No matter how old you are, no matter what u r doing, exam time is always horrible, Always! Specially if it’s an exam u’ve been dreading for over an year.
IBM is a great company to work for, but it kinda scores low on job guarantee. And since we were placed in our 3rd yr of engineering, we’d spent over an yr hearing horrible rumours and advice from all over the world “ start looking for another job!” ;) . this paranoia reached gigantic proportions when a 1000 or so IBMERs were kicked out last yr after an exam!!
so we were worried about being kicked out even before we joined .. lolz doesn’t make sense, but that’s how it was…
Funny part is, we were tensed and all that but never actually did anything about it. No preparation whatsoever.. spent the 2 months of training completely loafing around. At least Neha and Gouse would agree with me. The AT&T batch would claim that they’ve been working hard..blah blah blah..
Nyways, whatever, the D-Day was 8th of September, which came after a week of cramming, guessing who set the paper, catching hold of every scrap available with us about Java, stupid jokes and hell a lot of rumours.. coz failing the exam meant being chucked out of IBM!! The exam was at our beloved Manyata. 60 minutes of brilliant guesswork (the paper was of the multiple choice type) and it was all over!
That’s how life at ibm-b almost came to an end, but did not
Everything amounted to the one sentence which came in an e-mail a week later …
“Congratulations! You have Successfully Completed the Evaluation!!”
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
how things got better..
Next day was equally horrid…. Bad bad bad! Just sat at a desk having nothing to do and no one to talk to. Amit turned up the next day, he was also into our account but we were in different applications.
During the initial days of training, we had a 2 day session called ‘college to corporate’. Back then it was just another boring session, but the actual transition from college to corporate happened during the first week after training. We realized we had to snap out of it and accept the fact that we had to grow up and adapt to the “work culture” now.
And work culture is sumthing like this:
realizing the fact that everybody will be busy all the time!
Learning everything by yourself
Attending loads of meetings without having a clue about what’s happening. ( I tried to hang on to every word in the first few meetings, but now I just let my mind go on its wandering sprees!)
Sametime connect ( IBM’s internal chat) which was overused during the training days, now lies silently in the corner of the desktop, waiting in vain for a double click..
But after a few days, it all gets better. Once the work actually starts, it feels great! Yeah we do miss each other and life ain’t one big party anymore, but still.. thr’s sumthing really gud about being busy. Sumthing gud about working in a team, meeting deadlines, figuring out stuff we don’t know.. something gud about belonging to IBM ,being an IBMER.. and of course something really really gud about seeing our bank accounts getting credited every month!
And a few days back, all of this almost came to an END!! (or so we thought)
Wanna know how?
Wait for the next post!!!!.
During the initial days of training, we had a 2 day session called ‘college to corporate’. Back then it was just another boring session, but the actual transition from college to corporate happened during the first week after training. We realized we had to snap out of it and accept the fact that we had to grow up and adapt to the “work culture” now.
And work culture is sumthing like this:
realizing the fact that everybody will be busy all the time!
Learning everything by yourself
Attending loads of meetings without having a clue about what’s happening. ( I tried to hang on to every word in the first few meetings, but now I just let my mind go on its wandering sprees!)
Sametime connect ( IBM’s internal chat) which was overused during the training days, now lies silently in the corner of the desktop, waiting in vain for a double click..
But after a few days, it all gets better. Once the work actually starts, it feels great! Yeah we do miss each other and life ain’t one big party anymore, but still.. thr’s sumthing really gud about being busy. Sumthing gud about working in a team, meeting deadlines, figuring out stuff we don’t know.. something gud about belonging to IBM ,being an IBMER.. and of course something really really gud about seeing our bank accounts getting credited every month!
And a few days back, all of this almost came to an END!! (or so we thought)
Wanna know how?
Wait for the next post!!!!.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Life after training..
Hm…
U remember me sayin dat training period was just like college?.. well, the period when training ends and u get deployed into a project is like exam time! As nasty as that!
After a grand farewell party at a swanky cool hotel, we were asked to report at our respective locations. I,Gouse and Valli had to go to the office at SA, Neha , Ezra , Raju Renjith and Vivek at EGL, and the rest of the gang happily stayed back at Manyata ( lucky them!!)
8th August was the day I stepped into Subramanya Arcade(SA). I’ll always remember it as a really horrible day. Entered the building at around 9.30. Met 2 other people, Rajitha and Rajesh who also were joining the same day. We were supposed to somebody( no names plz). So I called him up after reaching the office. Guess what response I get.. “uh-hello?” ( a very sleepy voice). I tell my whole Ram kahaani- I’m manasa, came here for…. Blah blah… Sleepy silence …….and then “ what day is it??”.. I was like, what??? “Am I speaking to Mr.xyz?” . He said “umm..yeaaah, but I’m on vacation”.
Me: “now what am I supposed to do??????”. “ go report to Mr.abc… but not this early.. go at 11.30”.
