A tryst with hyderabad

"The ten of you in the tech middleware domain would be going to Hyderabad. Pack your bags by the weekend, you'll report in Hyderabad on tuesday." there was some groaning about leaving chennai and some anxiety as our city shift was too quick, we were informed of this on the Friday before the weekend. Managed to get the train tickets and we were on our way, ten hclites strangers to each other set off to Hyderabad for domain training.
 Broke the ice between us discussing things like where we were all from, college and all. And it all happened, training, meeting the seniors from our domain, making new friends, homesickness, managing those quick weekend trips back home, getting assigned to projects, more training, periods of no work but "to office we must go".

 Jan to April, 4 months just went by. Looking back, so much so much has happened that I could write a book on it! A book seems too much to ask hence a blog post. Can go overboard if I elaborate everyday of these 4 memorable  months. I shall put them all into a few headings and make it more readable-

 The initial struggle.
 I landed in Hyderabad on the 10th of January. Winter. Hyderabad tends to cool down a little too much in the nights during the winter months often to the single digits in the degree scale. Me, having come from chennai was not at all used to this kind of weather, cold and dry and my first month was a phase filled with homesickness. Managed to get some warm clothes as I had come unprepared for such cold weather. But the damage was done, Hyderabad seemed a hostile place all of a sudden.
 It didn't help at all that this one occasion when I was on my way home and I was ill, the auto guys where quarrelling over each other for who should take me to the railway station. It was too far for any of their liking. I was almost stranded late in the evening without transport. Small incidents tend to be blown out of proportion when nothing is going your way.. A reason probably why I still remember this one. But there was this one statement that my friend said that give a new place some time and it grows on you. That I guess made all the difference. I just gave this new place Hyderabad some time and it quite turned out fine.
 The reason I was finding hyd so uncomfortable was because I was comparing it with chennai, where I am from, and that didn't go too well. All I had to do is accept hyd with all it's uniqueness and it turned out great! The famous hyderabad Biriyani, the challenge of a new language to learn, different culture, a whole new city exploring opportunity did the trick.

 Feeling the college to corporate shift
 In college, and as a matter of fact most non-IT but Indian workplaces, there is a concept of hierarchy. It took a while to break those shackles and forget forever that you address someone who is senior to you as 'Sir' in the office. Calling people by their first names was quite awkward at first, but later on it brought in a little more intimacy to the conversations coz of what I've noticed these big guys take you more seriously  if you happen to address them by name.  And no more is there a concept of a classroom of any sorts, you are by yourself when it comes to work, as in, no one associates you to a class or department unless or otherwise it's for the purpose of work.  Maybe not now when you are 22 23 and in the beginning of your first job, but eventually you'll be in a position where work is assigned to you and you do it. Not too sure how to frame it into a sentence, it's just that there is a lot more individual responsibility to manage than before.

 Period of introspection
My training period at work wasn't too smooth, it was very erratic,a little unorganised so we took it easy, but we did have to learn a lot of technology but no one was really interested to take it seriously, neither us trainees nor the trainers. But I gradually realised that my batch of 10 were being trained to be mapped into a particular project and they are likely to only choose a few out of the ten.  Took things a little more seriously, found a lot of online company-provided resources to make use of, eventually got selected into the project but then I didn't find the work hours and effort I put to have actually been that significant. I doubted if I went overboard with my preparation frenzy and that whether I should continue with it. I did something then that I should admit was very smart. I discussed it with some of my friends and mentor uncles. One of them just said that, "there is no Absolutely no equivalent task to the amount of hours you spend on doing something." at that point it made little sense in my context or that I didn't catch what he actually meant. Another friend of mine just said read this book-


