Friends - Thought me how

In my life, more than anybody else friends have shaped my career. Here are some of the noteworthy friends

1> Belov a.k.a Prashant Pathak - We studied together in Jabalpur and then he went to Jabalpur where as I headed for Indore. Belov lives in Bhopal with his family and is in touch with me even today.

2> Rakesh Soni - The savior as far as my post graduation is concerned, he lives in Indore. We studied BSc and MCM (Actually he only studied) together. I keep calling him every now and then just to keep in touch. Rakesh I still remember your number (0731 - 2473072).

3> Roopesh Kaushik - Roopesh was a great friend of mine when I did my 12th standard in Indore. We were the left outs of the class as we struggled throughout the year but we got together well. I met him recently in a train to Nizamuddin, he is going to pursue his career in Indian Economics.

4> Chintu a.k.a Ankit Munjal - Chintu was a student of mine, I used to teach him all subjects when he was in his 9th class. He was my neighbor when we first came to Indore and was a great support. I got him a part time job in PMS India which he did for sometime. He manages his father's business so he is keeping busy nowadays.

5> Kedar - Kedar comes from a middle class family and is a relative of Chintu. I got introduced to him through Chintu and I also took tuitions for Kedar. Kedar this year managed to clear exam for management exam and is now going to pursue his MBA degree. I managed to get a job for Kedar in PMS India and he is still working there.

6> Santy a.k.a Santosh Yadav - Yes this is the same Santosh Yadav who was working with me in the call center. I got a job for Santosh in PMS India and he works with Kedar in the role for which I was recruited.

7> Nettai a.k.a Ashok - Ashok worked with me in PMS India for a year and then he went to Chennai to join his family. We had a great time together and he is working as a Project Manager in I-Flex solutions, Chennai now.

8> Chdha a.k.a. Veerpal Singh Chdha - Chdha too was working with me in PMS India for a year before he went to US to join Boston computers. He still works in US and is married to a Punjabi girl there only. He works for CA now.

9> Venky a.k.a C.N. Venkatesh - Venky was working with me in PMS India for a year, he is not in Singapore working for citicorp. Venky, Chdha, Ashok and myself were a gang at that time in PMS India.

10> Elumalai - Elumalai was from Kanchipuram and he was weak in Hindi, I used to hang out with him and help him with getting a hang of the language. He works for EDS, Chennai.

11> Suku a.k.a Suman Kumar - Suman was with me in CSC for nearly two years, he is now with Wipro, Pune and is my room mate now :-(. He was the one who told me how to blog and inspired me to write my heart out.

12> Nags a.k.a Nagarajan Karuppiah - Nags works for CSC and we were together with Suman, Sam and Lu for nearly 2 years. Nags likes Basketball but doesn't know the rules, it's OK. His hobbies include Basketball, Dandiya and he has a soft heart for...let me finish...Kids.

13> Sam a.k.a Bright Sam - Sam was a part of the gang at CSC. He hails from "Marthandam" near "Nagarcoeil". He is good at running and has deadly biceps.

14> LU a.k.a Sreenivasulu Chenupati - Lu is like a fatherly figure in CSC. He completes our gang at CSC and heads it too. Lu is known for his umpiring and being steady always, I mean even after few drinks.

15> Manish Yadav - Manish is from Indore and he works for CSC. He is like a Hindi pandit at CSC. We have travelled together to "Vaishneo Devi" and "Tirupathi". I had a great time with him.

16> Goti King a.k.a Ashok Kumar Tripathi - Goti King is known for his cheats. You can never rely on him but for friendship, he would go any further. He works with CSC as Administration Executive.

Without this bunch here, I would have just struggled and struggled throughout my life. Thanks you all for all that you have done.


Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

Perception

Many would have stopped after getting a job of a software engineer in their own home town but I looked at it as a first break in my life and started looking for more options. I think that differentiates me from the rest of the crowd. I had a great respect for Krishnan for what he did, actually the policy of higher education says that if the company reimburses the fees then you have to stay for a minimum period of one year after your degree. Even though Krishnan didn't force me to sign a promissory note, I made it a point to stick for one year after I passed out in 2001.