So roamed around till 11 and then entered the office. It was horrible!! SA is the oldest IBM office and looks exactly like dat. No, no cobwebs or layers of dust n all, but still, this place has a kind of gloomy, oldy-oldy air abt it. Dunno, it was that place , or the fact dat I was goin to work here, away from frm all my frnz.. but something inside me broke down. I went crazy and the only thing on my mind was that I have to get out of here!!! Now!!!
So rushed out around 5 or so, and went straight to Manyata( the old office whr we had training) … it was soo good, u kno… like returning Home aftr being lost in a horrible desert! ( I kno.. u’ll think I’m being melodramatic, but then, u didn’t face it, so u wudn’t inderstand!!!) Met Rumz and Chaitu there, told them how horrible that place was… in full, exaggerated detail…. felt a li’l better.
That was my first day at SA. Things turned out to b a lot better after that, but that story’s for the next post. Bbye…
U remember me sayin dat training period was just like college?.. well, the period when training ends and u get deployed into a project is like exam time! As nasty as that!
After a grand farewell party at a swanky cool hotel, we were asked to report at our respective locations. I,Gouse and Valli had to go to the office at SA, Neha , Ezra , Raju Renjith and Vivek at EGL, and the rest of the gang happily stayed back at Manyata ( lucky them!!)
8th August was the day I stepped into Subramanya Arcade(SA). I’ll always remember it as a really horrible day. Entered the building at around 9.30. Met 2 other people, Rajitha and Rajesh who also were joining the same day. We were supposed to somebody( no names plz). So I called him up after reaching the office. Guess what response I get.. “uh-hello?” ( a very sleepy voice). I tell my whole Ram kahaani- I’m manasa, came here for…. Blah blah… Sleepy silence …….and then “ what day is it??”.. I was like, what??? “Am I speaking to Mr.xyz?” . He said “umm..yeaaah, but I’m on vacation”.
Me: “now what am I supposed to do??????”. “ go report to Mr.abc… but not this early.. go at 11.30”.
So roamed around till 11 and then entered the office. It was horrible!! SA is the oldest IBM office and looks exactly like dat. No, no cobwebs or layers of dust n all, but still, this place has a kind of gloomy, oldy-oldy air abt it. Dunno, it was that place , or the fact dat I was goin to work here, away from frm all my frnz.. but something inside me broke down. I went crazy and the only thing on my mind was that I have to get out of here!!! Now!!!
So rushed out around 5 or so, and went straight to Manyata( the old office whr we had training) … it was soo good, u kno… like returning Home aftr being lost in a horrible desert! ( I kno.. u’ll think I’m being melodramatic, but then, u didn’t face it, so u wudn’t inderstand!!!) Met Rumz and Chaitu there, told them how horrible that place was… in full, exaggerated detail…. felt a li’l better.
That was my first day at SA. Things turned out to b a lot better after that, but that story’s for the next post. Bbye…
Sunday, August 10, 2008
End of Days..
It ended in a party thrown at an extravagant, seven star hotel, but it ended!! one of the most wonderful phases of my life.
After the training we had a mega boring 3 day session abt our business unit, but we treasured every moment of it... coz it was the last time all of us wud b together..
Last few moments of carefree comfort, of fun, of adolescence, maybe??
from the next day we actually entered adulthood. Boring, responsible,"have to work now" adulthood. from now on there's going to be nobody 4 u all the time. U'll have 2 take care of urself, be responsible, take ur own decisions. U know ur frnz r now gonna b busy all the time, and u might be too.. thr's sumthing more important than all that u held dear..
all this came crashing on my head during that party and made me feel really lonely and depressed!
But then ofcourse, everything has something gud in it.. and i'm always trying 2 look at the silver lining.. and I know my frnz.. none of us is really thaaaaat hard working, so i guess we willl find time 2 b happy , mad n crazy like always!!!!! (Touch Wood!)
adios!
After the training we had a mega boring 3 day session abt our business unit, but we treasured every moment of it... coz it was the last time all of us wud b together..
Last few moments of carefree comfort, of fun, of adolescence, maybe??
from the next day we actually entered adulthood. Boring, responsible,"have to work now" adulthood. from now on there's going to be nobody 4 u all the time. U'll have 2 take care of urself, be responsible, take ur own decisions. U know ur frnz r now gonna b busy all the time, and u might be too.. thr's sumthing more important than all that u held dear..
all this came crashing on my head during that party and made me feel really lonely and depressed!
But then ofcourse, everything has something gud in it.. and i'm always trying 2 look at the silver lining.. and I know my frnz.. none of us is really thaaaaat hard working, so i guess we willl find time 2 b happy , mad n crazy like always!!!!! (Touch Wood!)
adios!
The Project
After the training we were given this project to c how much we have (or haven't) learnt..
It was 2 create an online bus reservation system in FIVE days (yeah right!!)
And we kind of did dat... well, almost did it or watever..
I was in a team wid Raju (the team lead), Rumz, Mrudula,Swetha and Satish.
