myself in a crowd of hundred young enthusiastic IT professionals (the term “IT Professional” made myself seem important at that time). We were given access cards to open glass doors and revolving entry/exit points (I never knew what access cards were and what was it used to access till that moment). We were led to a large hall in which people came and handed us forms like bank forms, personal detail form, education detail form, bus form…..it seemed never ending. The day ended with one last form in which I agreed that I would whole-heartedly serve the company.
The Training
The second day bought Anjali Vaidya into our lives. This women of amazing personality was our trainer in the FLP (Fresher Learning Program). “Good Morning Everyone”, the voice was fresh and crisp. “Good Morning Maam”, everyone replied. To everyone’s awe, the fresh voice announced, “Everybody is fined Rs 20”. Shocked at this fine for no fault, we started a hushed chatter, to which Anjali pronounced the first rule “YOU ARE NOT IN COLLEGE ANYMORE. ANYONE ADDRESSING AN INSTRUCTOR WITH MADAM/SIR WILL BE FINED RS 20”. However, I found it hard to get rid of this habit and ended up giving a fine of almost Rs 500 in the next two months.
The training continued day after day. It bought back a wisp of college life, albeit with a little difference in the form of a black and green mainframe screen thrown in with a generous splash of orkut in between boring sessions. The early morning yoga sessions taught us discipline and ‘aasans’. In between we went to Lonavla and Khandala to take break from the hectic sessions. A day of rappelling as part of training and team-building was always welcome. After a gruesome and hectic training, I along with my few other newly-made friends was posted to Hyderabad.