 Go kiss the world book impact
 "go kiss the world" is a book written by Subroto Bagchi, if you come across this book, do read it. If you're just out of college and into a job, you must read it! What I learnt from it was that in the initial stages of your career, everyday at work is a day you can learn something new, you just need to keep your mind and ears open. And the answer to my question too was well explained.  Generally your first experience with a job can tell you a little bit of how your career graph may look like, not in a big way, but in those little things. How you behave with your peers, how you interact with your boss, the dedication you show, punctuality etc. quoting out of the book, your first generally offers you a chance to build a work ethic for yourself to follow for the rest of your career.
 The earlier you build it, the better because as you go deeper in your career your responsibilities increases and you have less or no time for these small things. Patience the virtue If there's anything that I have definitely learnt out of my hyderabad experience is that I've learnt to be patient. More I taking an effort to show some patient, my company has forced me to learn how to be. Right from getting workstations (computers), permissions to install software, help regarding any technical issues I faced, project info... The list is big enough to  sink the idea that 'waiting is inevitable'  deep into my work culture. It's ridiculous and foolish for a fresher to blow his top for not getting something that he requires, but most of us give up when it gets on our nerves.  But  ( yes, I've read a lot more than just two books in my hyd stay)  as Randy Pausch says in the last lecture- brick walls ( waiting for no reason and no fault of mine), brick walls, brick walls are those obstacles that simply question whether you want something badly enough.
 There is no way out other than to climb over the wall, which can be hard but it will keep those people away who don't want it enough. You climb over the wall, you'll get what you asked for, and you can be proud of yourself that you did, and climbing one wall will give you the experience to climb many more. I climbed my wall, the wall of patience. Rest assured I have the patience to do anything now!

 Friends forever 
 Friends form an integral part your life. I'll be too cliched if I elaborate here with fancy phrases, but can't help but admit that friends are so important. I'm not too much of a keep in touch guy but I find the thoughts of my friends and the dreams I have of them full of positive emotions. Thinking of them motivates me to believe there is something very beautiful in this world. I take the effort, search for a nice phrase or saying online, customise it and send it as a message every time I think of them. Very proud of the fact that I do this. And sweet memories, especially the ones that are funny are so rejuvenating! I am grateful that I have many incidents that I still laugh head over heels for.
 Memories, most of mine involve friends and family. Whether I remember my programming languages or not, I am very fortunate for these memories are forever there in my head. Also, I came to realise that memories are the only way friends are with you every moment. They can't be physically present with you in all you do. Keeping in touch over the phone is not something I fancy to much. I prefer remembering and cherishing their memories. Possibly if I think of them enough they'd be thinking of me too!

 The more you see your world, the richer you become.
 This is probably what Hyderabad has taught me as a lesson experience teaches you.  Apart from a lot more experience in wielding my tongue into speaking decent Hindi, I've in my own way realised what was really meant by the term unity in diversity- the phrase associated to India we learnt in our history and civics text books.  I am actually just around say 600 km away from chennai but the place is so different! The food, the people, the languages, the terrain Hyderabad has more of a plateau like geography compared to the plains of chennai. There is a lot more meat in Hyderabadi cuisine. The biriyani is just ambrosia. You get Bihari chaat at every street corner. That pani puri chaat right outside your office is something chennai doesn't fancy. And chennai isn't too far away, I just have to catch a bus and the next morning I'm back home so I've got the best of both worlds and more importantly I'm culturally richer.

 A special note on Hyderabad biriyani.
 Hyderabadi biriyani is a special kind of biriyani cooked using coals. It is an age old tradition and generally consists of big cylindrical container with coal underneath and is layered with rice and curry alternatively. Coals are placed over the lid as well so there's heat from the top and bottom of the vessel. The pieces of meat from my understanding are cooked separately and mixed with rice in the end of the cooking. If you have the biriyani at the five star restaurants, they serve it you as a slice, like a cake where you have to use your elitist ways of eating with a fork and spoon to mix up the contents and savour the meal.
Many hotels serve Hyderabad biriyani. On the plate they all look almost the same, but once in the mouth, you'll quickly identify the winner front the rest. Some places serve biriyani that is so excellent that you'll kiss your fingers. If you chance to visit Hyderabad you must for heaven's sake try some of these restaurants- Bawarchi, Al-Saba, Paradise,Shadab,Cafe Bahar.
Contrary to popular belief, the  Paradise hotel biriyani doesn't even make top three in my list. Honestly if you want to taste the best of the biriyanis you should ask the locals and they point to only one place and that is Shadab. Another fact about this dish is that you, like anything else, got to give it time to like it. You may not like the taste the first time itself. Have it 3-4 times and you'll be hooked. Hyderabad biriyani according to my friend is an acquired taste, much like how it is with beer. Well that was a paragraph of tribute to one heck of a delicacy. It has made Hyderabad famous, putting it on the culinary world map.