In the year 2002, I entered into a second contract for one more year, this time the basis was "Quality training". This forced me to stay there for one more year and suddenly I had completed 4 years in the company. Since the first year that I spent was as a consultant, I had completed 3 years as per the records. I had to stay for one more year to get an award for completing four years and I did so. I received my award in November 2003 from my manager. People looked at me as a person who has dedicated his life time for the company but I wasn't one. I hanged just because of the circumstances and soon after getting the award, I started looking for options.

I think people perceived me wrongly, the five years that I spent in PMS India was just a beginning but many thought that I had done with the hunger to excel in life. I left PMS India in Feb. 2004.

Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

Start of a beginning

When I first walked into the PMS India, it was like my dream office. I knew for sure that I am going to spend time here and I also knew it that I have to somehow get into software development. To start with I was put under Lakshman Krishnan and my immediate manager was Suren Bhandari. It was Krishnan who assured me that I can get into the main stream if I perform well in my duties. His favorite line was "Even if you are a cobbler, make sure you are the best in the town". So, he wanted me to excel in whatever I handled and I blindly followed him.

Days, months and year just went racing. I was engrossed in my job but I didn't loose my sight of becoming a software professional. I took admission in a course called Master of Computer Management, it was a part time course. Since my office hours prevented me from attending any full time course, this one was a perfect match for me. I would attend the colleges on Saturday only and in most of the cases wouldn't do so because of work load. My friend "Rakesh Soni", took care all the activities in the college and gave me a great relief. Soon Krishnan realized my struggle and convinced the office authorities to sponsor the studies. At that time, there was no policy to cover this but he in his own risk did all that was needed. With my office taking care of my fees and Rakesh taking care of my college activities, I was left only with doing a good job in the office and study for exams.

I studied hard and my hard work paid, I scored a decent 69% in my last semester. With this score, came a chance of becoming a Software Engineer, as promised Krishnan had put me into the main stream. I was now a Trainee - Software Engineer earning 25K per month. My dream of becoming a software professional had just come true, but this was the beginning of a new journey.

Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

Great Year

The best thing about my college days was that, there was no external pressure on me to peform well. Whatever I did was all I wanted to do and you know what, I always dreamt of doing some 20 things before 30. Though the things are secret, I am in the mid of the list now. I composed the list when I was in my third year of college.

Third year was a great year in my life. After having left out the option of taking tutions, I started concentrating more on my new job. I got a 100% increase and now my pay was 1500 Rs. per month. Just when I was getting used to the things in life, a bad news was waiting just around the corner. My company was deciding to close their unit in Indore and I had to search for new job. My elder sister 'Akila' was working in a call center and she spoke to the guys there for an interview for a post of Customer Service Executive. You won't belive but I didn't even had a decent shoe to go for the interview, I borrowed one from 'Chintu', my neighbour and I was there on time for the interview.

They checked my typing speed and it was seventeen words per minute, too less to be considered for the job but since my sister was already working there and she had already established herself as a front runner in her post, they decided to give me a chance. I was told to increase my typing speed to over sixty five words per minute in one week, which I did easily. After one week, my speed was eighty words and I had the highest speed amongst the operators there, replacing 'Santosh Yadav' with seventy five words. The quest for being the best, was showing results in the workplace. I soon became the most efficient operator and one with a record 180 transactions in one hour. I used to study at my workplace in between those calls. My work timings were 3 PM to 10 PM and sometimes, I opted for night shifts for doing practicals and attending tests in college.

We had just managed our 'Kamakshi' (elder sister's) marrigae and my brother had to take loans for it. I was now earning 3500 Rs. and started supporting my family. My share was more than what it was earlier. Things were getting harder but it was in manageable limits. Just when earnings and expenditure was going neck to neck, a miracle happened. One night I was doing the 4 PM to 12 PM shift and at around 10 PM a call came. The caller after telling me the message to page, was engaged in a chat with me. We were not supposed to tell our names to the callers and so I didn't divulged information to him. The caller was kind enough to give me the details about a recruitment happening at PMS India for a post of librarian.