It was during this time i figured out how interesting Java is, and how little i actually knew back then.. Now i'm quite gud at it, or so i'd like to think.. well anyways, we worked quite hard.. coming 2 office even on a Sunday!
our proj had a fancy look to it.. we had a pic of a bus and the seats changed from green 2 red wen someone reserved it n stuff.. but d guy who came 2 inspect it didnt even glance at it (HOW MEAN!!!).. instead he just focused on the parts we messed up.. typical!
but nyways, had fun during d proj!! some very funny moments.. which im not going 2 put up coz of the reasons mentioned in the previous post!!
It was 2 create an online bus reservation system in FIVE days (yeah right!!)
And we kind of did dat... well, almost did it or watever..
I was in a team wid Raju (the team lead), Rumz, Mrudula,Swetha and Satish.
It was during this time i figured out how interesting Java is, and how little i actually knew back then.. Now i'm quite gud at it, or so i'd like to think.. well anyways, we worked quite hard.. coming 2 office even on a Sunday!
our proj had a fancy look to it.. we had a pic of a bus and the seats changed from green 2 red wen someone reserved it n stuff.. but d guy who came 2 inspect it didnt even glance at it (HOW MEAN!!!).. instead he just focused on the parts we messed up.. typical!
but nyways, had fun during d proj!! some very funny moments.. which im not going 2 put up coz of the reasons mentioned in the previous post!!
I'm going 2 close it down..
Umm there’s a lott to write about, but I’m not going to…
Reasons???
1. training’s ended and I’m sad abt it
2. I haven’t found a single comment in the recent posts and I’m pissed off!!
I just wanted to shut down the blog, more 4 d first reason than the second, but then I believe that everything has to end properly… so I’m going 2 give my blog a decent burial!!
As I promised..
Weekends at bangy…
Are pretty much fun… we checked out the malls, caught some movies, went to ISKCON temple, other shopping places..
The best weekend was at HOGENAKKAL, a place near the Tamil Nadu border. Beautiful sceneries on the way, lots of greenery, complete serenity, and yeah loads of fun!!
I, Neha,Neel(I call Anil that),Rumz,Abhi,Chaitu, Hulk(Gouse calls Amit that), Gouse, Ezra.. 9 ppl who went click-crazy (300+ photos) ; floated away in the water for 2 hrs enjoying the awesome views of the valley, got drenched in waterfalls, splashed about like manics in the water…. Hmmm.. one of the best days at bangy!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
continuing..
And the training went on...
Learnt Java amid coffee breaks, Gmail,Orkut, and days passed by happily among friends. I realized why everybody kept talkin abt how gr8 training period is for every new employee.. And since some of us weren't a part of the AT&T team, also called the Biskeet batch( long story.. will tell u later), life was easy.. had time to watch movies in the evenings..
Remeber the Bumble bee I mentioned? For a week or so, he made sure we left immediately after our training ended, so we missed out on many cool movies. Now this character Bee, reminds me of the Hogwarts caretaker Filch from Harry Potter, only he isn't ugly and smelly. Looks like an alien, never smiles, has a funny accent, and has the amazing ability to look scary (his eyes) and funny at the same time.
Speaking of Harry Potter, we also have Hermione Granger, I mean a guy Raju, who's like Hermione Granger.. studious, answers all the questions in class, brilliant programmer,a little bossy, teacher's pet.
Hey, didnt mention Mohua Dey, our trainer, right? A brilliant,sweet lady who knows almost everything about Java. She made sure all of us learnt stuff she taught.
k, the posts's getting too long, so me ending it..
coming up in next posts...
-> weekends at Bangalore
-> Chandu Lal, the gr8 performer
->THE PROJECT!!!
Learnt Java amid coffee breaks, Gmail,Orkut, and days passed by happily among friends. I realized why everybody kept talkin abt how gr8 training period is for every new employee.. And since some of us weren't a part of the AT&T team, also called the Biskeet batch( long story.. will tell u later), life was easy.. had time to watch movies in the evenings..
Remeber the Bumble bee I mentioned? For a week or so, he made sure we left immediately after our training ended, so we missed out on many cool movies. Now this character Bee, reminds me of the Hogwarts caretaker Filch from Harry Potter, only he isn't ugly and smelly. Looks like an alien, never smiles, has a funny accent, and has the amazing ability to look scary (his eyes) and funny at the same time.
Speaking of Harry Potter, we also have Hermione Granger, I mean a guy Raju, who's like Hermione Granger.. studious, answers all the questions in class, brilliant programmer,a little bossy, teacher's pet.
Hey, didnt mention Mohua Dey, our trainer, right? A brilliant,sweet lady who knows almost everything about Java. She made sure all of us learnt stuff she taught.
k, the posts's getting too long, so me ending it..
coming up in next posts...
-> weekends at Bangalore
-> Chandu Lal, the gr8 performer
->THE PROJECT!!!
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