a bunch of memories - at Trivandrum

Starting this blog on 1st of April, 1.30 am. Its hot, not feeling sleepy, and inspiration flowing in from the song 'behti haowa sa tha woh'. Seriously, this song takes me back to those four months in Trivandrum, two years back, the days I was a part of Initial Learning Program of Tata Consultancy Services, the days of friendship, of responsibility, of excitement, of pain.

The first phase was pretty common. Sudden confirmation, rushing for tickets, leaving in a bunch, from same college, high on expectation, and low on the part to get away from parents, family. Halt in Chennai, overnight sharing in a hotel, and now the train to Trivandrum. It was November, onset of the winter, surroundings were green from the monsoon, and we were getting a feel of the beauty of Gods own Country.

Another round of branching at the station, as accommodation was arranged in separate guest houses, other the TCS hostel. The first taste of ILP next morning, strict guidelines, bad pressure, worse food (for some), those are the things in common. What different was the fact that I opted (or was elected? don't remember the sequence of events clearly) as the representative of a batch of around forty. T-54, TVM 10. That was the mark. On 23rd Nov, 2009. A feeling of ownership, a feeling of responsibility.

The next 35 working days went like a mad rush. Several official procedures, salary account, insurance, bio-metric card, and all these besides the rigorous classes, and exams. Personally, I liked Dr. Scheme really well, and Dr. Java even better (these  two were the software the technical part of our training was based on), but that was not the case with everyone. As the representative, I had to rush, literally, to get things done in time. Without cell phone, keeping contact with coordinators, the six other representative, and the participants of my batch, was really hard to manage, even in a moderately sized facility like Peepul Park. After sessions were over, it was responsibility to get attendances registered with faculty as well as each participant. Every day, rigorously. And managing meals in between. And taking the bus service back to residence.

There were other things too. Weekends were busy. Christmas was nearing. To be a part of TCS Maitree, making out funds, for sharing necessities with children at an orphanage, and people at a old age home, was really a good feeling. I had to back out on the actual communication part, language was a barrier, but to be the cause of joy you see on the happy faces of some feels good. One day, at the old age home (it was far from town, at a seaside), when everyone was inside, I just slipped out, and took a short swim in the sea, alone. The tranquility was better than anything. Coming another day at office, planning and preparing a skit within two hours, fitting in two carols in it, and enacting a role in the same, was a wonderful break. The Rajkumar Hirani film was released, starring Aamir Khan. A wonderful film, worth a hell lot of times of every bit of thirty five rupees I paid for a show. The cultural day as a part of ILP was also great, but for me, that was the indication of the nearing day when everyone will be leaving, but not me.

I had opted to be a part of the CTO in TCS by then. At that time, it had only a meaning, another two month stay back at Trivandrum, for some ten of us, while others will be going to new locations, and almost everyone after a cross trip from respective hometown. It is a strange feeling, carrying list of names for clearance, but my own being out of it. Choosing to go against the crowd is a harsh decision to make, but it paid well for me, later. Another shock came on the last day of phase one, the entire batch of some 250 trainees were made to stay back, for two more days, on account of an unfinished assignment. Probably several lakhs of the batch was wasted on that day on flights cancelled. I remember two sleepless nights, helping out friends caught in bad shape, in unfinished assignments.

Finally, everyone left. All but some ten of us. I left the guest house and moved in the TCS hostel. The starting of second phase. New task, to be the learning enabler for the next incoming batches at Trivandrum, besides doing out a project as a part of own training. Within a day, I am back in the same facility, with a sudden role reversal, gathering more respect, and having more responsibilities. What I was learning a few days back, has now to be taught, and any misconception on my part can propagate. But it went really well, and had been an wonderful experience in my life.

Now days were easier. Being in classes and lectures, as teaching facilitators, felt really good. I always love teaching, and made my best out of this opportunity. Shift was at CLC (Corporate Learning Center) block, on the hill, from early morning to noon, and the rest of the day was free for us. I would always like to cherish those evening walks around the hostel, the long chats in the balcony deep into the night, and those wonderful trips around Kerala in this period.

After two quick months, it was time to leave, for us. It hurts to separate from what you love. It pained to get separated from friends two months back, now it pained to separate from the place that kept me back, but never made me regret my stay back. These four months had surprises, lots of them, making me learn face challenges, the best way to handle them.

P.S.
A lot might be missing in this post. Will add if time and mood permits.
All incidents are true, but opinions are purely personal. Never intended to hurt anyone.

how technology changes - my perception two years down the professional career

One joke keeps circulating about the learning of techies and their life in IT - an engineer (computer) learns maths in 1st year, C in 2nd year, Java in 3rd year, business concepts and projects in final year, and works on excel henceforth, in the IT career. Probably most of the job in IT doesn't require strong engineering skills, but strong logic and correct approach towards practical problem solving.

The same goes true for a core technical developer, I perceived. Skills are necessary, but without logic and approach, and an open mind, its nothing. I kept on normalizing databases in the initial days, the skill I learnt in my college days, to accommodate millions of entries, till I got introduced to 'lucene', and geared up to the accommodate the reverse, de-normalizing every data models into the composite flat format. No more relations, no more keys. Its time for no-SQL.

The project I worked on had three modules, quite vast and open-scoped by themselves. I wondered with awe the power of change, as I myself had to undo the modules and sieve the concepts as a part of no-SQL. The concept of code and database as separate modules, with low coupling, is fading.

I knew UI by it's definition, but only learnt with the coming of HTML5, that it can do much better than just interacting with user, analyzing logic and storing information, all in itself.

This is probably the age of aggregation. Every utility is getting bundled with features, related and unrelated, providing an one for all solution. Is it going towards good? It is too early to find out, but I am optimistic, and keep rolling like the stone with water.