PMS India was a good company and one of the MNCs in the city. I knew that the company would pay well and I decided to give it a try. I was skeptical about the call I received but just the thought of attending an interview at a top MNC forced me to believe it and I was soon on the way to attend the interview. It was for real and when I reached there, I was amongst the twenty odd people who had turned out for the post. I was first inreviewed by HR representative and then by the admin head, followed by admin manager and then HR manager. I went there by 10 AM and it was already 3 PM and still I had two rounds of interview to go. The crowd was now reduced to five and soon the HR representative came and told all the remaining 4 to go away. I started realizing that I have craked the interview but I was waiting for the official news. The moment came when the HR representative, told me that they have selected me and they would expect me to join in another week's time.

I was already flying and after saying OK to her, I was literally running with joy to my home. Back home, I was going mad with the news and my mother cried with joy after hearing the news. I was going to get Rs. 4000 from next month onwards and more than anything else a job in PMS India was a dream come true for me. I had to go for a new job from 26th of October 1998 and I was all prepared for it. The new job didn't affect my studies though, I continued to excel and I scored 79% in my last year and a record 98% in Statistical Methods. I scored eight position in the university but more than anything else, I was satisfied for having got a job in PMS India after my third year. It still remains as an eventful year, which I would relish my whole life.

Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

A bright star

The fire in my belly to do good at studies and keep my critics calm, grew brighter. I carried my form which I had discovered in my 11th standard to my college. I suddenly found everything easy and in no time, I became the undisputed king of programming in my college. I consistency scored good marks and at the end of first year, I bagged the second rank in my college. With my brother and sisters working so hard to run the family, I couldn't just concentrate only on studies, so I decided to take tuitions. My three pupils where Nidhi Nagori (daughter of Nagori cements owner), Neha Kasliwal (daughter of apollo hospitals owner) and Vicky (son of dayal and dayal owner). They all paid me 700 Rs. each and at that time 2000 Rs. was like hell lot of money.

It was my neighbor Munjal and family, who introduced me to all these people and I am ever thankful to them for what they did. They saved me from the feeling of using all the resources of my family only for myself. I paid my first year fees from the money that I got from tuitions. People felt that it is very harsh on me to do two things at one time, taking tuitions and then going to college, but I got used to it and I continued with my way of life. With encouragement coming in from my professors, I couldn't stop at being number two. Second year was a year where I completely outclassed my classmates and I bagged first rank in the college. I remember even today, one of my professors said "I am ashamed of myself after seeing you. You toil all day taking tuitions and manage top spot in college also, we are jealous of you...". Such remarks gave me the much needed courage to do more job while studying.

I decided to join ICNET, one of my father's friend "S.M. Ranganath" told me that a company is getting established in Indore and they are looking for a person to handle the systems. I jumped with joy and the interview was a mere formality, for they were looking for a south indian boy. The salary was 750 Rs. per month and though it wasn't enough, I added the job into my life and now I was doing three things and doing with joy. My daily schedule was morning 8:00 to 12:00 in college, 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM taking tuitions and 8:00 PM to 5:00 AM working in ICNET Ltd. Now, I started feeling the pressure, since I was doing night shifts, I was not able to concentrate much on my studies. I decided to leave tuitions for I knew that my future lies in working in offices and not taking tuitions. I couldn't leave the tuitions immediately as I had promised them to take it for a full year, so I did my second year of graduation doing all these things. I managed it and I scored first rank in college.

Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

IKDC

I had to enter a college to do my graduation against my desire of getting into engineering. My dad who was working in a small finance company found it difficult to support 4 children all studying. My sisters decided to work after their graduation and my brother who was in his second year was working. It didn't sound logical for me to spend too much on my education. I surrenderd to the circumstances and decided to do whatever could be possible at that point of time.

I took admission for my B.Sc. course in a college "Islamia Karimia Degree College" much against my friend's advice. This college was known for it notorious activities, like screening adult movies in their lab. This college was totally dominated by Muslims. Against all odds, I took admission in this college for just one reason and that was the fees. The fees that they were charging was the least amongst all colleges in Indore and I was more than happy to go for it.

To my surprise, I found the college more disciplined than I had expected. The lab facilities were excellent and at that time, it was the best in Indore (private college). Professors were excellent, helpful and knowledgeable. The college authorities were corporative enough to make you comfortable. It's here that I learnt how to use a computer and I owe all my success to professors "Sulakshana Kelkar and Neelam Balde", they are responsible for making me what I am today.

Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

12th Standard - Villain

You can blame it on our good luck that we landed in Indore and I thank my father for this. If we would have remained in Jabalpur then I would have never learnt what IT is and I would have been happy working as a secretary somewhere. We came to Indore in 1998 and I had one year of schooling left before moving to college.

Since we were from south, we got admission to a south Indian school SICA ( South Indian Cultural Association). I failed in my entrance exam, it was totally different and that day I realized how different these big cities are and how advanced the studies are as compared to small cities like 'Jabalpur'. I started my struggle, first with the new environment, then with the new syllabus and then with the CBSE pattern as compared to the Madhya Pradesh pattern followed in my earlier school. I didn't even pass a single unit test thought my term and it put enormous pressure on me. For the first time in my history, I failed in an unit test. This was not something that I could digest because I as a student have never scored less than second rank throughout my schooling.

I started studying hard but it was like a blind man crossing the road with no guidance. Even though I put in my best efforts the results couldn't improve and I just managed to secure a first class in my final exam. I was a much relieved man but this one year had a adverse effect on my health. I grew fat and I started experiencing headaches more frequently, doctors diagnosed me as having low blood pressure.


Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

Jabalpur - new experience

Just when we thought that moving to a new place would be lot's of fun, we were proved wrong by none other than the North Indians. We were being looked like aliens, dark skinned citizens. We were nick named "Madrasi" and they would normally call us "Aye Madrasi".

I struggled in school and in personal life, no friends to talk to, no one to teach me 'Hindi'. Even in schools teachers ignored but for one 'Malayali' teacher. I was literally fooled by everyone, it took me 2 years to get settled to this new place 'Jabalpur'. It's a small city in Madhya Pradesh (one of the largest states in India), this place hasn't seen modernization so everything is fresh, cheap and pollution free. Even today, it remains the same. It is surrounded by mountains of marbles, known as "Marble Rocks", it's a major tourist attraction.

My grand father liked the place very much because the city had the river 'Narmada' running through it and he would make it a point to take bath in the river everyday. He like the place because it offered everything so fresh. While my family was getting accustomed to the surroundings, I made it a point to study well and come first in the class and prove that South Indians are better than North Indians. 'Jabalpur' gave me the instinct to prove myself as a superior human being and it was like learning swimming by jumping into the pool.

I still remember the day when the results were being announced for my 11th class, no one had any doubt that I would finish first so people were asking the head master about second and third places. I passed 11th with 79% and stood first in the class and this was the highest score ever scored by a 11th class student in the school history and I felt very proud. I created a record in Mathematics by scoring 199/200. All schools were ready to take me in for 12th because it was a board exam and they wanted good results from their 12th class batch. Just when I started becoming famous, my father decided to move and this time to a big city in the same state.

Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

My Form Continues

I continued with my journey of life and we moved to "Chennai" this time. My brother was coming to terms with life, parents obviously treated us alike and he was missing the royal care that he was getting from my grand parents. I think it was hard on him also but he adjusted well with the circumstances.

For the first time in my life, I enjoyed the company of my brother. We played together and enjoyed each and every bit of togetherness. Appreciation from my school poured in for my studies, sports, clay molding and for everything I did. I fell in love with Physics and my teacher was very keen on me taking up higher studies in Physics. I was nick named "Physics Guru" of the school and I used to deliver lectures on science day in our school. I was studying in my 9th class at that time and was at my peak of my school career.

We (myself and brother) made friends and lot of friends in and around our colony. We soon became an indispensable part of the colony and everyone wanted to make friendship with us. But, when we thought that the life would bring only good things, my father got a new job in "Jabalpur", deep in north India and we had to move. At that point of time, all that we could think was living in North India, just the thought of moving to new place and seeing new things excited us. We left behind a battalion of our friends notably Kannan, Balaji, Raja, Sivaram, Shyam, Ravi, Haran, Suji, Subha and Sumi.

Though we were going mad with joy at that time, now we regret. We regret for we lost touch with our friends, we regret because we were thrown to a different environment and we had to start everything from scratch. Even now, when I get a chance to go to Chennai, I make it a point to visit my friends but now it's a different story. Some in US, some married and some studying abroad. I don't know how they look like now and I don't think we would be able to re-unite as a whole gang.

I am determined that I would never do this to my kids, I will never un-settle them. A valuable lesson learnt in the 'Journey of a thousand mile'.

Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

Freedom atlast

The day we moved to "Chinna Kanchipuram", I started feeling normal. My mother took care of me very well and the fact that we were staying away from our grand parents made me more comfortable. Only here, I started behaving normally. For the first time in my life, I felt that there is a reason to smile. I started admiring small things and doing those naughty things that a normal child would do. Surely, better days had just started in my life and I was totally changed by the new atmosphere that I got.

I started getting accolades in my school for sports, drama, dancing, studies and extra curricular activities. In school I was the undisputed king, I can go anytime I want and do anything that I want. The year that I spent here gave me a new meaning to life and I am thankful to my mother especially who sowed that confidence in me and helped me break my shackles.

Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

Extended years

I had carried the shell that I formed in my childhood and it got deeper when we moved from 'Madurai' to 'Kanchipuran', where our grand parents stayed. This was the first time, I came face o face with my brother 'Shankar' who was staying with my grand parents.

Being the first grand child of the family, he enjoyed a royal treatment from my grand parents. I was seen like a rotten egg, I don't know may be because of my skin color. My grand mother especially would not care about me in the first place and would always tell me to work for my brother i.e. bringing him water to drink, do household work etc. Though my brother was good with me but the royal treatment that he got from my grand parents had a negative impact on me. I started hating my grand parents for this aspect of theirs. Even today they do the same thing and I just can't digest it, why should I?

This made me more reserved at home. We spent one year living with our grand parents and that was the quietest period in my life.

My first three years

My father had finally decided to spend some time in Madurai. This gave me a chance to do some schooling. I did my first standard till third standard in Madurai in "Rajesh English Medium". My sis who is one year older than me also studied in the same school and used to take care of me well. I started becoming naughty, started eating grass, used to roam with friends on fields. I had a desire to taste chicken but when my father said that the hen would lay eggs in my stomach, I decided against it.

Being from a orthadox family, my parents decided to tie the sacred thread "Janev". It was a family function attended by more than 500 people in Madras now "Chennai". My cousin brother "Sridhar" was also roped in and he too was tied the sacred thread in the same function. It was a good moment for me, a change that I liked but my liking didn't last long. With the sacred thread came lot of responsibilities, like doing prayers every day, removing shirts in all functions and things like that. I started disliking them and from that day I stopped doing prayers but continued having sacred thread just for the fear of my father and grand father.

We always stayed away from all our relatives, my father had 2 sisters and 3 brothers, all younger to him. Except my father all were staying together with my gand parents in a big joint family. In my childhood, I always longged to see my cousin sisters and brothers but I had this inferiority complex of being the darkest of all. This prevented me from moving with them closely and I soon became a reserved character. All those volatile habits vanished suddenly and I went deep into my own shell.

Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

Childhood - Treatments

My mom says that I was too volatile to handle, she couldn't take care of me all by herself. In my earlier days she used to tie me to a pole so that she could take care of house hold work in peace. She adds that I used to cry initially but after some days, I got used to it. She says she had to take this drastic step because I used to run away from home to a near by cinema theatre. She cries today when she recites these to people.

Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

I have come to existence and started moving

I was born in very unusual circumstances, my mother already had three sublings and she wanted to avoid a fourth pregnancy. She took all the tablets and medication that was required to abort me but unfortunately or say fortunately she gave birth to me and the icing on the cake was that I was a baby boy. A girl was seen as a cause of worry in those days as wedding of a girl would involve a parent to shell out lot of money.

The day was a Saturday and since my grand father was visiting a RAM temple, I was named 'SriRAM'.

I was born in a small city in southern India called "Trichy (Tirichirapally)" and my journey had just started. I didn't spend much time in the city and we moved to a new city nearby, "Kuththalam" near "Kutralam". "Kutralam" is a famous place in Tamilnadu and is known for the waterfalls, in those days it would have been a real natural gift. Modernization was not around and the place was full of natural habitats. Even roads were not that developed and people found it difficult to reach that place. Today, it's all commercialized, people throng that place and it's a more or less business hub now. Still, people find the place a treasure to watch.

Even "Kuththalam" couldn't hold me for long, we moved to "Madurai" as my father changed his job. He was then working in a bank as an officer.

Reach me at hifromsriram 'at' hotmail 'dot' com