The Work Phase of life- the beginings

My first day in the company, the induction day and seminars on corporate functioning was a flood of information and followed by some advice as to how to approach work life in my company. I should admit that as much as it was exciting it was also in a way intimidating. The latter emotion more out of the fact that little had I realized the magnanimity of what is going to follow.

I took the fact of getting a job in campus very lightly at first but eventually due to the long waiting time I went and  I tried other companies for more job offers as back ups and it was only then I realized how lucky I was to have a job in hand through placements in college and how much value the job holds. After that initial struggle and long wait now I finally am in the company. I took it as a good start and I saw it as some training followed by a job where I can prove myself to be quite good at what I do.

There's more to it than just work, If I can define every phase of life with a major activity then it is only in school that it was academics college it was a mix of  academics and  friend circles and contacts. But work place attitude seem to be drastically different. Good grades in academics can only go as far as getting you a job, how you manage your job is completely based on the skills one has acquired interacting with people.

My uncle called me up before my joining and we had this chat about this new era of work life I am going to start off and all he emphasized on was- yes learning during the training was important but that's not  all, because eventually its all just going to be tests that determine how much we comprehend and more or less all of us in the batch would be at the same level or at least only considered so owing to our lack of industry experience in what we know.

What matters most according to him was how I project myself, in the way I dress to work, how I interact with my peers how good my communication skills are. This way I would be able to interact with people better and more effectively. How this works, according to him is that it's more pleasing to listen to a man dressed in a suit than one in ragged clothes and well dressed people are the ones who are more likely to be taken seriously.  I realized how true his statement was during the induction they did mention there are opportunities during work where we can brush up our skills as even the company agrees with the fact that a one time training is not going to effectively educate us in a comprehensive way, so they have a system which we can use and re-evaluate ourselves and work on our technical weaknesses.

What they expected out of us is to decide how we portray ourselves as company employee and of the moral responsibility we carry along with that ID card. One of the personnel did exemplify with a story that if one was arguing over the meter charge with an auto driver on your way to work, even if you mention your name to him, he will remember you by associating you with the brand you are wearing around your neck and that people from your company are more likely to be a bothersome lot. Hence the way the way you speak, the way dress are a little more important than what you know when it comes to the workplace.

Anyway all this work philosophy can make one go bonkers if delved into too deep, so as of now I am just very eager to know what's at stake for me during this period, and the important thing is to get the most out of what is offered to us, and that's what is the best thing to do with life in general as well. And to the end result is happiness and peace of mind.

The snack shack

Today I went over to the inauguration of a bakery opened by my friend along with some of his school mates as partners. It's a bakery shop located adjacent to the PSBB  k. k nagar school campus, chennai.
I must say the pastries and cup cakes are really good and to add to that, they are homemade by an aunt he knows. Besides that, the snack shack, as what they call it, also serves a variety of sandwiches, burgers, milkshakes and mocktails.

The location they managed to get is awesome! right next to a school, they'd get good business in the evenings as children would eventually make it a hangout place just after school and in the mornings too as the heavy sandwiches offer to make great breakfasts.

Yumm!

The shop is open from 7am to 10pm and does offer take away facilities and they aim to pose as an equally healthy alternative to breakfast at home.
That would greatly help working parents and kids who are fussy with what breakfast they want, they can drop by at the snack shack before they get to school and pack their break and lunch boxes with food.

Cupcakes!

I see it as an amazing opportunity for my friend who sees himself owning a successful business like his father so such a venture would definitely teach him first hand what he must do to successfully start off a business and sustain it profitably. He sure would get a idea where to invest in, what risks can be taken, what not to assume, learn from mistakes, its all working out to be a practical MBA and a really cool way that too!

He's got a good business minded friends too and that's help his cause and it's a great potential step to making a good start to a business career. If all goes well, I see really good profits that they can use to comfortable establish more branches, possibly even in some of the upcoming malls in the area and get first hand info about apparent research that may go underway in choosing an ideal shop location and space, this being important as it's food related shop and quality maintenance is of utmost importance.
Anyway good luck to him and  his future ventures

Do check out their facebook page as well:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.183050235120679.43066.168851219873914&type=1